IMPERIUM INSECTUM

 

I woke up next to Apollinaris, who was sleeping softly next to me. Having her back like this feels so good; it’s a shame I must leave her. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of her getting hurt whilst I was gone. But she’s right. I can't do it all alone. I’ll just have to trust in her ability to handle things here.

<Mmmm.. Diva? You awake.>

<Yeah…>

<Ah, that’s good.> She sleepily turned around to face me and smiled. < I wish we could stay like this all day.>

<Me too. But I can't. I have to leave. Today, if possible.>

<I know.> She said, slowly sitting up in bed. <We have a lot to get ready. I'll help you get set up. But first, let me take a shower. Do you want to join me?>

<if I ever say no to that Apollinaris, I want you to hit me>

She chuckled as she pulled on my hand and led me to the shower, where I had a closer, more hands-on look at Apollinaris' new anatomy. Sadly, she didn’t let me have too much fun with it.

<c’mon. I’ll be quick.>

<I would love to, but we have a lot of stuff to do today, and besides, I like a little bit of romance. It really gets me in the mood>

< Fine, but next time here, I’m definitely having a piece of you, no ifs and or buts>

She grabbed my arm and pulled me low and close. <I’m looking forward to it> Her lips briefly and intimately touched mine.

< There’s your motivation. Now, let’s get everything ready.>

<Yes, Ma’am> I walked over to the window and noticed that the sun was high in the sky. It was midday. I really have to pick up the pace a little.

I opened a window and sent out a bunch of flies.

<keep me updated on all the locations of the contractors.> Work on the house is still being done. But judging by what was left to do, they should be done soon.

The flies flew around the exterior and inside the house.

<Hmmm, it seems like there is a clear route down. Follow me.> I opened the door, and we slowly snuck our way down into the basement. It was quite an uneventful journey. However, I still find it annoying that I have to sneak around MY OWN HOUSE, but alas, what can we do. We made it to one of the many secret entrances and started making our way down to the basement

<I can't wait to see Sally. It's been a while since we've had some girl talk. How is she, by the way?>

<Fine the last time I saw her. She had a little incident where she forgot to feed herself blood, but it's fine now.>

<Wait, blood? Why does she need blood?>

<Why don't you ask her yourself?>

I pushed the door open, and suddenly, we were met with a large swarm of insects.

<WELCOME BACK BIG SIS APOLLINARIS!>

The voices of hundreds of my children rang out.

<HAHAHAH THANK YOU!> Apollinaris said as she picked up and hugged one.

<Was this your idea?>

<No…I'm just as shocked as you are. Why did you do this?>

<It was my idea.> I Looked to the side just in time to see Azuura crawl out of the woodwork. Seriously, where was he hiding?

<What brought this on azuura?>

<well, it’s nice to have big sis back and well.... I want her to say thank you...for looking after me.>

<Azuuura...> Apollinaris said with affection as she ran and gave him a hug. Which caused him to squirm all over the place.

<hahaha. I think I remember this one. You used to squirm a lot when anyone hugged you.>

<please...stop..>

I chuckled as I watched him try to get out of her grip.

< I'll leave you two here to get along.>

<Mother, wait!> Azuura squirmed out of Apollinaris’s grasp and ran to my side.

<I have something to ask you. Can I come with you?>

<sure?>

We left Apollinaris with the rest as Azuura and I went downtown the tunnel, which was Finally complete; No wax pillars to be seen anywhere, just a nice perfectly round tunnel.

< Well done, Azuura. The tunnel is amazing>

<Thank you, mother. It was a learning experience, but I liked how it turned out.>

<And how are you dealing with your new role...>

<it’s... interesting. My younger brothers look up to me a lot now. It’s a lot of pressure, but I like it.>

<That’s good. So what did you want to talk about?>

<well, mother. Seeing how Apollinaris is here now. Are you going to leave soon?>

<Yes, today in fact. Assuming nothing unexpected happens.>

<well can I come with you?>

<I mean....you can. I have no issue, but you aren’t needed here.>

<not really; the tunnel is built. All that is needed is to maintain it and create food. I’m not really needed for that.>

<well, if that’s the case, Fine. But please tell me. Why do you want to come with me anyway? Im sure your skill could be quite useful here.>

< the main hive is the core of our home….I must, No, need to be there to ensure our core is strong and that I can support my future brothers. Please, mother.>

<I see. Well, I'm happy to have you. I am sure we will build great things together, Azuura. And it makes me so happy to see you care so much about your brothers>

<Thank you, mother.>

We continued to walk down the tunnel until we finally made it to our destination, the prison cell of our friendly neighbourhood assassin.

<are we here to see him?>

<yes. How is he doing>

<I’m not sure. I do know the nurses have gone down regularly to feed and give him water, but that’s as much as I know.>

<well then. Let's check up on our man.>

We entered the side room and into the prison cell where our man was waiting.

<rise and shine, sleepy head. Long time no see.>

No response. Is he ignoring me?

<Mother, you’re speaking in our language>

<Ahh. How could I forget? I guess I’m getting too comfortable. Let's try again.>

“rise and shine, sleepy head. Long time no see.”

His head rose up in my direction. He looked like shit. His face was gaunt, and the life from his eyes was nearly gone. I guess over 2 weeks in a dark cave will do that, too ya.

“Please… I want to see the sun.”

“Well, good news. You're leaving this place.”

“Really?”

“Of course, you can believe me. I'm not the sort to lie.”

<Azuura cut him down, but be careful. He might try something.>

He nodded and walked towards him. The assassin looked around the room, trying to figure out where he was. Azuura wrapped his arms around the wax that surrounded his body. With one easy pull, he easily shattered it into several pieces, allowing the man to fall to the ground.

<There you go, mother. All don->

<AZUURA!>

Instantly, I shot towards him and caught the fist headed for the back of his head.

“you…..How naughty. I'll have to discipline you for that.”

He sent his other fist to me, which I easily caught again.

“let go!”

“Why would I when we are having so much fun.”

His leg flew up to hit me, but I quickly caught that as well. Honestly, I love having 4 arms.

“Okay, fun's over.”

Before he could react, I threw him against the wall, knocking the wind out of him, which was quickly followed up with a swift kick to his head, knocking him out.

<Are you okay, azuura?>

<Yes, mother, sorry.>

<No need to apologise; just be more mindful next time. Humans like them can't be trusted. EVER.>

<Yes, mother.>

<Good. Now, help me secure his body for transport.>

<Why are we taking him Mother.>

My face twisted into a smile. <I need his seed.>

Using his arms, I pinned his legs and arms together as azuura started “preparing” him for transport, which involved me holding his arms and legs down his side as azuura covered his body in wax. It was quite a boring task, but it had to be done.

<Where is Sally when you need her.>

< Sally left quite early. She said there was something important she had to do. She didn’t elaborate further.>

<interesting>

Azuura finished preparing him, and we went back to our hive. After that, it was a very uneventful day filled with packing clothes and food, and, most importantly, filling my body with as much biomass as possible. Doing that was a big part of the preparations. The rest was for the 3 girls and the man. I only have them for the time being so I have to look after them till more arrive. After that, well, I'll use them till their bodies break

<I Think we are done here.>

<looks good to me>

<And me> Azuura and Apolllinaris said as they finally finished pushing everything into the front of the house. Night had fallen a few hours ago, and the contractors had all left. Perfect time for me, and my children to leave. However, there was one thing stopping us.

<WHERE THE HELL IS SALLY?>

Everyone shrugged. <She was definitely here this morning. I assure you, Mother.>

<I believe you, azuura. I’m just starting to get worried as to where she could be. I'm going to try to contact her through the weave.>

I closed my eyes and got ready to access the weave when the sound of galloping horses suddenly hit my ears.

<Diva look.> Apollinaris said, pointing into the distance. <Is that Sally.>

I opened my eyes, and there she was, grinning stupidly whilst holding the reigns to 4 large black stallions. We all took several steps back as the carriage swung round to a stop before us.

< I'M BACK! Sorry, I'm late.> She said as she jumped off from the driver's seat

<Sally, what is… Why have you bought this?>

<To help us with moving to the new hive.>

<ehhh…… Why?>

<well, we need to move all this stuff, and we’ll I thought a carriage would make it a lot easier. I left this morning to do the training. I only just finished about 30 minutes ago.>

< okay…But have you forgotten we can fly? I was planning to use the workers to transport all this stuff.>

<think about it, Mother. We can’t just disappear. People will ask questions. If we leave properly, we will have a good alibi if anyone starts asking where we are.>

I see the logic in her theory, but. It seems like a hassle for a very minor issue. However, this looks like something she wants, Let's just go along with it for her sake.

<Fine. Change of plan. Everything in the carriage.>

<THANK YOU MOTHER>

<don’t thank me, it was a good idea. However, looking after those horses is your responsibility, understand?>

She Gave me a smile and nodded.

I moved towards the carriage. It was large very large, if I had to guess, at least 24 feet long and wide as hell. No wonder it needed those 4 stallions to pull it. It was a mostly black carriage split in half, the front being a place for. sitting and the back for cargo.

< Sally... this looks expensive. How much did this cost>

<oh, Mother, you don’t have to worry about those things. It’s fine.>

<sally.... How many zeroes >

<3….4.>

<SALLY!>

< I assure you, Mother, the investment was worth it.>

I let up an audible groan as I climbed inside it.

The inside was luxurious, made from black leather with white and gold accents. There were several amenities, such as a tiny fridge and these tiny fold-out tables. What was the weirdest thing about the carriage was that it was surprisingly cool.

<nice, isn’t it. A wizard looked it over and put in magical devices that regulate the temperature.>

<very nice. But that doesn’t justify the stupid amount of money you spent on this.>

<It has other things! The windows have a special tint that allows you to see out with 100% clarity, but nobody can see in. Additionally, it is soundproofed. You could let off an explosion in there, and nobody would hear it, and finally, it's armoured. Like stupidly well armoured, It was made for heads of state, you know. And how could I forget! The cushions! They are great! You have to try them!>

Sally nudged me from behind into a seat. And I hate to admit it. But it was very comfortable. Still not happy about the price, though.

<the seat is nice, Sally.>

<See, I knew you’d like it. Everyone hop in>

<we’re.not going yet, Sally.>

<W..why?>

I pointed to her belly, which was still quite big. By my calculations, it should be any second now.

< You are pretty much ready to pop.>

<no.mother I’m finaaaahhhhhaaaa>

<And there it is> I said with a deep sigh <Can I have a few hands here.....>

A quick birthing session and a short rest, we were FINALLY about to leave. Seriously, what is it with this town and trying its dammed hardest to keep me here! I shook my head. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I'm going now.

<You got everything?>

<yes.>

<are you sure, Diva.>

<Yes, MOM, I’ve got everything.>

Apollinaris smiled as she gave me a goodbye kiss.

< it sucks you have to leave so soon after I came back, Diva.>

<I know. But it won’t be for long. Stay safe. And if ANYTHING happens, Don’t be afraid to reach me. Here, take him.>

One of my flies flew out and landed on her shoulder.

<He’s your direct line to me. If you just wanna talk or->

<I get it, Diva. Thank you. But you don’t need to worry about me, okay? Now go.

I hugged her one last time before climbing into the carriage, Where I was followed by azuura and the other girls. Who had been fitted with dark robes that covered their bodies?

<Whenever you're ready, Sally.>

<One second>

The sounds of her moving and getting settled on her seat echoed through the cabin briefly before the carriage suddenly lurched forward. And with that, we were off. Apollinaris gave me a wave, as did The rest of them, though they probably couldn’t see me through the darkened glass.

<Im gonna miss them>

“Misstress, you look sad; how could I be of service”

I rolled my eyes out of the 3; Theresa is the most touchy-feely, always trying to get close. Much to my annoyance.

“Be quiet and do nothing for the moment. Your body will get much use in the coming days. You should be getting rest because you won't be getting much of it.” Her body trembled with excitement. To think this one was a nun once.

I pushed her to the side and watched as my home disappeared. Soon, it started to get replaced with the same buildings and towns I was familiar with. To think I'm finally leaving this place. It feels like it's been a while since I last stepped out the walls. I can't wait to finally see my children back ho-”

I lurched forward with the force of a bullet as we suddenly came to a halt.

<SALLY WHAT THE HELL!>

<Sorry Mother. But this crazy woman jumped in front of me.>

“I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE LET ME IN”

That voice... it couldn’t be... how did she know I was leaving.

“go away, crazy women; the person you're looking for isn’t in here!” Sally yelled back.

<Sally! It's fine to let her in. No point trying to argue with her.>

I opened the door, and she was three. Penn. I’d almost forgotten about this crazy person.

“Penn, how nice to meet you. What brings you to my carriage.”

She gave me a deadpan stare before climbing in.

“Don’t think you can just leave without telling me. I wanna see your actual home.”

“I figured that much, but how did you know I was here.”

“Ahhhh.”

She reached into her worn brown satchel bag and pulled out a small jar with my two children in it.

“These two seemed very eager to leave for some reason. I had a feeling something was up.”

She opened the jar, and the two of them instantly flew out.

<MOTHER!>

<PLEASE DONT LEAVE US WITH HER AGAIN>

They instantly flew back inside me as quickly as they could.

“What the hell did you do to them?”

“just some routine studies. I promise you they were fine and unharmed the whole time.”

I let out a deep sigh and signalled for Sally to leave

“Don’t be like that Diva. We'll be living with each other from now on. So it would do us well to get along.”

“Fine by me as long as you prove to be useful Penn.”

“Of course”

<mother look> Azuura drew our attention to the bright orange sky in the direction of Penns home

I glanced towards her as she tried to act all innocent.

“Really?”

“What? Oh, that. Well, i dont need that place anymore, so I purged it all. And besides, it's not the first time I've started fresh.”

I let out a sigh as we escaped the scene.

“Seriously, Penn. I can't believe you torched your own home.”

“It’s fine; everything I need is fine. In this bag.including these.” She pulled out a set of two rings.

“What is that?”

“Something you will need very soon, diva.”

“What do you mean soon? What's going to happen? Also, what have you done with my mask!

Penn looked towards the new roaring fire.

“It’s seeing new pastures.”.

“Penn!”

“trust me! It was no good. The mask was a pile of poop that annoyed me.”

“So you burn it? Even though it wasn’t yours?!”

“Yes! Look Diva. It will all make sense soon. In about 5 minutes or so.”

I sat back in my seat. <I swear penn….>

“yes,yes,yes. Now, enough about this mask and more about this fine specimen next to you.”

Azuura shook at those words.

“You have to let me take a look at him. Diva. There is so much I could learn. Even now, his chitin is amazing. Both functional and somewhat stylish.”

“Leave him be, for now, pen. Azuura is pretty new to all this, so later, maybe.”

<mother....>

<I know, just put up with it when the time comes....>

Azuura folded his arms and sighed. Is he .... pouting? Where did he learn that from? Whatever, I'll ask him later. For now, let's just enjoy the rest of the journey. And that’s what I did for about 10 minutes before the carriage started to slow down again. This must be divine intervention or something at this point. I JUST WANT TO LEAVE!

“Why are we stopping?”

“Diva, do you honestly believe you can leave without going through a checkpoint? They gotta check for anything illegal or out of the ordinary like, I don’t know, a 7ft tall, 4-armed bug monster.”

…….SHIT! Damnit sally!

“Well, what do we do? If they see me or Azuura. We are screwed.”

“oh no. If only there was a person with a mastery of magical artefacts which could help.”

Penn went through the rings to Azuura and me.

“Put this on, and quickly. I see a guard approaching.”

I gave azuura a glance before I quickly slid on the ring. He did the same. Soon, dark smoke covered our bodies, smothering us from view, but just as quick as it came, it disappeared, revealing us to the world.

“It worked perfectly!” Penn exclaimed. Just what does she mean? Was there a chance these things wouldn’t have worked? And what the hell are these massive pair of orbs on my chest!

“what the...why do I have boobs?! And Hair? Are they disguises?”

“It’s a little bit more complex than that, but yeah. Ill give you the deets later.”

“Mother...help.”

I looked to the side, and my jaw dropped to the ground at the sight of him. Azuura was..... Hot. He had dark skin, a six-pack abs, and toned muscles that any girl would want. Coupled with his dark brown eyes and Short blonde hair, my son was a Lady killer. Why am I weirdly proud of this?

*knock* *knock* *knock*

We both glanced out the window. It was a guard.

“open up, security check”

Shit, what do we do....ermmm ahh.

“Open up now! Or I'll do it myself.”

I looked around for something to cover ourselves, but there was nothing. Shit how the heck do I.

“OPEN UP NOW!”

Before I could move, the door swung open.

“What are you hiding? Oh my God!”

Shit! Improvise!

“HOW RUDE. YOU AWFUL MAN. EXPOSING A WOMAN WHEN SHE IS NAKED.”

“GAHHHHAAA IM SORRY! But... why are you nak-“

“DOES IT MATTER WHAT ME AND MY HUSBAND IN OUR CARRIAGE? TELL ME IS IT A CRIME TO BE NAKED?”

The guard shrunk away a little bit. Good, I have the advantage. Push harder.

“WELL!”

“no, ma’am I just need to check you i-“

“AND NOW YOU WISH TO MOLEST ME. DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME YOU DEGENERATE FILTH”

“Please ma’am! I just need to see your ID!”

“FINE!” I looked around me when suddenly Penn passed me several silver pieces of metal with inscriptions carved onto them.”

Without questioning it, I took them and threw them at the man

“LET ME PASS THIS INSTANT OR ELSE I REPORT THIS TO YOUR SUPERIOR.”

The man scrambled to pick them up and quickly check them before instantly giving them back.

“Everything seems fine. You can go ma'am, and sorry!”

“HMMPH!” I Slammed the door shut, and a few moments later, the carriage lurched forward.

“Well, that worked a lot better than expected!”

“you know you could have me what the rings do penn”

“ I could, but this is a lot easier. They are the replacement for your mask. The whole point of the stupid mask was to hide your identity. So there you go.”

I let out a deep sigh and pulled off the ring, returning myself to normal. Azuura did the same. Creating a small dark cloud that filled the cabin

“And the pieces of metal?”

“ahh, those the inscriptions morph the metal plate into what the person seeing them expects to see. In this case, id.”

“That sounds… incredibly busted.”

“ha! I wish. It’s a novelty, really. It’s only good for quick glances like that; if he had inspected them properly, he would have noticed many discrepancies, such as spelling mistakes, nonsensical information and so on. And if he was like a wizard or something, that shit wouldn’t have even worked. So no, it's not as powerful as it sounds.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.” I let out a sigh as we finally left Doonvatel. Finally

 

......

 Penn’s log:

Summary of research on Alvearix Royal fly.

The royal flies are quite interesting on the surface. They look similar to regular house flies, but they are so much more. They are predators, for starters. One of the tests conducted involved leaving them in a vivarium with other much weaker insects. Within 3 hours, these 2 flies had systematically devoured every other insect. I was tempted to put them in a vivarium with something much stronger, but decided not to 1 because their mother would kill me if something happened, and 2 I think the result would be the same. Their strength does not come from their physiology, even though that in itself is impressive. The venom they produce is something I've never seen before.

(Side note: Attempts to synthesise a potent anti-venom were unsuccessful. Most test subjects would die before I could harvest a viable sample)

The true strength of the royal fly comes from their coordination, the way they seamlessly work together like one organism is… Beautiful and terrifying. I’m excited to see what else Diva has to offer me.