IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“I can't believe this…. In all my years of medicine. Just what did you do?”

“Can you please stop gawking and HELP HER!”

“Right… sorry. Aiesha! Get the trolly! We're going to transfer her! Quickly!”

The girl ran into the room with a special trolly. In no time, the 3 of us had her onto The trolly and moved her downstairs through the patient elevator.

“Quickly. Quickly get her onto the healing table.” The doctor said as he kicked the treatment room open

I Ran to the side of the trolly as I helped Aiesha shift her onto a table covered in runes. As soon as she landed, the runes started glowing a bright gold. The doctor ran over to her with a pair of scissors and started cutting off bandages.

“I need help! Both of you grab a pair and start cutting.”

Aiesha ran to the scissors whilst I went to her body and started slicing bandages with my sharp claws. The doctor looked at me briefly before shaking his head and returning to work. In no time, she was cut free.

“Aiesha! Help me. Do you remember the prayer?!”

“Yes!”

She ran to the doctor, and they both started holding hands. I took a step back as the two of them started chanting. The air in the room started to feel heavy. The chanting of the doctor and Aiesha got louder, and soon, golden mana began to rise from their feet.

“We send our prayers onto you, Great god of healing Eupharn. May your blessings flow into us and into our patients. We send our exhalations on to you, Eupharn.Eupharn EUPHARN!”

The room exploded with a large gust of gold mana. The mana rushed into the centre of the room and swirled into a tornado. The tornado dove down into her body.

“Eupharn! Hear our plea. Heal our patient with the overwhelming power of Thee!”

The man exploded with all the colours of the rainbow before immediately being sucked into her body. Her body became golden as the healing mana flowed through her veins. Slowly, the cuts and bruises started to stitch themselves back together.

“And now we wait.” The doctor said, breathing heavily, “Sorry, that took a lot out of me. Come, let's wait in the other room whilst she recovers.”

“No. I want the first thing she sees when she is better is me.”

The doctor smiled. “I see you have made up your mind.”He turned to walk out the door.

“Before you go, can I ask why  you didn’t heal her injuries before she woke up?”

“because it is usually better for the body to do its thing naturally. There are no studies saying using healing magic to rapidly heal you is bad for you; I can't imagine doing something like that can be good for you in the long term. Also, between you and me, I dislike the god Eupharn his scriptures are……” He shook his head. “It doesn't matter; personal feelings should not have a place in medicine.”

“Can you say that… about him? It sounds a lot like blasphemy to me.”

The doctor chuckled. “I don’t really think he cares.”

And without further word, he disappeared. I turned back to Apollinaris and waited. The gold mana was still circling around her petite body. I watched and waited, Waiting as her wounds slowly stitched together.

<Will big sis Apollinaris be okay, mother?>

I turned around to see one of my children hanging on top of my shoulder. Wait, I recognise this one.

<Werent, you supposed to be watching the girl who was racist towards Apollinaris?>

<Sorry I disobeyed your instructions, but I felt something was wrong, and I came as fast as I could.>

< It's fine; what did you discover?>

<She is a pretty rich girl who lives on the very far side of town, away from anyone else. She is an only daughter who lives in a large mansion with her father and their servants.>

<As expected…. So she will be an easy->

<However, there was something else as well. Something important.>

<Well…. Spill the beans…..>

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“Is my father in?” The girl said to one of her servants. I had been following her for the past couple of minutes now. From what I've been able to learn from her conversations, Her name is Elsie, and her father is some important government official, some sort of ambassador/envoy for the city of spirits.

“Yes, miss.”

“Good, let him know I want to see him. I have very important news.”

The man nodded, and the door to the house swung open. I briefly let go of her and flew up to get a better look at the building. It was a reasonably large mansion. I quickly flew around the mansion, noting any entrances, exits and anything Mother might find interesting. It turns out this mansion is very secure, with guards patrolling the area and the building itself surrounded by a large stone wall. Mother is going to have to be careful if she wants to break in. I flew back down towards the mansion and entered through a window, only to be met with a whole gang of guards. Why? Why do they need so much security? Thankfully, nobody looks twice at a fly moving around. I flew down another wide-open hall that led into a wide-open dining hall. There, I found the female; she was talking to a large man with long, flowing black hair and the same skin.

“Farther. They let one of those things into the town. We must-“

“I hear you, daughter. But you must remember we are not in the city. Those rules do not apply here. As long as she has some form of ID. She is equal to us. “

“EQUAL! Those creatures can't be equal. I REFUSE to accept it!”

“Yes, I understand. It disgusts me as much as it does you. But there isn’t much we can do about it .... in the open, at least.”

“What are you suggesting farther?”

“Don’t worry, I will speak to a few friends. She will be out of the way in no time. Heh, I might give her to that disgusting troll of a man, Titus.”

“Thank you, Father, but what about that woman, the one who grabbed my hand?”

“Ah, her. She will obviously have to pay for assaulting my daughter. But as of now, I have no clue who she is. We will watch the both of them for a while.”

 

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<After that, they stayed at home. The father mentioned something about going to a ball but got caught up doing work>

<I see>

So I have already made an enemy….Could they have been the ones who…. No, correlation does not imply causation. Besides blowing up the Ashdown ball just to kill 2 people, your daughter briefly met. Highly unlikely. However, his refusal to come to the ball…. Did he know something? Hmmmm Too many questions, not enough evidence. And besides, that isn't my biggest concern. Those fuckers after Apollinaris.

I balled my hands into a fist. I won't let anyone hurt her again, and the fuckers responsible for this. Count your days because you won't have long.

<Mother! Look! Big sis Apollinaris is.->

I snapped out of it just in time to see the gold mana around her disappear. I sprinted over to the table.

“Apollinaris? Are you there. Please say something!”

“Um..uh……ah”

Her eyes slowly opened.

“D…Diva....?”

“Yes..yes, it's me.”

“Oh…that’s good.”

“Here, let me help you..” I tucked my hand under her side and lifted her up.

“Thank you….”

She took several deep breaths as her body tried to keep up. Her eyes wandered the room as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“You’re in the doctor's main treatment room. I should go-“

“No! …… I want it to be just me and you for a while.”

I smiled as I brought he into a hug on my chest.

“I heard all of it, ya know,” She said.

“You did?”

“Yeah… was it true when you said you’ve fallen for me”

I smiled as Ieant over and kissed her on the lips. It was a long, passionate kiss as my tongue twisted and wrapped with hers. After what felt like an eternity, I pulled away.

“Does that answer your question?”

Her cheeks went bright red. “I’m not sure…. You might need to do it again…”

Before I realised, She planted her lips on mine. My hands moved up the side of her body as our kiss got deeper. Apollinaris leaned back, pulling me back with her. I climbed onto the table as her hands danced all down my back. My hands drifted down her back and towards her ass. I can't wait till the moment i-

“AHEM!”

My head snapped up.

“May I remind you that this is a clinic, not a place for……. That”

I frowned and slid off the table. Party pooper. I leaned over and gave Apollinaris one peck on the cheeks

“I guess we’ll just have to wait till we get home.”

“Ye-yeah…..”

The doctor shook his head and walked over to Apollinaris.

“I take it all your motor functions feel fine?”

Her cheeks went red as she nodded. The doctor then put her through a couple of examinations, checking her balance, hand-eye coordination and cognitive skills. The whole thing took what felt like an eternity.

“Are you done?”

The doctor nodded.

“Everything looks good. She can go home today. Can I have your address? I want to do scheduled visits in the coming months.”

“Ehhh, about that,” Apollinaris said.

“We're in the middle of moving at the moment, so…….”

“I see, well, 1 month from now, please come back, and I'll check up on you.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor nodded and left the room.

“Ermmmm, Miss. I err brought you both new sets of clothing and all of the stuff you came in with.”

We both turned to Aiesha. The girl was still shaking like a leaf. I guess I am not wearing my mask. “Thank you,” I said as I took the items out of her hand.

“er….ah…..No problem.” Before I could say anything, she bolted out of the room. I flicked through the clothes, separated the ones for Apollinaris, and gave them to her, including her purse.

“I'm surprised this survived.”

She quickly opened the purse And checked the insides.

“Don’t worry, everything is in here.”

“Good”

The both of us then quickly put our new clothes on and headed outside. I was wearing a long cloak with a simple tunic underneath whilst appolinaris. Had a light grey tunic and pants to accompany as well as a light grey cloak similar to mine

“Ah, you two look great.” The doctor said.

“Thank you,” I said as I slipped on my mask.

“Can I have the bag Mr Ashdown gave us yesterday?” I asked Appolinaris.

She nodded and quickly passed me the bag.

“Now, how much do I owe you,” I said.

“No, you don’t need-“

I placed 20 gold pieces on his table.

“Well, how could I say no to something this generous?”

“Doctor Nick,” Aiesha said in a disapproving tone.

“What?” He said sheepishly. We chuckled as Aiesha lectured him about greed as we left the clinic. Appolinarish wrapped my hands around hers as we walked down the nearly desolate street.

“It's so quiet,” She chimed.

“Yes, it is. I imagine after last night's events, people are staying indoors for their own safety. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a curfew in effect.” Apollinarish huddled up closer to me.

“I can't believe we're finally a thing.”

“Yes….. You’ve captured my heart. Please don’t hurt it.”

She gasped, “I WOULD NEVER!”

A Smile crept onto my face. As I brushed her hair.

“Thank you. But if we are a thing, are you okay with….”

“Yes, diva…. I know there are some things about you that can't change, and I've come to terms with that. I know I won't be the only person you will be….. Intimate with. Being with something means accepting the good and the bad that comes with it. ”

“Are you sure…. I could-“

“No…Diva. It's fine. all I ask is that you keep me as the only person here.” She placed my hands directly over my heart.

I pulled my mask to the side and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Of course.”

“Thank you, diva.” She took a deep breath in. “ I would love to spend the rest of the day with you, but I can't. There is something important that I think you have forgotten.”

“What could…” And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The newborns have probably been born by now.

”OH SHIT!”

“Go, you newborns need you.”

“But?!”

“Its fine.” Apollinaris stuck her hand out and hollered a passing carriage. “I'll head back to the hotel. Someone needs to pack our stuff after all. I'll see you at our new home.”

The carriage pulled up beside us.

“Jaded Rabbit Inn Please”

The driver nodded as she climbed in. “Goodbye, diva, and please, don’t let yourself get hurt.” She gave me a peck on the side of the mask before shutting the door. And before I knew it she was on her way.

My feet twisted on a dime as I ran towards the warehouse. I thought back to our conversation just now. She seems bolder now. I like it. Bah, Not the time to be gushing over her. I need to hurry. I hope nothing has gone terribly wrong whilst I was away.

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“AGHHAAAAAAAAA”

I pushed harder as more of my mother's love left me. I looked down. My body was covered in sweat and ached all over. I lost track of how many times I've given birth.

"Mother! Help! I'm sorry, please come back. Last night, Arron tried to" I shook my head. I don't wanna talk about it. His corpse in the corner was already too much of a reminder of what happened. My stomach churned.

"OH GAWD, IT HURTS ARGHHHHAAAA!" I pushed harder as I felt something start to peek out from below.

“Mother, hurry, Please! I'm scareAGHHAAAAAAA!!!!!!”