The Spider Queen

There was no proof just yet that the little girl was the one responsible for turning the female shadow guard into a puppet.

But Sophie's suspicion was based on Cleo's theory which made sense.

Something must have happened to the shadow guard after she had rescued the child since Sophie did not detect any danger coming from her body.

As far as Sophie knew, the shadow guard should have taken the child to the police station to find her parents and then somewhere along the way she was attacked.

Or maybe she was attacked on the way back to the hovercar?

Sophie furrowed her brows as she realised maybe her guess was not a foolproof as she initially assumed.

It was impossible to know how many people the shadow guard encountered or who they were now that she was dead.

"Fuck… I should have controlled myself," Sophie muttered quietly as she stared at the corpse on the ground.

Her instincts were honed from the months that she had spent in the Unovan Syndicate and now she responded to any threat by immediately trying to eliminate the danger.

She did work on her response with Doctor Reynolds but clearly, she still had a long way to go.

The hybrid girl leaned against the chair and reached into her storage bag to pull out two Grade S nutrient vials.

She needed something to eat to get those unpleasant feelings to go away…

Sophie unscrewed the top of one of the vials and downed its contents into her mouth without hesitation.

She repeated the process with the second vial and then placed both empty vials in her storage bag.

"Don't worry babe… I'm fine," Cleo softly comforted her girlfriend who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"I know… it's just… sigh… I don't know… I feel as though my life has just been a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire," Sophie whispered tiredly.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire? What does that mean?" Cleo asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

Sophie didn't understand why Cleo didn't know such a simple idiom but then she realised that the saying came from Sui Meng's memories and not her own.

Sometimes this would happen…

"It's an old saying from… you know… it basically means from one bad situation to another," Sophie explained calmly.

"Oh! I understand… it's pretty cute," Cleo replied with a charming smile. Sophie smiled back at her girlfriend who lay in her arms.

The hybrid girl couldn't resist lowering her head and lightly pecking the side of Cleo's cheek.

As she got closer to the princess there was a light vanilla scent coming from her girlfriend's body that was incredibly irresistible.

Adrenaline was still flowing through Sophie's body, and it was causing her thoughts to veer off in a naughty direction.

A trace of pinkish mist began to spread from the corners of Sophie's right eye, so the hybrid girl was forced to take a few deep breaths in order to calm down.

She looked outside the window and saw numerous tall metalloid buildings getting further and further away.

Not every part of planet Gaia had been turned into an urban area and there were plenty of protected wildlife reserves.

Sophie watched as they flew above a magnificent forest with trees that rose up hundreds of feet into the air with trunks the size of small apartment buildings.

The leaves of the trees were dark purple in colour, so the forest seemed like an endless sea of lavender.

One could observe tiny ant-like people walking through the forest accompanied by android guides that explained the different landmarks.

"Want to go on a trip here? I read up about it on the virtual Net, apparently one of the trees is supposed to be sealing some sort of demon," Cleo whispered mysteriously.

"Nope. Knowing our luck, the seal that has stood firm for millions of years will immediately break when we visit," Sophie teased with a light smile on her face.

The two young girls casually talked for the next few minutes with neither paying attention to the corpse that was gradually turning cold.

Sophie had seen too much death to be affected by a body on the ground while Cleo on the other hand was being distracted by her girlfriend.

The hovercar quickly exited the forest and Sophie checked her communicator to see how far away House Peterlor's underground city was.

Oh… not bad… they were only around twenty minutes away…

Suddenly a loud groan of pain interrupted the conversation between Sophie and Cleo. It came from the direction of the bed where Rachel was lying down.

The saintess was tossing and turning on the bed and her legs kicked away the blanket that was covering her lower body.

She reached for the closest pillow and wrapped her arms around its soft fluffy exterior in a warm embrace.

"Argh… damn it… my… head is killing me," Rachel's hoarse voice echoed through the vehicle.

The saintess slowly opened her eyes as she stirred from her coma. She still had a headache, but it was now much better than before.

"Where are we… holy shit is that a dead body?!" Rachel exclaimed in shock as she saw the corpse of the shadow guard on the ground.

"Yeah… it's a long story," Sophie replied as she gently got up from the chair and walked over to her friend who had an expression of surprise on her face

"What happened was…"

Sophie gave Rachel a quick recap about the events that had just transpired and the implications of one of her shadow guards being compromised.

"I must apologise as the host for making you experience danger," Sophie sincerely apologised as her noble etiquette training kicked in.

"No… it's not your fault. Don't worry about it," Rachel reassured her friend as she silently digested what she had just heard.

A little girl and a thug who tried to kidnap her in the middle of a crowded transport station…

Red Kry'en crystals that were a source of danger?

Someone aiming for Cleo's life? It was all too much information all at once!

The saintess stretched out her arms and gave a small yawn in an attempt to seem nonchalant and composed.

Unlike Sophie, Rachel had not experienced many life and death situations, so she was still slightly affected by the presence of a dead body.

"So, would it be safer if we stayed at your place for the next few weeks? At least until your dad investigates this situation?" Rachel eventually asked.

Sophie thought about her friend's questions for a moment and then opened her mouth to reply,

"I think that's the plan right now. I mean I do have to talk to him but at the moment it seems like too high a risk to go out without knowing where the enemy is or their motive."

"Well, it's not all that bad… there are a few sights that I would like to show you all in the underground city and we can always just chill and enjoy the holosuite."