The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Gaia)

(Peterlor Estate- Underground City)

"Recognised… Sophie Peterlor… alpha level personnel."

A robotic sounding voice came from the speaker overhead. Sophie closed her eyes and waited for the transport to begin.

With a loud hissing noise, a large person- sized hole opened up in the floor directly below her feet.

Sophie stepped forward and then disappeared into the space.

Whoosh!

It was almost like falling down a slide, there were a few twists and turns which made her feel faintly queasy but it was nothing that she could not handle.

With a dull thud, her feet landed on solid ground. Sophie opened her eyes and saw the familiar sight of the underground city.

Tall buildings stretched out towards the ceiling, small hover cars zipped through the air and the entire complex was illuminated by artificial lights.

Androids walked through the streets performing miscellaneous tasks and helping to maintain the mechanical city.

Sophie waited patiently as a hovercar broke away from a nearby stream of traffic and slowly travelled towards her location.

It was a silvery grey model with a sleek exterior and multiple doors. One of the doors slid open and Katarina stepped outside.

"My lady," Katarina respectfully spoke as she approached Sophie and tilted her head downwards.

"You don't need to do that," Sophie smiled sweetly as she wrapped her arms around her teacher and gave her a quick squeeze.

"I'm sorry… my lady… Sophie…" Katarina replied with a smile of her own, but Sophie could see the sadness in her gaze.

"Your father… he would be proud of you… I know that his death must have come as a shock…"

Sophie's smile faded as a terrible wave of loneliness rose up in her heart. She missed her father… she missed hearing his voice… seeing his face.

Every time that she was reminded that he was gone, it was like getting a punch to her stomach.

There was a part of her that still did not believe that he was really dead.

Fortunately she had a reason not to give up hope.

If she could reach the void stage then hopefully the Hunter Goddess would be able to take her astral form to her mother.

Then she would get confirmation if her father was still alive.

No… he was alive.

Sophie would not entertain any other possibility.

"He is missing in action… the Imperial Army officers have not found a body," Sophie retorted with a faint trace of anger in her voice.

"Of course, Sophie… I… I am just concerned about you," Katarina replied carefully as she sensed her young mistress' foul mood.

Sophie's fingers curled up into a tight fist and she took in a few deep breaths in order to calm herself down.

Lashing out at Katarina would not make things better.

"No…Katarina… it's me… sorry… the stress of this all is…" Sophie's voice trailed off as Katarina nodded in understanding.

The pair spent the next few minutes talking about other topics such as Sophie's experiences in the tournament and how her relationship with Cleo was progressing.

They both tactfully decided to ignore the elephant in the room.

Her succession.

"Are you ready to return to the mansion?" Katarina warmly spoke as she opened one of the hovercar's doors.

"Yes. I could use some rest after the flight," Sophie replied calmly. She stepped into the vehicle and sat down in the backseat.

The interior of the car had been specially modified to provide extra leg room and space for Sophie's unique hybrid physiology.

The hybrid girl leaned against the back of the seat and powered on her wrist communicator.

She absentmindedly scrolled through the Virtual Net while the car's engine made a faint humming noise as it stuttered to life.

Two days had passed since she had left planet Caorn and officially dropped out of the tournament.

It was a decision that still made her feel a slight regret.

She wanted to win but now… well at least there was always the next tournament.

Sophie tried to console herself but as she looked at the articles floating around online… she knew that she was lying.

[SHOCKING! THE NUMBER ONE STUDENT HAS DECIDED TO DROP OUT!]

[Sophie Peterlor the daughter of the late Duke Peterlor has left the tournament. Rumors and speculation say that she has returned to planet Gaia to take over her father's house.]

["I would have beaten her anyways,"- Ryan Wilhelm's bold declaration.]

[DISAPPOINTMENT, ANGER AND CONFUSION… SOPHIE'S FANS DEMAND THAT SHE RETURN IMMEDIATELY FOR THE FINAL ROUND]

Sophie scrolled through a few more articles and felt her bad mood get even worse. Her situation was the perfect storm of media attention.

Firstly she was the number one student for both rounds of the tournament and she was the daughter of a former Imperial Army Commander.

Not to mention that she was a hybrid as well.

The netizens reactions to her departure were… mixed.

Some clearly had sympathy for her and wrote that they hoped she would heal from the loss of her father while others were thrilled that she was gone from the tournament.

Sophie ignored the negative comments and tried to focus on the positive ones.

Although she did not manage to win… it felt good to see posts from hybrids talking about the impact that her performance had on them.

Sophie looked outside of the window and stared at the tall metalloid buildings and mechanical structures that zipped by.

The underground city was exactly like how she remembered it and yet… without her father this place felt hollow.

It was like the soul of the city had vanished.

Sophie let out a heavy sigh and powered off her wrist communicator. She had today to relax and then from tomorrow… meetings after meetings were in her future.

She had to talk to her father's allies, planet administrators, financial groups, nobles who were in her father's circles and the list went on.

The actual succession ceremony itself should be a relatively straightforward matter since there were no other heirs to challenge her right.

The rest of the car ride was in silence as Sophie was lost in her thoughts and Katarina didn't want to break the quiet mood.

Finally, the vehicle shuddered to a stop and the magnificent three-story mansion came into view.

Butler Gerald was waiting outside the gates and the elderly man wore a sharp black tuxedo with a pair of white gloves covering his fingertips.

Sophie opened the hovercar door and stepped outside. She felt a wave of exhaustion hit her all at once.

She was tired.

She barely got any sleep on the spaceflight to planet Gaia.

Every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about was the mountain of tasks that she had to complete in order to protect her father's legacy.

It was all getting to be too overwhelming.

No… don't break.

You can't afford to break.

Sophie drew in a deep breath and blinked. When she reopened her eyes, a cold expression flashed across her face.

It was just a façade but… it would have to do for now.