A bit in the distance, of what I assume is the entryway to the hive, I see for the first time my current host.

She has the same build as all princesses, looking like a more impressive and muscular version of an interceptor.

However, by now it seems those present returned to being messengers.

Getting back to her looks, she's not exactly as physically impressive as Liseti.

Also, her carapace is much brighter.

To be honest, she looks a bit frail, or at least as if she went through hard times before.

Nonetheless, she's jovially calling out for me.

(C)

Did I mention that I tend to feel uncomfortable if there's too much focus on my person?

This is exactly one of those situations.

Yet I suppose I don't really have much of a choice but to respond.

Not to a small degree because I'm sitting in a carriage that consists of her brood so that stalling won't help the situation.

Slightly reluctantly, I raise my hand for her to see.

(E)

(C)

Okay, seems like she didn't know anything about me, excluding me being a princess.

This might even explain why I wasn't spotted earlier by all these interceptors.

Anyway, I'm standing up to have an easier time talking to her.

My little beetles take this as a command to rise with me, which gives an ominous atmosphere to my rising.

(E)

She seems to require a short moment to process this before answering.

(C)

Mother...

It's certainly weird to see the queen in such a way.

I mean, I have a great mum.

The queen, on the other hand, kinda disqualifies herself for this role model.

(E)

Mother is going to be so proud of me!> (C)

Uh, the latter part wasn't articulated.

I think it kinda slipped out with her other pheromones.

For a moment, Princess Chera stares at me, presumably worried I could have heard, but I act as if I didn't notice, which soothes her again.

Just good that Formicea have no experience with any form of dishonesty.

In this case, omittance.

(C)

It might be too early to tell yet, but she seems nice.

Not as gruff as Liseti and certainly not as much of a lunatic as Honiu, where my acquaintanceship and therefore experience with other princesses already ends.

Apparently, "guiding" me means simply embarking as well on the flesh carriage and leaving the actual transport to the drones.

Soon we move again, leaving this entrance space and reaching an even greater space.

Is this the hive?

It's... Well, it's slightly underwhelming in direct comparison to the main hive.

It's not nearly as big, especially not in height, or respectively depth.

The width is decent, but instead of this giant pillar which I feel like I should find in the center, there is an uneven hill of earth.

A bit like an underground anthill.

And around there, instead of the mushroom forest, it looks like they erected dirt walls to guard it.

Something about this feels instinctually wrong to me.

As if the whole setup is messed up.

Yet maybe this is simply an adjusted architecture.

This anthill might reach further down and actually provide room for every single member of the brood.

It just doesn't look as sophisticated and stable as I was used to.

(C)

The bottom?

But a broodmother should usually reside above the nursery, where the below-gathered warmth of the hive is channeled.

This is not only to make it easier for the nurses to carry the eggs downwards, but also so that in case of water drainage the princess, as the most important entity, can escape the flooding.

We are carried past several guard posts along the dirt walls, which mostly consist of guardians, and make me think that at least the security should be sufficiently maintained here.

Then we finally reach the earthen mountain in the center.

Finally, it gets a bit warmer here, if not by much.

It seems the structure doesn't have many exits, so the warmth of its inhabitants remains inside.

There are many side tunnels, leading me to believe that almost the whole hive lives inside here.

I can't contain my questions and have to ask.

(E)

For a moment, there's a spark of... something in her pheromone, but I can't pinpoint it.

Then she answers.

(C)

The perfect environment?

As mentioned before, this feels wrong to me on a fundamental level.

But is this maybe just me?

Maybe I'm just unaware of its features?

I wonder which is right and so I tend to the one instance I always tend to when having questions about Formicea.

"Kyska, do you also think that this hive is built weirdly?" (E)

"It's unbecoming. The whole location in general is far too high up for maintaining preferential temperatures." (K)

I need to admit, it's in general slightly chilly.

Not dangerously so, but not pleasant either.

At this depth, there's simply not as much insulation from the surface.

Especially, in winter I suppose things get difficult here.

(C)

Oh my, I should give her a sufficient explanation or she might become suspicious.

(E)

(C)

Somewhat weird to have met a princess that is so open-minded.

I mean, Liseti is, but she also tends to force her own beliefs onto others.

Chera already from her general pheromone output seems to prefer a "live-and-let-live" approach.

While we travel further through the ant hill, I notice that the distinction between the different facilities is rather vague in here.

For example, we pass the nursery, which, different from the main hive, isn't the slightest bit separated from the general quarters or the princess' place.

This makes everything look rather busy, as all kinds of different types of drones mill together.

(C)

I guess that's nice.

I mean, she's even asking for my opinion instead of just deciding for me.

That's refreshing.

To be honest, I am hungry.

My captors never came to provide me the required degree of nourishment and laying all those eggs sapped at what remained of my reserves.

So a meal would be great after days of walking without.

(E)

(C)

It's safe to say that she's quite hospitable.

At this point, I'm almost certain that I'm in the wrong.

Honestly, before my transformation, I would've never come to judge people for the hives they built.