IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“Apollinaris, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.” I gently raised my hand and rubbed her shoulder. For the past half hour, I've sat here and done nothing but listen to her story, and boy, howdy, what a story. I kept rubbing her shoulder to calm her until she suddenly looked up at me. Her eyes were red with rage.

“Apoll-“

“WHY” She suddenly shot up and stared at me. Her face plastered with fury.

“WHAT DID ME AND MOM DO TO DESERVE THIS? WE WERE HAPPY. I WAS HAPPY. WAS BEING HAPPY A CRIME. WELL FUCK THEM. NO FUCK THAT ENTIRE CITY. THE WHOLE DAMN CITY SHOULD BE BURNED TO THE GROUND.”

She was nearly frothing at the mouth with rage. Is this really the same girl who was screaming and begging for help a few moments ago? This girl is unlike anything I've ever seen before. One things for sure, It would be a mistake to enslave her. Don’t get me wrong. I still want her, But not as someone below me, but as someone at my side. But let's not get too hasty; I still have to find out how her story ends.

“Are you okay? Have you let it all out?” I tentatively raised my hand to calm her. She was panting heavily, like a dog who had just finished playing fetch.

“Y- yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“It's fine, I get it. You’ve been through a lot. So, naturally some of it would be hard to talk about. Take some time to collect yourself.”

She nodded and took a few breaths trying her best to calm herself. Eventually, she took one last deep breath and sat down.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“No problem,” I said with a smile.

“You never finished your story. How did you escape the city?”

“Well, After mom passed, I went back home and quickly dug a shallow grave in the back to bury her. There was no gravestone or anything. Just a pile of rocks I was able to scrounge together. It was pathetic. She deserved better than what I was able to give her. “

Her rage started to show again, but she quickly smothered it.

“Once the “burial” was finished, I searched the house for anything valuable. There wasn’t much, of course, but I ended up taking the box of money mom left, some books I had from the academy library and also the deed to the house. Once I was set and ready. I said one last goodbye to mom and went to one of the local gang's she was close with. My goal was to ask them to smuggle me out of the city. They were apprehensive at first. They didn’t want to get the attention of the royal guard.”

“How did you convince them?” I asked.

“Money is a great motivator. I gave them everything. All the money mom left me, The books and especially the deed to the house. I think that was the thing that fully convinced them. Property always has shit tonnes of value.”

“How could you trust them? They were probably in on it as well. What was to stop them from handing you over to the royal guard for a reward.”

“I convinced them it would be a bad idea to do so.”

I folded my arms. “How did you do that?””

“It was nothing special really. I told them that the royal guard would just kill them all and take me if they did that. They are still criminals, after all. The royal guard wouldn’t sully their reputation and cut a deal with any gang. Let alone a gang of moon spirits. It also helps that the royal guard outnumbers them 1: 100 and would mop the floor with them. It was better for the both of us if they just smuggled me out. I get what I want. They get a load of money and a house. It was a win-win.”

I softly clapped my hands and nodded. “Well played.”

“Thank you,” She said, a small smile crept onto her face

“so, What do you plan to do now?”

“What do I do now?” She paused and looked up towards the sky. A range of emotions went across her face. She stayed like that for a few seconds before looking back down at me with Tears streaming down her face.

 

“I…I don’t know…………….. A part of me wants to fulfil my mother's wish, but there is this other part that just burns with rage, a part that I know won't rest until I have-“

“Revenge”, I interjected.

She nodded. “Yes, that. That’s what I yearn for. I would become the devil itself for a shot at revenge. But no matter how much I want it. I could never do it. I'm just one person. A stupid, weak, powerless person who couldn’t even save her mother. “

“Well, you're not alone anymore. I'm with you.”

“W- what”

 “and your powerlessness and weakness? I will turn you into the strongest, most feared person around. Apollinaris, you and I are a lot alike.”

 “why? Why would you help someone you just met, and why should I trust you? The last people I trusted sold me out. How do I know you won't do the same.”

“Because unlike most. I understand the feeling of being betrayed by the people closest to you.” I moved closer towards her.

 “This world has nothing but contempt for people like us. If we are not careful, we will be used and discarded whenever it's convenient. For us to survive in this world, we need power. We need each other. I need you.” I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“you need me? Why? What are you planning?”

I sighed, raised my head and looked square into her eyes.

“I plan to make this world mine and mine alone. I will bring every other insignificant, annoying, piece of shit race under my foot. My goals are ambitious, and I’m smart enough to know I can’t achieve them entirely on my own. I will need assistance; I need you.”

I offered her my hand. This is a bold move to tell her my goals like this, but my gut is telling me this is the best move to make. Let's hope it's not wrong. She kept looking between my hand and my face for a few moments before finally settling on my face. If I could sweat, I probably would be by now. I don’t want to have to force her to my side. It would be ideal to have her choose to be with me willingly.

She took one step away and opened her mouth

“Your completely fucking insane.”

 My heart sank. Dammit. I didn’t want to resort to Force, but it looks like I have no other option. My pincers started to tense up. Ready to attack when suddenly, she moved closer and shook my hand and smiled.”

“And I guess I'm insane too, for accepting your proposal. I'll join you, but I have one condition.”

My pincers relaxed as relief washed over me. This is good, very good. It's better this way. But let's not get too excited. Let's see what her conditions are.

“Thank you, what are your conditions?”

“you sign a mutually binding contract with me.”

“ mutually binding? What is that?”

She sighed, “You really aren't from here, are you. Well, let me explain. There are loads of different contracts, but the main 2 types you should be aware of are the master and servant contract and the mutually binding contract. The former, master and servant, gives full control of the servant to the master. And when I say full control. I mean full control. If the master were to order the servant to count all the grains of salt in a salt shaker or fill an athletic swimming pool with a teaspoon, the servant would do it. No questions. ”

“That sounds awful.”

“It gets worse. The master has control of all aspects of the servant, from their wants, desires and beliefs. If a master wanted his servant to believe they were a god or believe in a certain god. The servant would believe it wholeheartedly. Luckily, these sorts of contracts are hard to form. You either have to willingly sign yourself into it, or you force it upon them by breaking that person's will, which is easier said than done. Any sort of resistance and the contract will not form, but once formed, they are unbreakable.”

I listened in silence. This really puts my and Cindi’s relationship into context. I own every part of her. She must have been desperate to offer this. No sane person would give away their free will like that. Just what happened between her and the other gods that she’d be willing to give even that up for a shot at revenge. This is something I’ll have her tell me when she wakes up.

“And what about the mutually binding contract.”

“they are made to bind 2 or more parties to an agreement that they all made. The contract won’t work if all parties don’t agree on the terms of the agreement but once created and accepted by all parties, they all must follow the agreement to the letter or  until the contract is complete or face a severe penalty.”

“Such as.”

“Death in most cases, but the parties involved can specify what they want it to be.”

“I see, so what do you propose.”

“My proposal is simple. You help me take revenge on the city, and I will offer all my skills and knowledge to help you achieve your goal. Additionally, you and I can’t lie to each other. I'm open to anything new, but the lying part has to stay. I won’t budge on that. I’m pretty sure you can understand why.”

“Hmmm, how about you add we can't lie or betray each other. Just because you can’t lie doesn’t mean you can't betray me.”

“Define betray. I'm sorry this part is a little bit too vague for my tastes. ”

“To do anything that actively stops the other from achieving their stated goals.”

“That’s acceptable. Fine, How about we add that we can't hurt each other.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s a bad idea. I don’t plan on hurting you, but if someone finds out about this contract, they may use that part against us.”

“Like how?”

“I don’t know. But why should we risk it? The no lying part is already something that will already cause problems, but I can see you won't budge on that.  ”

She pondered for a bit, then sighed.

“Yeah. It makes sense. We don’t know what we’ll be up against. We should have as many options as possible on the table. Anything else you wanna add?”

I shook my head. “No”

“To summarise our contract. I will give you all of my skills, knowledge and talents in exchange for you helping me get my revenge on that city. During this contract, we can not lie or do anything that actively stops the other from achieving their stated goals. Does that sound good to you?”

“Yep, that’s fine. So how do we do this?”

“Give me your hands.”

I placed my hands over hers. She closed her eyes and started chanting in some weird tongue. Mana flew from her hands and wrapped itself around my palms. Mana began to swirl and form a circle ar around us. Her eyes snapped open. Gone were her dark brown eyes; instead, they now glowed an earthly green.

“Diva” Her voice had a ghostly echo behind it. “I offer to form a contract with you.”

Her body started glowing with a green aura, and her hair started flapping around.

“In exchange for you helping me get revenge against the city of spirits. I will lend all my skills, knowledge and talents to help you achieve your goals. During this contract, we cannot lie or do anything that actively stops the other from achieving their stated goals. Do you accept the terms of this contract?”

I took a deep breath and firmly Gripped her hands. No turning back now. “Yes”

Suddenly the circle of mana around us erupted into multiple shades of green and rushed into the centre of us. My hands felt like they were on fire as more and more mana rushed into the centre, morphing into a chain. The chain slowly grew until it connected the two of us. Suddenly, There was a burst of green mana from the chain that nearly knocked me off my feet as the chain faded out of existence.

“It is done” The green in her eyes disappeared, as did the green on her hands.

 

“That wasn't too bad, " I said, whilst repeatedly curling my hands into and out of a fist. My hands still had the burning sensation to them, But other than that, I didn't feel much different. The only thing of note was that I now had some connection with apollinaris, Like a part of her was with me in my soul. Not doing anything, just there.

“East for you to say” I looked towards her, Her face was completely drenched in sweat, and her legs wobbled, barely able to hold her up. I rushed to her side and helped her stand up.

“Damn, contract took all the mana out of me. Gotta place where I can rest?”

“Yeah, it's not too far from here. I'll tell you my story on the way there, seeing how you told me yours.”

I slung her arm over my shoulder as we made our way home.

Meanwhile, in the city of spirits…..

My hand wrapped around the chilled wine glass filled with a ruby red liquid. It was an old vintage my father left me after he passed away. I raised it and took a sip. It had a sweet aroma and bitter, nutty aftertaste. Truly a good vintage.

“Is everything okay?”

I looked over to Angus, my head of security. He wore his gilded golden armour and had his large war axe by his side. I hate to admit it, but that armour worked really well with his fiery red hair.

“Yes, I'm fine; what makes you think I'm not.”

“Well, you're on your 6^th glass, and you’ve done nothing but stare out that window since I've got here. It's clear something is bothering you, Annie, so what is it?”

“It’s Anastasia, I'm queen now. You can’t call me that.” I  told him. He just raised his hand and dismissed it.

“Whatever, and besides, it’s just you and me up here. So come on, spill it”

I put the glass back down on the table. The table was a work of art the previous queen had made. It was a testament to how skilled and capable the people in this city were.

“I'm just worried.”

“About what?”

“This city and its people.”

He looked at me confused and then started to laugh. “What’s there to be worried about? The economy is doing great, the citizens are happy, and the Forrest has never been healthier. It's all looking up for the city.”

“Yeah, it is. But I worry that won't be the case for much longer.” I turned to look back out into the city. The sun was setting, and the lights in all the homes were starting to switch on.

“What do you mean? Is there some new threat. I shall mobilise the guar-“

“No, don’t do that, you Buffoon. There isn't a threat attacking us now. It's just that Lately, I've been having nightmares.”

“Nightmares, really, Annie. Is that what's got you worked up, a stupid nightmare.”

“Stop calling me Annie, and just listen.” I reached over and took another sip of wine.

“In my nightmare, I see every part of our city burning. Our people scream and run as a never-before-seen enemy marches through our streets, slaughtering men, women and children. Those who are unlucky enough to be left alive are captured and enslaved, used for horrors I can't even begin to describe with words. And The one spearheading this attack. The one who is responsible for these atrocities is one girl, a Moonspirit, but she didn’t look like any I've ever seen before.”

“In what way?”

“I don’t know, but I always just had this feeling she was different. In my dreams, she was always covered in shadows. The only thing that stood out was her eyes. They were completely black an empty void devoid of any feelings of empathy or love. She stood and watched as this all happened.”

My body started shaking.

“Every night for the past couple of days, I've had this nightmare. The look in her eyes haunts me daily. Do you think it has something to do with the prophecy? The one, my forefathers, foretold?”

Angus sat back in his chair. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. All I can tell you is that no matter what, the royal guard and I will defend this city even if it kills us. I would never let that happen. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “Thanks, that’s nice to hear.”

“Your welcome, however, just because I am willing to lay everything on the line to defend my home. That doesn't mean we shouldn’t be proactive. We should take every measure possible to prevent this from happening.”

“what do you have in mind?”

“I propose to cull the moons spirit district. I know it's an extreme option, but this is an extreme problem. I believe this would be the best action to prevent this dream from coming true.”

I sat and pondered what he had told me. I would be lying if I said I hadn't already considered it. But I feel like it would only cause more problems than it would fix.

“I see and understand your reasoning, but I have to decline. It would just cause more problems than it would fix. As much as I hate to say it, the city and this Forrest need those mushies alive to help keep the balance in the Forrest healthy. We don’t want a repeat of the past. ”

He leaned back and grunted. “Then what do you propose.”

“Hmmmm, up the surveillance on the moon spirit district. I want eyes and ears everywhere down there. If a mushy farts, I wanna know about it. You understand”

He nodded, “As you wish, my queen.” He stood up and bowed and then left, leaving me alone. My hand wrapped around the wine glass and raised it for another sip. Let's just hope my paranoia is just that, paranoia.

END OF ARC 1