"Can you tell us more about the Hive Queen, and where you come from?" Sydra asked as he sat down on the metal table the girl was sitting on. Pulling a blanket out of his Arbor Sanctum, he wrapped it around her to warm her up.
"I come from Tindow, and it is where my family and I lived before I was chosen as the next gift. Gifts are the young children that the people in red coats choose, and they get to gain amazing power and work directly for the Hive Queen. Two gifts are chosen within a year, and there is a six-month period between them being chosen. Then another ten years go by before two new gifts are chosen. People who have their children chosen are given great benefits by the Hive Queen, and the children are taught these things in school ever since they are born. Are you guys not part of the Hive, is that why you didn't know all this?" The young girl explained as she looks at the four of them. They didn't look like any of the people in the place she was from, as their skin color was slightly darker than the pale skin that people she normally saw had.
"That's right, we came from a different place than you. We were hoping to visit the Hive Queen and talk to her ourselves," Sydra said as he handed the girl some food, before standing up and motioning for the others to follow him over to the side of the room.
"Should we tell her that it is all a lie?" Robert asked, glancing back at the young girl who was devouring the food given to her.
"I don't think so, but from what she has said so far we know that these people in red coats are the ones that have been doing the human experiments. I don't know about you guys, but I believe we should take care of them," Sydra said, feeling angry at the situation that the girl was in. He wasn't sure why she, and the others, had been experimented on, but he was certain that if he could stop it he should.
"I agree with you there, but how do we find these people?" Erich asked, remembering how the girl had said she was knocked out before they brought her here.
"I also find it odd that she isn't more scared of us, I mean she never saw us before but she is answering all our questions without hesitation," Cidre said, wondering if the girl had simply never been taught to be cautious of strangers.
"Hold on, I'll ask her," Sydra said before walking back over to the girl, "By the way, what may we call you?" he asked the young girl.
"My name is Silf, also that food was really good, but I am still hungry... May I have some more?" Silf asked with puppy dog eyes, staring deep into Sydra's soul.
"Of course you can," Sydra said, melting at the sight of her and pulling out more food. She may have been pale, but she didn't appear to be malnourished and her blond hair seemed well cleaned.
"We were wondering if you were scared of us?" Sydra asked as the girl inhaled the food in front of her.
"No, why would I be scared of the owners of the First's beast?" She asked in between mouthfuls as she pointed towards the creature that was still floating around Erich.
"The First?" Robert asked, glancing at the creature, before looking back at the girl questioningly.
"Yes, the First. There is a statue in front of our library, and that creature was crafted with the state as well. The books in the library say that the First was the first person to meet the Hive Queen, and gained great power as a result. Just like I will when I meet her," Silf said
"Interesting, well since we are going to meet with their Hive Queen, would you like to come with us?" Erich asked, hoping to take the girl with them to get her away from this place.
"Sure! I would like that," Silf exclaimed as she hopped down from the table. As her feet hit the ground she slightly stumbled, but Sydra was able to catch her.
"Would you like to go into a special place?" He asked as he set her down on the ground.
"No thanks, I would like to stay with you four," Silf said happily holding onto Sydra's arm to keep her balance.
"Okay, that should be fine. Just stay close to me, and I will protect you," Sydra said as he lifted the girl over the glass and set her back down on the other side.
"Are you sure that is wise?" Cidre asked, thinking about how they may be facing more danger soon.
"I'll make sure to protect her," Sydra responded confidently as he led the group back towards the door. Along the way, Silf was looking around at all the creatures in the tubes.
"Haha, they look like the men in the red coats," She said, pointing at the Scorpedes floating in the liquid. The others glanced at each other with a fearful look on their faces.
'Does this mean that the Scorpedes can gain human appearances?' Sydra thought as he looked closely at the Scorpedes. If they could gain a human appearance, and human intelligence along with it, just how dangerous of an enemy would they be going up against.
"Can you tell us more about these men?" Erich asked, walking on the other side of Silf, who was trying to pet the evasive Pitfall.
"Well, we don't see them often as they are the direct descendants of the queen, and only show up when choosing a gift. But I do know that they can control these long needles with their minds and that the needles are strong enough to cause a tree to shrivel up and die when hit by one of them," Silf said as she tried to recall everything she knew about them.
"Do the needles that they control look something like this?" Sydra asked, making a purple needle appear in his hand. Silf looked at it, before shaking her head.
"Their needles are much longer and are completely black in color. Also, a normal person would die from being close to one of them," Silf explained as she held out her hands to show how long the needles were. By now, the group was back in the cafeteria and Robert was heading over to the ice wall with his war hammer.
"Wait, let me try something," Erich said as he walked up beside Robert and began stomping his feet on the ground. With every stomp, vibrations would be sent through his body and collected by his kinetic power. After stomping his feet twenty times in quick succession, Erich lifted his mace and swung it into the ice wall. Releasing all the kinetic force that he had built up until that moment, Erich shattered the wall with one hit.
"I bet I could do that now, with my increased power and everything," Robert mumbled as he looked at the ice spewed out along the ground.
With the ice wall out of the way, the group began making their way down the dirt tunnel. Along the way, the dirt began to lighten, and every few meters would be a glowing stone stuck in the wall. After walking for around an hour, the group began to notice that the dirt tunnel they were in had been slowly widening. By now the tunnel was around twice the height of Robert, and after another five minutes, it came to an end.
"Wow..." Cidre said, looking out at the wide cavern in front of them. They were standing at the top of a set of white stairs, and in front of them was a humongous palace made from white stone. It was lit up with white crystals, that were many times larger than the ones they had been passing on the way here. There was also an underground river that ran through the middle palace as well, and drinking from the river were several exotic animals. The stairs they were standing at the top of were high enough that the group was able to see the top of the palace, and all the things that surrounded it.
"Hey, where did Silf go?" Erich asked, noticing that while they had been distracted by the grandeur of the sight in front of them the young girl had disappeared.
"I think that is her, way down there," Cidre said, pointing at a small person racing down the stairs in a hurry. "Shoot, why did she run off? Should we go get here?"
"No... It's too late, they already saw her," Sydra said, sadly motioning towards the group of red dots that were racing towards Silf with incredible speed. Unable to do anything, the group of four men watched as the red dots stopped a few feet away from Silf and looked to be talking to her. The next second Silf was sent flying through the air before bouncing off the ground.
"They... They killed her!?" Robert roared as he watched the whole thing happen, unable to do anything.