The hivemind is conquering for me? - Chapter 376

Chapter 376: Bitter And Smokey
I did not take part in the next couple of days of fighting. I had gotten the battle data I needed and it turned out my Zircon was just a picky eater. She seemingly only wanted live feedings from the looks of things and those feeds had to be Psionic in nature or something beneficial to her.

Jewel did not stay around long after wiping out the last of the defenders as the Coalition had been smart when digging out their planet and left little to no useful biomass behind. Speaking of Biomass, Jewel had lost a considerable part of her scout fleet on one single planet. However, the amount of warrior class prey she had managed to kill and was currently in the process of devouring was all in all, a net gain for her and she would be back to full strength after a couple of weeks.

Keyla, Orchid and I were on top of a destroyed fortress we had made our little home for the last couple of days while Jewel finished up everything she needed to do. As we were gazing up at the night sky together, we spotted a void swimmer begin to descend towards our destination.

“Finally! I am going to sleep for a week straight after the last two days you beast!” Keyla exclaimed as she sat upright, wincing as she did so. I had told her to just use her Bloodfiend form if she was in that much pain, but she said she wanted to feel the lingering effect of my love, the pain being a constant reminder that she was now officially mine Mind, body and soul.

After the void swimmer landed, the three of us wasted no more time and made our way through the horde of bio-forms that also began to pile into the ship. Once the ship was at maximum capacity, it took off into space.

As I looked out through one of the membranes, the planet from last week was a husk of what it was. The planet truly looked dead. Nothing left upon it except the last stragglers of the Hive awaiting pickup.

It was times like this that made me appreciate how scary my partner actually was. With what was essentially a basic fleet at the start , Jewel’s presence and the Prime not included, She had managed to devastate a well prepared planet.

I felt within myself that I should feel bad for the sheer scale of lost life, but maybe it was because I was down there myself in the fight, but I was proud of my Jewel for winning this battle. I simply wished she did not have to lose so much of herself to accomplish her goals.

The fire within my chest spurned. As I reminded myself why I was getting stronger once more. One day, Jewel will never need to feel pain again. I will be by her side, assuring she gets her fill without the need to deplete herself in the effort.

Orchid, who was standing next to me, got goosebumps as she felt the resolve of my emotions leaking throughout the open link and was almost prepared for another round of mating right then and there.

Once the Void swimmer was inside of the main hive-ship, I left the ship and walked over to an awaiting Freethinker. I could tell she was there for me as she had a towel draped over one of her scythes.

“Hello beautiful, escort me to my desired destination please.” I said as I grabbed her other scythe. I could tell the Freethinker was excited, but it maintained its composure much better than a great deal of bio-forms as it escorted me to a room that was oozing out steam.

Taking the towel, I wrapped it around my naked waist and leaned on my tip toes as I gave the Freethinker a thank you kiss before entering the room alone. Suppressing my Thermokinesis, I enjoyed the sensation of the hot steam upon my skin as I entered the room.

I found a nice bench that was made for me in the room and sat down with my back against the wall. “Ohhh~ I needed this.” I muttered as I closed my eyes, allowing the steam to begin the exfoliate process of my body.

After about ten minutes of simply enjoying the steam, I spoke aloud. “Ok guys, get to work.” The sound of skittering suddenly became prevalent in the room as a dozen drones, roughly six or seven inches long ran over and began clambering over my body.

All the dried blood from the bizarre sexual experience began getting munched by the drones as I sat back, enjoying the sensation. The drones did not have teeth or anything that could munch on my flesh, but they had a specialised tongue that lapped up anything upon my epidermis. The tongues felt like a rough feather brushing across my skin and felt rather pleasant.

All of a sudden, I heard a sizzling noise in the surroundings and the drones on my body stopped moving, as they had become agitated. I sighed before reassuring them. “It is ok guys, she isn’t harmful.”

The drones got immediately back to work as I opened my eyes towards Sol, whose body was sizzling as the steam was evaporating upon touching her body. Sol was looking at me with an unintentional seductive expression on her face, causing me to sigh out loud before saying.

“Sol, you are new to the dynamic, so I will let you off, but shower time is me time. Any suggestive actions will have consequences.” I said before closing my eyes once more. I listened to the crackling of her form for a while before sighing.

“Ok, what’s up?” I said, giving the Psionic fire my attention. She did not seem to be here for the lewd, so I was open to chatting.

Sol hesitated a moment, but her Kindled deserved her total honestly. “Apollo, watching you from your Mindspace as you battled upon the planet left me in terrible, torturous turmoil. Being unable to help you with my own form, It has left me feeling an unending unease.”

I raised my eyebrow hearing that as I gave Sol a look over. “Did you ever feel this unease with your last kindled?” I asked curiously, to which she shook her head before responding. “No Apollo. My last kindled as I said was dominating and power hungry. We both used each other for the advantages we gave to each other and that was it. Also, we did not bond as… Intimately as we have done. I feel a pain course through my body at the thought of you in pain and when you were assaulted the other day by that electrical Psionics, I felt compelled to overwhelm the rules that dictate my existence just to help you.”

My eyebrows narrowed after listening to what she said. I then turned away from Sol a moment, causing her to feel confused before, without looking at her, I asked. “Back on Ecumenopolis 1, at Valerica’s home. Why did you cover away from me when you took over that flame?”

Sol was not sure how to answer that properly in this form of hers. Having an actual body has changed the way she perceives the universe for as long as she is in it. She cannot currently access the way she used to exist. The closest comparison she could come up with was.

“Although I had been observing you for a long time by that point, I still ‘felt’ like I could accidentally hurt you and ‘I’ did not want to do that. My existence wanted only the best for you my Kindled. That was why when you encouraged me and fed me, I began dancing with joy, to put on a display for you.”

“I see.” I mused a moment as I continued to look ahead. Sol waited for a moment, assuming I was just taking a moment to think, but upon realising I was done, she Spoke up. “Apollo why did-Mmhh~?”

Unprovoked, I grasped Sol by the back of the neck and pulled her towards me, kissing her fiery lips for a few moments before pulling away. Sol’s horns extended almost to the ceiling as the surprise attack caused some instability in her form before she recovered.

‘Bitter and Smokey? That’s a unique taste.’ I thought to myself before I realised Sol was staring at me, her rounds of fire that made up her eyes, seemingly glowing a deeper shade of orange as she looked for answers.

“I suppose it does make sense if you have been invested in the relationship over eighteen years longer than I have. What you were feeling when you saw me in danger, is what I feel whenever I see a piece of Jewel die. The feeling that causes that is simple. Love. We want to keep our loved ones safe from all harm after all.”

I then took Sol’s hand with my own and smiled at her. “I am honoured that you feel that way about me. And the fact we are bonded by our Psionic existences makes that feeling even greater. I know it is only a matter of time before I feel the exact same way. So stay patient, my little blaze.” I said before leaning over to kiss her forehead before I stood up and made my way out of the room, leaving Sol sitting there with a passionate smile upon her face.

‘Oh Apollo, your flame may burn softly, but I am a torrent of unlimited proportions, no little blaze. I do not do patience!’