Chapter 65: Blood

Sally pov:

What is this feeling... I feel so... Alive! For the first time in what feels like ages. I felt my sharp….Fangs? I have fangs now....or did I always have them? I can’t remember, Bah, what does it matter. Fangs or no fangs. All that matters now is how GOOD I feel. I feel like a man dying of thirst finally having a glass of water. Nothing can stop me now! I could jump over the moon!

I let go of his limp, shrivelled-up body and watched as it landed on the ground with a dull thud. Instantly, a large group of flies swarmed all over the body.

<Sally, are you feeling okay?>

<OKAY MOTTHER?! I feel better than okay. I've never felt this good in all my life!>

I turned around to see my Mother. My beautiful, loving Mother. Was she always so beautiful? Thinking about when was the last time we properly enjoyed each other company? Yes, it has been a while. So long intact. Maybe I should-

<SALLY!>

<Hmmm. Yes Mother?>

<I asked you if that’s enough blood or do you need more?>

<No, that’s plenty, Mother. Any more, and I feel it may ruin this amazing feeling.>

Temporary buff added: Blood Boon

Having filled your body with the concoction of life, you have empowered yourself to heights never experienced before. Albeit Temporarily

(Gain a temporary 50% buff to all your stats for 3 hours

New ability added: Blood reading.

Your understanding of blood goes to an instinct, allowing you to identify ailments and different elements in someone's blood.

(ingesting someone's blood allows you to learn about any ailments they have.)

New ability added: blood sac.

Blood is such an important part of your life. It would make sense to store some of it for later

(Your body can now store blood to be used later or for sustenance. Max capacity 500ml)

New ability added: Blood nexus

Your journey and understanding of blood begins here. Experiment and explore to unlock the true potential of this ability

So annoying! I swiped the screens away. I don’t care about any of that. All I care about and want now is my Mother.

<Mother…>

<Yes, Sally.>

I walked up to her and wrapped my hands around hers. They were so cold and yet warm at the same time.

<Please Mother….Diva. It's been so long since we last did it. Please. I can't..>

<Sally, what has gotten into you? Has all that blood fried your brain?! We have lots of important stuff to do.>

<Please….diva>

<……this daughter of mine…>

Before I could react, my back was against the far wall. <If you want such a thing, your going to have to beg harder…>

<please….Diva….Please. I want no need you. It's been so long. I can't hold on anymore. I'll do anything and everything you want. I won't question it...please, mother>

Mother wrapped her hands around my face and moved in closer. <That’s a lot better> And before I realise she planted her lips on mine…

The next morning…..

Diva pov:

I woke up to the sight of a very happy and very pregnant sally sleeping next to me. I don’t know what got into her yesterday. But it’s good to know she is feeling better.

<Hmmmm mother> She said whilst sleeping. This girl. I really am the centre of her life. To have someone who loves me so… unconditionally is weird. I mean, I made her that way…Or did I? The more I live and see her develop and grow. The more I feel like she always wanted this sort of life. A life where she can be a daughter with a loving mother. It might explain why she does so much for me. Which is funny because originally, she was just meant to be another hole for me to use and discard once she reached her maximum usefulness. Now she's more to me. I don't know exactly what she is to me, But one thing for sure…is I think I want to get to know her better. She calls me Mother, but I don’t even know her birthday. I dont even know what her interests and ambitions are. But that can all be done later. There is no rush at the moment.

A sigh escaped me as I slid out of the makeshift bed we made in the training room. I hope the construction finishes soon because I’m tired of living like a squatter in my house.

I stood up and left Sally in bed. She is going to be out of it for a while. Let's just say Sally and I had a very wild night. I took the nearby stairs and headed upstairs to the 1st underground floor. Which was now empty of all the rubble and books, Leaving it completely barren. Well, minus the 2 makeshift nurseries that have been made.

<Azuura’s been busy>

<That I have Mother….> I turned around in time to see him followed by an entourage of workers.

<it took a lot of work, but we finally cleared the place.>

<Where did you end up putting all the rubble anyway?>

<We did what we always do. We ate anything organic we found, and anything we could use was crushed and used to help reinforce the tunnel walls.>

<Ah, well. It's nice to know nothing went to waste. Also, thank you for yesterday. It must have been hard moving all those crates.>

<Not at all, Mother. Nothing is too hard for us. If Mother wants it, we will make it happen>

I smiled and pulled him into a hug.

<GAHHH MOTHER STOP!!!!!!>

<Oh, don’t be like that. I know you like it, and you're just so sweet and HANDSOME!> He struggled a little bit but quickly managed to break away and retreat behind his brothers, who glared in jealousy.

<Don’t be like that. I love you all just the same. C’mere all of you> In an instant I was jumped by 4 workers. Hahaha. I will never get bored of doing this. After a few moments of hugging, I pushed them away and sent them off to do some work. My attention came back to the nursery, where there was a mix of still squirming larvae and cacoons of children ready to hatch.

<Mother, How are you this morning?>

< I'm fine. I just got a question. Are we missing a few children, or am I going crazy>

<I assure you mother is not crazy. As for my missing brothers. They hatched. They fully hatched when you were asleep and took up guard duties of the hive. They now watch the perimeter from the sky.>

< I see……>

I closed my eyes and accessed the hive weave. My brain exploded as tons of information filled my head. Ooft, I forgot how straining it can be to access the weave like this. I shook the awful feeling off and quickly searched for one of the nearby Spitters.

<He will do.>

I activated my [hive link], and my vision soon mixed with his.

<Mother?>

<Hello, just contacting to say hi. You all left before I could meet. Is everything okay?>

<Sorry Mother… I can come back and- >

<No, it's fine. I'm just happy you are all safe. I was worried where you were for a second. One of the nurses told me you are watching the perimeter. Is that correct?>

<Yes, Mother, Nothing alarming so far. The builders are back and working diligently. However, I noticed something odd.>

<What is it?>

<A lot of the builders have these green bracelets on their wrists.>

Wait what? They are using slaves to rebuild this place. I guess that makes sense for people like Andre. You can't trust regular contractors to not talk. Still, I should still stay hidden. Whilst the slaves won't freely spill the beans, they can, however, be forced to, and frankly, the less ammo Titus has against me, the better.

<Thank you for the update. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, okay?>

<Yes Mother.>

The connection faded, and I found myself in a familiar room cancelled the connection. It feels nice to have a semi-working hive. However, we still have much room to grow. And Speaking of growth. How big has my hive grown in the past few days? I sat down and pulled up the hive management screen.

HIVE STATS

EGG SPECIALISATION

: UNIT TYPES :

SELF IMPREGNATION

HOST IMPREGNATION

543? That doesn’t make sense. From my count, it should be 573 unless it's not counting the 30 eggs I put in Sally. Yes, that makes sense. They can't be part of the population if they aren't born yet. That’s good to know, so I have 543 children scurrying around. Well, actually, the real number is more akin to 143. I have 400 royal flies living in me thanks to the [living hive] ability. So technically, there are 143 Children I've brought into this world. I let out a sigh. While 143 is a good number, it's not enough because I will be leaving quite a few here to help defend and manage this house while I'm gone. I think at the original hive, I have around 30, which is not good.

I closed the menu and stood up. Whelp, I guess for the first few weeks, I’ll be doing nothing but breeding myself and those 3 no 4 girls. How could I forget about Ali. My first. It has been a while since I last tormented her. I have a lot to catch up on. How exciting. And speaking of excitement, there is something or someone who is due to return today. Yes, I can feel it. Apollinaris is nearly finished cooking. Soon tonight. I will finally be able to see her again. I must prepare.

A few hours later…..

Apollinaris pov:

How long has it been… a few hours..days… I don’t know. It's been so long..or so short. It's weird being in here. Time starts to twist and not make sense any more. I twisted my body to the side, making myself more comfortable. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. The last thing I remember is Diva stuck her pincers in me, and everything went dark, but even in that darkness, I could still feel that she was with me by my side. It was nice…I felt…safe. However, before I could fully settle in next to her, she disappeared, leaving me alone… Well, mostly alone. Every now and again, I would get these weird images and hear a voice asking me to choose what I liked the most out of those images. None of it made sense, but it was a fun experience. I like what I chose, and I hope Diva likes them as well.

I felt the darkness around me twist and contract. What's going on now? Is it time for me to leave? I don’t know if Diva has finally returned. The darkness twisted again and again, becoming more and more unstable. I think my time to leave has arrived. Yes, I think it's time for me to return to the real world. I will miss this place. Its….Relaxing. I reached forward and touched the twisting darkness, causing it to explode into brilliant white light, and soon I was back in my room.

Meanwhile, in the city of spirits…

“AGHHHHHHAAAAAAA!”

“Your Highness, what's wrong!” screamed several attendants as they burst into the room.

My heart raced as it pumped chilled blood around my body. That nightmare….. it came to me again. But so much worse. What could have happened? Why now?

“Your Highness! Is everything okay-“

“NO! NOTHING IS OKAY YOU IGNORRANT FOOLS. “ I screamed at the imbecile who asked that question.

“You! Get me, Angus. He is to meet me in my quarters immediately!”

“Yes, Your Highness!” They said, scurrying out of the room like rats. I need Angus here now! and I need him fast!

……

*Tap,tap tap,tap,tap*

“Your Highness. While I understand the seriousness of this situation, tapping your throne like that won't make him appear any faster.”

I glared towards my secretary. “I can't just sit here and do nothing! This is serious. The fate of our people is at stake here.”

“I agree, however, you need to be-“

*BANG*

The throne room doors swung open as an army of men in red armour swarmed the room.

“Your Highness. I came as fast as I could and mobilised as many troops as I could.”

“The troops won't be necessary. All of you out. Now!”

Everyone flooded out of the room in no time, leaving me alone with Angus.

“Annie, what's the matter.”

“It's that dream. I had another one, and it was way worse.”

Angus let out a sigh. “Annie, you can't be stirring up the city because of a bad dream.

“Angus, listen. I saw this city in flames, our people butchered. I saw you and me dead at the feet of this mushy….Or creature, I don’t know. It wasn’t like a regular one. All I know is that it was lethal and uncaring.”

His face briefly flashed with concern before returning back to normal. “Whilst concerning Annie. You can't do what you just did. It does not lo-“

“There was something else, another person; no creature would be more accurate. It was tall and had a tail. This creature… had an army. An army that dwarfed ours. An army filled with creatures that we haven't seen before…… We won't survive. Not as we are.”

Angus let out a concerned sigh. “What do you want to do?”

“Sure, up our defences and start a recruitment drive. I want as many fighting-age people ready to fight at a moment's notice.

“Annie… that won't be popular with the people.”

“SCREW POPULARITY! I AM DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR OUR SURVIVAL. THEY CAN CALL ME THE DEVIL FOR ALL I CARE… they all will understand when we defeat our enemy.”

“I understand, Annie, but listen to me. We are moving too fast. We will mobilise our armies but slowly. We have to focus on the stability of our home. Do you even know when this enemy will arrive? Please, Annie. We can't act rash here.”

I let out a deep sigh. He’s right. These dreams have been plaguing me for a while. My judgment hasn’t been the best lately.

“Annie” Angus said, walking up to my side. “I won't let the dream come true. Not in my life.”

“….Thank you angus… It meams so much….”

Meanwhile, at Apollinaris's old academy……

Principle Pov:

“And that’s the last of the school reports.”

“Good. Thank you for your work. I'll take a look at that later.”

A long sigh escaped her. “Faylen…Are you still thinking about that mush-“

I glared towards her, “Moon spirit?” she finished off.

“A student goes missing. It is my duty as a principal to find her whereabouts. It's been almost 2 months or so.”

Selphie sighed as she moved behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I always liked that about Faylen. You care a lot. But you have to move on. It's not healthy to obsess like this.”

“It's not an obsession. The events leading to her demise are suspicious. I think she might have bee-“

*BANG* Selphie’s hand slammed Apollinaris' file onto the table. “Come on, Faylen, don’t do this tonight. Let's do something more….interesting.” Her hand moved away from the book and towards my crotch. “I've always wanted to do it inside the school halls.” Her hands briefly caressed my crotch before moving up to unbutton my shirt. Instantly, one of my hands grabbed hers. “I Think you should leave Selphie.”

“tch, Unbelievable,” She quickly pulled her hands away and stormed towards the door.

“Selphie, wait!”

“What!”

“Sorry. But I can't. Not whilst I feel something bad is going on.”

She rolled her eyes and left the room. I guess she’s still angry. I picked up the Apollinaris file and looked it over again. I've looked through all her work for any clue, but nothing. All I've learnt is that Apollinaris was truly gifted with intelligence and magical aptitude. There's work here that is better than some teachers in this academy. Her understanding and use of nature magic are unparalleled; she is almost as good as me. If she was born a pure spirit…… I shook my head. That's not important. What is important is that she is missing, and I feel that petulant child Angus had something to do with it. I want to confront him, but he’s so close to Princess, no Queen Anastasia. Haha. I'm getting old.

I looked through her personal file, which contained all her details, such as her address and birthdate.

“12 Chanterale close huh…I might have to pay that address a visit sometime.”

**********

Meanwhile, in Doonvatel. In the house of a certain Pure spirit....

“DAMMIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ARE ALL MISSING!”“I mean, they are all missing.”

“HOW!? HOW DO THE BEST ASSASSINS IN THE CITY FUMBLE KILLING ONE GIRL”

The intermediary shrunk back a little. Bah, this fool. He told me King and his gang were the best, but clearly not how they could fail so miserably.

“Relax. Ahab. Relax. We will get her in time.” I Glared towards the pure spirit in the corner. This guy, this thorn that appeared in my side. He is the one who spoiled my plans. I wanted to watch and find out more before attacking. But noooo. He wanted to have her killed as soon as possible! Of all the people, why did it have to be someone from the ministry?

“HOW CAN YOU BE RELAXED! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS PUNISH THAT STUPID MUSHY FOR INSULTING MY DAUGHTER. IT WAS SIMPLE, BUT THEN YOU MINISTRY PEOPLE HAD TO GET INVOLVED AND-“

“ENOUGH!”

A cold burst of air exploded out around the room. The intermediary backed away.

“You out!” He snapped towards the intermediary, and in an instant, he left the room.

“Mind how you speak to me, Ahab. One word from me and the lavish lifestyle you enjoy as a representative of the city of spirits vanishes. You understand”

Anger bubbled underneath me. I wanted to snap back, but I knew better. I don’t have the authority to do so.

“Just tell me why… Why does the ministry care so much as to send one of their best agents to get one mushy?”

The reason is not important. All that matters to me is that you do as you're told, do you understand?

“…..Yes sir….”