Angel Monarch-Chapter 452: Captain Valerie
Henry didn’t know how to react to Valerie’s words. While he already guessed the time difference between Earth and the Realm of Eternal Abyss, he didn’t expect such wide margin.
Time went by four times faster than on Earth. This meant they didn’t need to hurry through the layers... They could’ve gone around the ray without issue...
’Will’s going to be pissed.’
While Henry stayed occupied with his thoughts, his mother continued with the explanation about Realms.
"The time difference between Realms has always existed, but for most it’s negligible. The Realm of Eternal Depth is a unique exception, which’s unfortunate... At least I had lots of time to further my research about the Scigny!"
The young Prince’s ears perked up at the unfamiliar word.
"What is Scigny? I thought you came here to check on the ship’s deciphered logs."
Valerie nodded with an excited smile. She began searching through the paper towers until she found the right one.
"The Scigny are intelligent creatures who built the Old Dawn and who lived in those cities! The records revealed a great deal of information, both about the ship’s inner workings and the people living inside it!"
She handed over the paper, which showed a semi-realistic sketch of a weird creature.
It had a large bulbous head, with a ring of eyes at its neck. The neck connected to a wider bulbous torso. From it, a dozen tentacles grew out, each ending in a circular hand-like appendage with ten fingers.
The paper also named the creature’s parts and provided close-ups of whatever Valerie found most interesting... This included genitalia, which made Henry very uncomfortable.
The Scigny didn’t have genders like humans. Each specimen carries both male and female genes, but needs another person to impregnate it.
His mother even made notes about the possible sexual processes and concluded that each specimen impregnated the other while having intimacy!
Henry immediately regretted reading any of that...
"They’re very interesting creatures with their own culture, technology, style of life. We still hadn’t translated everything, but with the little knowledge we gathered, we got this ancient vessel moving again!"
Valerie sounded quite excited, which brought a small smile to Henry’s face. While sixteen years might’ve passed, her curious personality hadn’t changed at all.
"Did you figure out where they went? Why leave their lives behind, with their cities intact? Doesn’t make much sense."
The gigantic woman held up one finger and began searching through the stacked-up papers again. Many towers fell in the sudden attack, but at last she found the paper.
It depicted a tiny insect, which looked similar to a tick both in size and appearance. The text near the picture called them...
"Priphia. A parasitic insect, which attaches itself to a host and controls its body. The host’s still awake, but they lack control and feel like they’re stuck in a lucid dream."
A small tremble went along Valerie’s arm, and her legs began moving robotically, as if someone were trying to resist her movements. She lifted another piece of discarded paper and handed it to Henry without looking.
"So, tell me, son. How did you arrive in this Realm? Another Gateway opened perhaps, or you figured out how to open them?"
Henry didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she stared down at the paper Valerie handed to him.
’Priphia: The supposed creature, which caused the Scigny Mass Exodus. They came from the Endless Abyss far below for unknown reasons. They can control and imitate hosts perfectly, since they gain access to all their memories...’
A shiver went down Henry’s spine as he glanced up at his mother’s back. Her body continued to tremble, and she seemed to mutter something under her breath.
’...These creatures attach themselves to the base of the host’s neck, right onto the spine. There, they dig in and access the host’s nervous system, essentially gaining control of their entire body...’
Below the text, a picture showed exactly where the parasite is located on the host.
’The stronger-willed hosts can show signs of lucidity, like sudden motor functions, mumbling, trembling and even active, thought-out actions. They also can’t access the Evolved’s abilities, which makes them easy to take out.’
"You didn’t answer me, son. Where’s the Gateway you used? Shouldn’t we go back to Earth, to your mother? Isn’t that what you want?"
Valerie turned to face Henry, while her right hand played with her braided dark silver hair. She moved it around, so instead of her back and neck, it covered part of her chest and stomach.
The young Prince kept his cool and began walking around the room, glancing at the papers and relics lying on the floor.
He reached down and lifted one, a strange spherical object with different colored glass-like sides. Henry tossed the ancient relic up and down while moving to gain a view of Valerie’s side.
"I was thinking, Queen Valerie. Do you remember when I was five, and I broke into your office for fun. I began playing with these fragile relics of yours, taking them apart and putting them back together..."
Henry took a couple more steps and finally got a clear view of the back of his mother’s neck. The small smile grew wider on his face as he saw the small bump right on Valerie’s spine.
"My mother, Valerie, found me. Elizabeth, her wife, needed to hold her back because she wanted to ’teach me a lesson’. She hated only one thing more than someone touching her stuff... And that’s me calling her a Queen!"
The young Prince immediately rolled to the side as Valerie lunged at him. Her dark blue eyes burned with ferocity as she growled at Henry.
While the Priphia controlling Valerie was definitely intelligent, its fighting style was animalistic at best. It could access an Ethereal’s memories, but it couldn’t utilize the experience ingrained into her muscles and bones.
"Well, we had a pleasant chat, but I would rather talk with my actual mother. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon to finish you, but you’ll not remember that!"
Henry grinned at his mother, then closed his eyes and summoned the burning power dwelling within the depths of his mind.
The clock’s hands on the wall began moving slowly until they all stopped. A moment later, the hands began moving again counterclockwise.
Time moved back faster and faster until Henry found himself back in the corridor, kissing his fiancée goodbye.
The kiss soon ended, and Vicky prepared to move away, when Henry caught her arm. A sphere of time rose around them as Henry spoke, "I need your help..."
Henry explained the situation as concisely as he could and told Vicky the plan he made.
The Princess didn’t look too surprised. The atmosphere of this ship already felt wrong, so this news merely explained the strangeness’s source.
Vicky didn’t ask any questions. She trusted Henry more than anybody else, and together they’ll free his mother from the parasite’s control!
Like before, the young Prince stepped up and knocked on the fancy door, his knuckles echoing inside the chamber.
"Come in!" Shouted a tired, feminine voice from inside.
Henry stepped inside without hesitation. She glanced around the room awaiting his mother’s arrival.
Everything happened similarly as before. However, Henry steered their conversation to his issue at hand.
"...So the Priphias infected the Scigny, and they left this Realm. Did they leave any records about these parasites? About their looks, weaknesses... Removal?"
Valerie began walking towards a pile of paper and searched through it until she found the right document.
"This is everything the logs held. Supposedly, these parasites are weak to excess heat. That’s why they stay near the surface, because the body’s inner temperature would make living uncomfortable!"
The paper held the same information with more detail. Henry also noticed a large scribbled-out chunk at the bottom, which probably contained information about safe removal.
Henry read through everything once, while Valerie began trembling. She asked about their arrival method again, and Henry ignored her again.
"Thank you, this’ll come in handy! Do you know the hottest part of this vessel? If you tell me, I’ll show you how we travel between Realms!"
The Captain opened her mouth, but before any words could’ve come out, she slammed her hand onto her lips. Her furious dark blue eyes landed on Henry’s innocent-looking form.
"Goddammit! You Eager little Nuisance! I’ll End you and your mother! You’ll Regret trying to fool me! Abide by our will or we’ll Transform you too! If you try to Object, then your life Reached its end!"
His mother rambled, her entire body shaking, as Valerie’s consciousness fought the parasite’s control. However, Henry just grinned into the creature’s eyes.
Through their battle, the parasite hadn’t noticed that his rambling contained unusual word choices, and strangely placed emphasis. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
It took Henry a few moments to figure out the meaning behind the emphasized words. Put together, their first letters spelled a single word... Generator!
