Called Away on Business

Two months passed and nothing out of the ordinary occurred since the subjugation and my evolution. The ants were still slowly rebuilding our home, Terre and I are still training and getting stronger while Mother usually oversees us.

One day however, something strange happened. Me and Mother were walking to the plains to go hunting together, Terre was inspecting the progress of her minions separate from us, when something came flying towards us.

"Sqawk!"

An eagle like bird swoops down at us. It had beautiful golden and black feathers and deep intelligent eyes.

"Ah, it's Galthea." Mother says as she looks up to the now rapidly approaching bird. She sticks her arm out and the bird seems to direct its landing towards it.

"Sqawk!" It shrieks as it lands.

Mothers strokes it on its back gently, I note that there is a parchment that seems to be attached to its leg. Mother notices to, then takes the piece of paper off of the leg and opens it up.

"Whose bird is that Mother? And what does the piece of paper say?" I ask curiously.

"Hmm? Oh this happens to be one of Grandmothers favourite pets. Her name is Galthea and she is a Golden Pride Eagle, she often uses her to deliver important messages to people. She trusts her with sometimes vital information, so it shows how much she values her."

"Sqawk!" The bird almost seems to happily agree with what Mother says, I swear I could see it nod joyfully.

"As for what it says… hmm I am afraid I will have to go see Grandmother for a little bit. It seems rather urgent too, so it looks like I will have to leave today in fact."

"Oh? How long will you be gone Mother?"

"A couple of weeks at least I think."

Hmmm the thought of Mother leaving does make me feel kind of sad, I know Terre will still be here but… Mother has always been with me since day one of me getting here… But I have to be strong, it's not like I have become a mother-con or something��� Right?

"Haah maybe I should just decline, I'm not sure if I can be away from my Alicia for that long…"

"I understand how you feel Mother, but wouldn't that upset Great-Grandmother? You have said that she is rather scary when she is upset or angry."

"Urgh… Yes… I suppose you are right Alicia… Tch this sucks." Mother says, realising that she doesn't want to get Great-Grandmother upset, as well as being slightly irritated that she has to leave.

We then set off to let Terre know what was going on.

While we are walking, I ask Mother why I cannot just go with her to see Great-Grandmother.

"Hehe the thing is, I have not actually seen Grandmother since before I was even pregnant with you Alicia. I don't know how she will react, I mean she had other grandchildren and perhaps great grandchildren, but I think it will be to big of a shock to just turn up with a new great grandchild for her." Mother says while rubbing her head embarrassedly with a difficult expression on her face.

"Plus if this job turns out to be something to do with fighting another being, the thing I have to fight will most likely be a lot more powerful then you. It just would not be safe for you to go at the moment Alicia, I am sorry." Mother continues sadly.

"It's okay Mother! I understand, I will just have to keep our home safe until you return right!" I say happily, trying to pick up Mothers mood.

It works as well, as Mothers expression brightens up immediately. Her eyes sparkle as she pulls me towards her, into her large hug.

"Uuuuu Alicia! I will be sure to hurry back once I have seen to what Grandmother wants! So don't worry I will be back in no time!" Mother says reassuringly.

That makes me happy, but...

"Mother… too tight…"

…

After escaping death by Mothers chest yet again, we made our way to meet Terre. She was currently in the large central square in the city, where the old disused water fountain is.

When we begin to approach her, I notice she is staring at the water fountain.

"Hey Terre, watcha doing?" I ask while walking to her side.

"Hmm? Ah Lady Alicia and Lady Petra. I am just thinking how beautiful this area must have been before it was abandoned. Since I have evolved, I seem to have grown an appreciation towards art and that sort of thing. Before, I would not have given it much thought, but now I feel like I would love the chance to restore the beauty this place must have once had." Terre says thoughtfully.

Well her personality seems to have developed further. Hmm so she wants to fully restore this place huh...

"Umm if you want to try, go for it? You have our permission, right Mother?" I ask turning my gaze towards Mother.

"Hehe of course, we trust you a lot Terre. So make our home as beautiful, if not more beautiful then it once was a long time ago." Mother says and gives a lovely smile.

Terre was initially shocked by our show of faith in her to the extent that she can design and rebuild this once beautiful city that Mother and I have called home. But her shock soon turns to a beautiful smile.

"Fufu thank you, my Lady's." She replies.

Once we got past that rather sappy exchange, we told her about Mothers circumstances.

The fact that she has to leave for a few weeks at least and how the protection of the home will be down to Terre and me.

"I see… Do not worry Lady Petra, no harm will come to Lady Alicia while I am around. As allies in the cuteness of Lady Alicia, this I swear to you."

"Fufu if you are swearing upon that, then I will take your word for it."

They both make some weird promise before Mother heads back home to prepare for her trip to see Great-Grandmother.

With Mother preoccupied with that, Terre instead comes with me to the plain to practice. We spend the rest of the day fighting various creatures that wander out of the forest.

Once the sun begins to set, we head back home.

As we approach the castle walls, I see Mother all prepared to get going on her trip. She seems to have a small bag with her, I wondered if it was not to far away considering the size of her luggage. But I decided that could not be as Mother would definitely not be away for that long if not.

I decide to leave that thought to one side for now and just focus on saying my goodbyes.

It kind of makes me a bit emotional to see her leaving, even if it is only for a few weeks.

I run up to Mother and give her a massive hug. I couldn't and did not want to stop myself and I squeeze her tightly.

"Hurry back won't you Mother?" I say as I look up at her face.

"Hehe of course, I shall see you soon Alicia." She says as she rubs my head.

Before she leaves, she officially makes me Acting Queen of our territory. Apparently, I could see statistics relating to our kingdom through my status board she tells me.

She then says her goodbyes to me and Terre, manifests her wings and begins to fly away from our mountain range.

Seeing her leave just made me more emotional, but I did not show it. I needed to be strong and not worry Mother or Terre while I am Acting Queen. I had to prove myself worthy of the position.

Terre wraps two of her arms around me and pulls me close as we watch Mother fade into the distant sky. We then head back inside the castle and go to sleep for the night.

---

The next morning, I was still pretty down about Mother leaving.

So Terre suggested we go for a little exploration of the rest of our territory. There was still a lot of ground I had yet to explore so I thought it would be a good way to get my mind off of this sad feeling inside me.

Terre and I then got ready and left to go to the areas yet to be seen by me.

Terre made sure to have set the Warrior, Worker and Giant Ants off on there jobs of rebuilding and patrolling the area around our home. We then walked out of the, largely repaired, front gate, and head into the forest.

"Okay my Lady, I had noted a few points of interest when I was fleeing my previous nest. So I think I can take us to a few new locations that you have yet to see."

"Sounds good. Let's head to the first one then." I say asking Terre to lead the way.

Terre complied and we headed to the first location of interest.

This first place was an abandoned mine that must have been used by the people who used to live in my home. It had some minerals inside, so it had yet to be dried up. As we were looking around, we eventually came to a large area at the end of the mine.

"Hmm this looks like the end of the mine, shall we head ba…"

"SCREEEE!"

Just when we were about to leave, a large spider dropped down from the ceiling of this large area. It was very large in comparison to either Terre or me in my humanoid form. It had large hairy legs and torso as well as glowing red eyes. It seemed like a much larger version of the spiders I occasionally fight in the plains.

"Hehe a little battle to take my mind off things wouldn't be to bad." I say as I give a big grin.

"Very well my Lady. Just don't take to long, we have a few other places to visit today." Terre says giving her approval to my fight.

"Not a problem!" I shout as I bring out my Spirit Weapon and charge towards the Giant Spider.

The battle did not last long at all. Besides being large, it had no advantage over me at all. I was stronger and faster than it and I quickly sliced it to pieces with my scythe.

"Very well-done Lady Alicia." Terre congratulates me as I return back to her.

We then exit the mine and start to head towards the next location.

The other locations did not have any big fights in them unlike in the cave, if you can call that a big battle anyway.

One of the places she took me to was a large lake that was deeper in the mountains. This then run all the way to the waterways back at the castle and in the city. It was beautiful and serene, with long lush grass and large trees surrounding the lake that was gorgeous and blue.

After a little bit of admiring, we head off the next location.

It seemed to be a small village. Like all the over man-made places around here, it had long since been abandoned by those who lived here.

I looked around, there seemed to be a well that still had plenty of water within it as well as large overgrown trees that bore edible fruits.

The small houses that were slowly falling apart had various pieces of furniture you would expect to find in a house. I also found some toys that looked like they were for children but are left unused. The village gave off an eerie feeling as a place like this, it felt like it should be bustling with life.

I wonder why this place was abandoned. It had the resources to support life here so something must have happened to force them away from this idyllic setting.

After a little while, I informed Terre that I was done exploring the village.

"Right my Lady, I believe that was all of the places that I noted when I first arrived in this area."

Terre informed me that we had been everywhere that she found that was worth exploring.

Huh I suppose it was fun and took my mind off of things for a little while, I thought.

"Okay, then lets head bac…"

*rustle, rustle*

I was just about to suggest heading back, when I heard something approaching us from out of the forest.

"Terre be on guard, something is coming."

*Rustle, Rustle*

The rustling and footsteps became louder and louder until…

…

A large group of Red Foxes?