The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Elite Student Housing Complex- Mansion 456Y)

"I'm back," Sophie called out as she opened the door and entered her apartment. The hybrid girl took off her shoes and immediately headed for the couch.

She crashed down on the comfortable seat and leaned against the back of the couch. There was no better way to spend a lazy afternoon.

After a long and tiring day of lectures, nothing felt better than vegging out on the sofa without a care in the world.

"Hey babe... how was classes today?" a gentle voice came from the kitchen.

"It was good... lot of work to catch up on though... at least Professor Macabre offered to give me extra lessons," Sophie replied lazily.

"We're learning about viruses right now... dangerous stuff... but anyways..."

"Cleo... can you be a dear and grab me something to nibble? Do we have popcorn?"

"Alright... but just this once!" Cleo teased softly. The princess opened up one of the drawers in the kitchen and pulled out a brown bag and a large pot.

She hummed softly as she placed the pot on the stove and turned on the heat.

Cleo was not used to cooking at first but after quite a few months in this mansion by herself, she had turned into a half decent chef.

Actually, if she did say so herself... she might even be a pro!

Well... if you could call making popcorn and simple noodle dishes the work of a master chef.

Cleo added two large pieces of butter to the pot and waited for a few seconds for the butter to turn into a golden liquid that sizzled.

Perfect.

She opened the brown bag and tilted it over the pot. Corn kernels fell into its gaping maw and she kept going until a quarter of the pot was filled.

Cleo carefully placed a lid over the pot and then turned on the heat. It took a few moments but soon she could hear a loud popping noise.

"Something smells good!" her girlfriend yelled from the living room. Cleo felt a warm throb in her chest and placed a hand over her heart.

Quiet moments like this were her second favourite part of her relationship with Sophie. It just felt natural and right to be living together.

The princess may have grown up in a palace surrounded by luxuries but it was gilded cage filled with snakes and scorpions.

This was a much better living situation.

Cleo checked the contents of the pot every couple of seconds just to make sure that the popcorn did not burn.

Her girlfriend would still eat it but Cleo did not want her cooking to be questioned!

Again... it was a bit of a stretch to call popcorn making as cooking but Cleo would take any win that she got.

She turned off the heat and removed the lid once the majority of the kernels had turned into fluffy white pieces of goodness.

Cleo grabbed a large bowl and used her hands to grab the popcorn and placed them in the bowl.

She grabbed some salt and pepper from the countertop and lightly sprinkled some on top of the popcorn to give it an extra flavour.

"Alright! It is done!" Cleo shouted as she walked over to the living room with the bowl in her hand.

She saw her girlfriend stretched out on the couch in a very comfortable position. Sophie yawned sleepily and rubbed her eyes as she fought off a wave of tiredness.

She adjusted her posture to make some room for Cleo to sit down and then patted the seat next to her.

"Come babe... sit down with me," Sophie whispered gently.

Cleo happily obliged and sat down next to the hybrid girl who immediately reached for the popcorn.

"Oh... you are the best," Sophie praised as her fingers grabbed a large handful of popcorn.

Cleo rolled her eyes but secretly felt pleased in her heart. She was glad to do these little things for Sophie.

Especially since...

No don't think like that.

Cleo had not talked about this with her girlfriend but honestly... it was slowly eating her up on the inside.

She just felt so... useless.

She did not have the political connections to help Sophie during her ascension to the head of House Peterlor.

When her brother openly revealed the secret of her girlfriend's lineage, she didn't know what to say or how to react.

Sophie had remained calm, but Cleo had been a bundle of nerves.

Her heart had briefly stopped when she had heard the crown price talk about Sophie's Insectoid mother.

If she had more power... would he have even dared to show up and speak such nonsense? Of course not!

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sophie suddenly spoke up and interrupted Cleo's musing.

"Penny for my what? What does that mean?" Cleo asked curiously as she tilted her head.

"Oh it... it... err... it's a saying that means what are you thinking about," Sophie replied sheepishly.

"You always have such strange sayings... do you make that stuff up?' Cleo teased lightly as she stretched out her hand and played with her girlfriend's long hair.

"Guilty," Sophie smiled and brushed over her question. She hadn't told Cleo about the memories of Sui Meng or the fusion of their two souls.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she hadn't. Maybe it was because she had no idea how to breach the subject.

I used to be one person... then a soul came into my body... then we talked... then we fused and became one person again?

Yeah... maybe she should just keep that secret to herself...

Besides compared to her Insectoid heritage or being the vessel of an ancient goddess... this was a relatively harmless secret.

"Want to watch the Inter- University finals?" Cleo suggested as she picked up the remote and aimed it at the large monitor screen.

"I think Jessie Ward is fighting someone from our university right now..." Sophie muttered quietly as she checked her wrist communicator to make sure.

Only eight students were left.

Qiana and Astrid were still in the tournament which was awesome!

Cleo powered on the screen and accessed the Virtual Net. She flipped through a couple of livestreams before she found one without any commentators.

The princess snugged up against her girlfriend and the pair remained seated on the couch while watching the display.

Jessie Ward was standing in the middle of an arena that had a desert-like environment.

Her opponent was a massive Mendolesa Warrior with rippling muscles who wielded a heavy great sword and wore black armour.

Visually they were a complete mismatch.

The representative from Tantibus University wore a simple brown cloak and appeared to hold no weapons in her hands.

Her eyes were cloudy and unfocused.

At a glance a betting person would obviously place their money on the large Mendolesa warrior but Sophie wasn't so sure if that would be the right choice.

So far Jessie had narrowly won every single one of her matches. She barely scrapped her way to the finals and yet...

Sophie could tell that she was hiding her strength. She did not have any proof about her assumption but somehow... she knew.

Jessie Ward would not be an easy opponent to fight.

Hopefully the Mendolesa warrior would not underestimate her. Sophie leaned forward and stared intently at the screen.

She couldn't wait to see what would happen next.