Swarm Infestation [Complete]

The little boy shook Emerl's pinky and a new bond was form. It was one of great hope for the bug woman. She had her new "friend to protect and she would let nobody interrupt that. She picked him up and placed him on her thorax right behind her back.
"Hold... Most safe"
The boy did his best to wrap his arms around the girl's waist. After she felt he was holding on tight, she let out a sigh. She had to figure out how to turn around. She tried to rotate right but she accidentally hit a barrel. She looked to her left and there was no space either. She was stuck and there was only one option.
"I walk behind... Hold please"
She turned her head her luck turned sour, and not the good kind. The creature followed her here. Her eyes turned yellow until it spoke. She turned around, knocking over a couple barrels. Both her hand when into a boxing like stance. She raised one of her claws which trembled in the air. It was so hard to be threatening when you were not angry. Then her eyes turned green.
"No TOUCH... No more... Cant take take... Too much!" Emerl, slammed her claw into the ground creating a small dent, "Emerl no share name. Dangerous. Warning you. Not Safe!" She held back her power as to not damage this place too much.
Her eyes turned green yellow, "This space is my space, my territory. My friend. Not yours!"
Her eyes turned green "Wont give. No more. NO MORE! No more dead now."
She Then grabbed him and held him close to her chest from behind, then her eyes flickered yellow. The voice in her head started it whispering. Her heart started to race.
"Emerl... Thats too tight."
"Emerl protect... Emerl find 'My' Mom...'"
"Emerl... that hurts... Please..."
"Keep safe... Creature bad. Creature wants make sad feelings. Creature scare. Siren Scary."
"She is a good guy... she was on the tv Emerl."
"Wat T.V.? Is Bad? Siren scary... T.V. scary! Will... will..." her eyes turned red, "CRUSH T.V.!"
Then Emerl charged forward charged forward letting out a loud grass hopper like chirp.

It appeared that Siren's efforts to win Kaiju over were backfiring as she saw her getting ready to attack. As such, she automatically backpedaled away, hands raised, "Wait!  This has all just been a misunderstanding! I-" However, Siren never got the chance to finish as Kaiju suddenly raced towards her.

She covered herself in a telekinetic field to boost her attributes but she still found the wind knocked out of her lungs as she was dragged backwards, digging her heel into the ground hard enough to leave a trail, feeling the strain on her limbs at trying to hold back Kaiju's great strength.

For a moment, she considered just getting the kid to safety and then knocking some sense into this creature...only to banish those thoughts almost immediately as she knew in her heart that wouldn't solve anything. Right now, there was only one thing she could do.

Having brought the creature to a stop, Siren used telekinesis to pick the kid up and set him down a safe distance away...and then she put her arms around Kaiju and held her tight in a warm hug, "Shhh....it's alright...you got a friend in me...I'm sorry that I messed with your emotions...but you were scaring a lot of people..." She continued to hold Kaiju as she talked, "This place...isn't your home, but other folks love this place too...please...you're not a bad person...but hurting people who don't deserve it...isn't gonna make you feel better...and I know you've lost someone...but do you really think they'd be happy seeing you like this...?"

She glanced over at the kid, "Your new friend over there...do you really think he wants to see you like this? Do you really think you're making him feel safe?"

Emerl pushed the blunt side of her claws into Siren using the minimal strength required to move someone of that size. Her hopes was to push the creature away and run off but the aura techniques from the creature were just so strong. It just made the girl more angry. Did this creature not understand?
"Why... Siren... Not... Crushed?"
Then a strange energy flowed through her arms. It pulled the kid out of the battle leaving Emerl to face Siren alone.
"GIVE BACK! HE'S MINE! HE'S ONLY only..."
Emerl lowered her claws and sunk to the ground. This left her open to Siren secret technique. A super warm hug. Emerl flinched, preparing for the wave of negative emotion to start up in her head but nothing happened. Her eyes flickered between yellow and blue.
"Only thing have. Have nothing... Need scare people. Dangerous. Keep safe. Keep home safe," Emerl closed her eyes, "I... No... Mauve scold me. Say... Emerl doesn't listen. Say Emerl breaks rules."
Then she turned to the boy. He seemed terrified. Then everything clicked. She was the monster. Her primal form had gain too much influence. She had to cancel it.
"Emerl... little responsible. Only 1%. That's it! will... turn normal."
The insect body broke apart into petals leaving behind her legs under her dress. The voice was completely gone, now that the girl was free of the transformation. Losing half her height, the girl stood about 5 with the only reminiscence of the older form was the antenna on her head. her mind was free from the effects of the corruption allowing her to think straight and realize what she done.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered, "Sorry... sorry... sorry... I lost control. Did I... is anyone dead?"

At last, Siren's efforts seemed to pay off as she felt the overwhelming negativity from Kaiju starting to dissipate. However, she continued to hold the other girl, feeling she needed the comfort, "It's alright. As far as I saw, you didn't kill or injure anybody. You scared the pants off of them and made a mess of the place, sure, but that's about it,"

The alien helped the other girl to her feet, "Besides, I believe you when you say you weren't in control. Other people might not see it that way, but what you gonna do?" She shrugged before looking over to the kid, "I think you might be able to start earning some brownie points with the public if you help me walk the poor kid out of here."

Emerl's antennas drooped as she cycled through her passed memories, the time before the light. This was not her world. The response was too light for a rampaging Turman. This wasn't her first time falling to the corruption or curse of the swarm. Last time, she caused quite a mess and Mauve got her out of it. This time though... he was not here. She was alone in this place.

"What is this brownie points? Is it money? Does public  here give free money? Where... where is here?" The girl's antenna perked up again "I never been in such a big building. Does a Queen live here? Is she nice? Is she..."
Once again, her antenna picked up on the sugar treats.
"Hungry... More tiny bears" She licked her lips and turned herself around while still in Siren's arms, "I gotta have more before I do anything. I'm too hungry!"
The girl fought her way to the barrel. Should she succeed she would grab a hand full of gummy bears and stuff it in her mouth till her cheeks where full.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there! You'll give yourself a stomachache!" Siren exclaimed as she put an hand on Kaiju's shoulder, "Listen...I know you're not from around here but something you need to learn starting off is that everything costs money...and I do mean everything," She stressed that last word in the hopes that Kaiju would listen, "What you're doing right now is considered stealing and it can get you in a lot of trouble..."

She frowned and looked around. It would only be a matter of time before police or the army or whoever busted in here to make a bad situation even worse, "Listen...if you're that hungry, I can take you to a place with some real food. Like...place with juicy meat and buttery potatoes and cake and so on...but in exchange, you gotta help get this kid back to his Mom. What do you say?"

Emerl groaned and spat out the treats back into the barrel. She knew what stealing was. She could remember having to do it when under the influence of that sicko. On her world however, if one left their stock on man in the open, it was fair game if you didn't get caught. It was an unspoken rule. So this was not stealing in her world because the doors were open and nobody was protecting it. This was not her world however. This was a new one that belonged to the creature. So she listened for now.

Emerl held onto her stomach. She was hungry. Being primal uses so much energy and she did just get out of a very heated battle. She even died. So any food would be nice.
"Will it have tiny bears?" she asked folding her arms, "I help. But I stay away from public. Aurins and Mechins don't like Turmans. My people... they did bad things in past. We are dangerous some times if untrained like me. Mother said Land of the Swarm is not good place so many Turmans run away. I don't want to go back. So no public until I have cloak or hood."
Emerl was bluffing though. She really wanted the food and was really scared about getting deported or captured again. She would follow the creature for now. and help find the kid's parent. She grabbed onto the metal ban that dug into her skin, remembering the nightmare from that time period.
"You keep ignoring me. Where are we? It does not look like my world."

Siren facepalmed, both at the sight of Kaiju spitting food back where she got it and for not having the foresight to explain what kind of world the new girl ended up in, "...Sorry. I'll try to explain as best I can. We don't have too much time so please try to keep up," As she talked, she began filling a bag with the half-eaten gummy bears and other assorted sweets, "My name is Siren. I'm what's called an alien and you're on a world called Earth,"

"It's a world mainly run by a race called humans, which that kid out there is one of them but they come in all sorts of heights and appearances, and a fair number of them have superpowers like you and me," After finishing, she sang a quick song and poofed some money into existence before setting it on the counter to pay for the treats, "That's what our money looks like in this world. Some countries still do things like trade livestock and what not but for the most part, this is what is used. Remember, nothing is given for free,"

She came out and looked around for a hoodie or cloak and found the latter in a nearby clothing store. The things I do for some people. She poofed some more money and placed it down before grabbing the cloak and giving both it and the bag of candy to Kaiju, "Here, put this on and follow me. No matter how scared you may feel along the way, do some deep breathing and try to stay calm, and if we're lucky, we'll be away from here in no time."

Siren gestured for the kid to follow them out...

"Kaaay"
Emerl watched as the creature started grabbing things and creating these green pieces of paper. The creature's powers were just amazing. The girl could only imagine what she could do in a real fight. It was a blessing it did not fight serious when she was beserking. It might now have ended well for both parties.
"Alien? Earth? Isn't earth just dirt? Why name a world dirt? Also what is Alien?"
The term human while rarely used was a term Emerl was familiar with. Mechins, Turmans, and Aurins were all humans. They all just developed differently over the years to get their abilities. That explained why she could sense some traces of aura but very minimal. Maybe these people were more ancient and haven't learned how to use aura yet. There was a group like this in her world but they were so secretive about everything.
"Okay... I get it. I am human as well then. So I run world too. Superpowers? I do not have Superpowers. My abilities, all Turmans can do them... well not all have the Heart... but it is still normal abilities. So Dirt World people normally cannot use Aura. Explains lots."
The explanation on money was not very long but Emerl got it. She knew how Credits worked, thought these credits were vastly different than the ones she seen. It also looked more flimsy.
"Stealing is wrong... i get it. Tyrus... you're just like Mauve. Nag too much," She folded her arms immediately regretting saying his name like that. She did not mean to speak ill behind his back. She wanted to speak ill in front of him. She missed how he get mad and scold her already. A couple of tears fell from her face but she managed to keep calm. When Siren handed the cloak and candy to Emerl, The girl smiled while wiping her eyes.
"Th-thank you..."
She quickly covered her head so that her antenna and face were not visible. She was ready to go out. She was ready to run if need be. However Siren promised to help so she would listen to this Alien. She would help the kid find his Mom. She would look at this Dirt World.

"You're welcome," Siren smiled warmly before scratching the back of her neck, "I'm no historian but I'll try to explain things as best I can once we're someplace more private.."

As they approached the front door, there was a large crowd outside gawking with police having already taped off the area. Amongst the crowd there was a woman frantically trying to get through only to be held back. Upon seeing Siren emerge with the kid, the lady redoubled her efforts to get through, "My baby boy!!" With strength only a mother could possess, she pushed through  the cops and made a run for her child.

"Mom!!" The boy left Siren's side to run to his Mom whom held him tightly and smothered his forehead in kisses, trying to hold back tears with the boy only rolling his eyes, "Mom....you're embarrassing me in front of Miss Siren and the lady from my Kaiju Movies..."

The Mom ignored his protests as she scooped him up and flashed a grateful smile at the pair with tears raining down her face, "Thank you....thank you both so much..." She then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Siren watched her go with a smile before said expression stiffened. Now comes the tricky part... "Alright, people! Give us some space!" She took Kaiju's hand and moved forward, causing the mob to step aside, whether from awe or fear mattered little to her. However, she was suddenly stopped by a surprisingly burly policeman, "...Can I help you, officer?"

"Miss Siren, we need you and your...friend...to come downtown with us. We have a few questions we'd like to ask you about what went on in there..." The officer adjusted his belt and held his head high, trying to look in charge.

The alien, however, just sighed and used her telepathy on him. Not very polite, sure, but she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, and detected a great deal of suspicion and even a little envy, "...You think I had something to do with this?"

The officer looked taken aback for a moment only to quickly recover, "You're not under arrest if that's what you're asking...it's just a few of my men and some other folks want to get a few things straight about your...tactics. Your little stunts are making a lot of people nervous."

"Is this guy for real? We just saved a child's life AND kept a mall from being turned into one giant trash heap!" Aurora exclaimed and even Alan agreed.

"...You know what, officer? I was thinking of helping you fix up your precious mall but if this is the appreciation I'm gonna get, I think I'll let the city handle it," Siren would then scoop up Kaiju, "Hang on tight to me and don't let go." With that said, she shot into the sky like a bullet.

Emerl stood behind Siren using the cloak to hid most of her upper body. Her head hanged down once she saw the size of the crowd. She could only think of the protest in Aurina when she was finally allowed to work in Mauve's guild. While she was not sure if they were angry or scared, she knew she was. Still, she remained quiet and followed behind the alien. Then a woman broke from the crowd.
"Be good... Be good..." she muttered to herself. Luckily the woman was just after the boy. She was the real mother. She was the person who would be angry at her if she hurt the little boy. The boy called her a weird word, but nobody paid attention to it. Maybe that was a good thing.

The next person to come up was a man in blue. He had a shiny badge as well. She remembered that trait. Was he going to attack? Kaiju quickly moved behind Siren hoping it would make the man go away. When Siren was starting to be accused of damaging the building, Emerl let out a sigh. She had to own up to it. Well, she did not but Siren did not deserve it.
"Sorry..." she started but Siren had another plan.
She just swept Emerl off her feet and bolted off into the sky.
"Wait... what.... Siren... I uh!" her mind struggled to process what was happening, "You... you hid the truth. Why? I did bad things."

Eventually, she would calm down. It was nice being carried for once. A smile grew on her fast as her antenna's fought against the air current. She looked down at all the tiny people. They reminded her of ants. The world below her looked different as well. There was so much grey, and not a lot of green or brown for a Dirt World. Still it was pretty and vast.
"Where are we going?"

At hearing Kaiju mention she hid the truth, Siren simply shrugged, "Well, yes and no. The way I saw it, you were lost, scared, confused and every other negative feeling you can think of. Besides, you didn't kill or hurt anybody and the worst thing you did was cause some property damage. Besides..." Siren's expression stiffened, "...If I had let them take you, they would've treated you like a criminal,"

"They would've drilled you non-stop with all sorts of very uncomfortable questions and that might've driven you to let your...other self out again," Siren hated mentioning that but it was the truth, "So, for the time being, I think it's best you stay with me. Let other people think what they want of me, I don't answer to them..."

"As for where we're going," Siren's smile returned, "A friend of mine has a safe house that he said I can use whenever I need it," She opened her mouth and began to sing again, causing the air in front of them to warp and distort before breaking open into a rift.

Siren would fly through it and the next thing they knew they were next to a safe house. The alien set her guest down and opened the door. The interior was small but cozy, with a small living room and a couch leading off into a modest kitchen. There was a bedroom and down the hallway was a bathroom. In the corner was a robotic drone with its head down and hooked up to some very advanced equipment.

Siren flicked a switch on the wall and the power came on.

"Welcome to my home away from home," She gestured to the place, "There's a mini-fridge in the corner over there filled with snacks and drinks that you can help yourself to, and don't mind T-16. He kinda came with the place and he's harmless to guests. Can I cook you something?"

"But... I... Thank you."
Emerl could not argue. If she was captured, she would try and break out. Worst, she might activate her primal form and then fall the the curse gain. That would be good for no one and she might not come back again. So she just kept the guilt inside.

"Safe house? Such weird names..."
Emerl became startled when the alien sung again. She knew it was a tell for using it's powers, but for what reason. No enemies were in sight. She was being good. Suddenly a weird energy formed in front of them. It looked like a hole?
"Wait wait! AHHH," The girl screamed clutching on to Siren and closing her eyes.

When she opened them and stopped screaming. They were in a room. It was weird as none of these smells existed a second ago. The smell of wind and air had vanish. It smelled like a home, like the sent of some new person but everything was new. The only thing she could recognize was that there were chairs. The objects in the room were so well crafted and smooth. Mauve would never let her near such expensive things. Of course they were very little back then.

After Siren flicked a switch, and a golem like thing appeared in the corner of her eye.
"Wait, you have mechin's here? Who's golem is this? What is this fridge. I am confused... shocked... and confused. And hungry... I want Nectar. Mauve always gave me nectar and warm white bread when we finish missions."

"T-16 is a gift from that friend I mentioned. Don't worry, he's mostly here to help take care of the place, but if he's making you feel uncomfortable..." Siren sent T-16 into power down mode as a way to hopefully help Kaiju feel more at ease and then went to fetch some honey from the pantry and white bread, "Sorry, but I don't really have this Nectar. I got some jam, honey, and other spreads though. I hope that's good enough. Anyways, grab a seat on the couch there and I'll get your food ready. You need something in your system other than sweets, anyways,"

She fetched some meat from the icebox and put it on to cook while letting the bread warm up in the microwave, "So, yeah...as you can tell, things around here are different from your world. There's much more reliance on machines for one thing. We use them to preserve our food, stay in contact with people, be entertained, and so on. It's a little overwhelming, I know, but you'll get use to it with time,"

Siren levitated over a plate of what Kaiju requested along with various meats, some boiled eggs without the shell and buttered, along with a glass of milk, "Perhaps now you can tell me a bit about where you're from and maybe your name?"

"You already said that... But you never mention Mechins being here. Do you have Aurins too? And and and Oh... FOOD!"
Emerl completely lost her train of thought and allowed stomach to take over. She did have the tiny bears but she had to save the for later. Who knows how long before she would find more of them. Sugary treats were very rare in Aurina for non nobles in her country. Who knew how rare they were here. It was disappointing that she did not have nectar.
"I like jams and honey. They are sweet."  
Her smile would not stay forever as the girl mentioned that she needed more stuff than sweets. She was wrong. Turmans could work off only sweets, at least that is what Emerl thought. She would not argue or say anything because it was free food. Free food was the best food, unless it was dry rice. Dry rice and other foods that expanded when wet made her stomach hurt. Moist foods were the best though. Anything she could slurp was premium Dorylus cuisine.

Then meat was freed from this icy smell. It smelled like winter or the icy wind of the mountain state. She grabbed her cloak and quickly fled away to the other end of the room.
"Siren... I smelled winter. We have to go... This house is not safe. Not safe house. Not safe house!"
The alien did not seem worried as she moved to this box. In fact she activated the machine and it made an airy noise. After it ringed, Emerl could smell the heat radiation from the dish. She poke her head out of the cloak. The Icy wind smell was gone and a plate was flying over to her. Along with that, was an explanation that this world relies on machinery. Now, Emerl heard that term but she never knew what it meant. Also, she did not care because she had food. She dug into the dish using her hand. Stuffing her face with an egg and a bite of bread. Washing it down with the milk. Then she took out her knife and cut a piece of each of the meats. She was not partcular about what meat she ate, but she knew some lasted longer than others. This meat was different all together. It tasted like nothing she ever tasted. She could not figure out what animal it came from. Could something this good come form an animal?
"Wha creat...*gulp* creature these come from? It is soo good!"
She then opened the bag with the sweets and put the rest of the meats in there when she thought Siren was not looking. Next she finished the eggs, milk, and half of the bread. She was satisfied for now.

"Oh oh uh. Introductions," Emerl attached the bag stuffed with food on the back of her dressed and then put away her knife, "I practiced this lots."
She cleared her through and equip her Cestus on her left hand. Then she placed it over her heart and raised her head while looking at the ceiling so her chin was up.

"I am Emerl Dorylus, squire under Sir Mauve of Swarm Tactics!" She held the pose for a couple seconds before relaxing and putting away her weapon to her side.
"I am from Turmana but I represent Aurinia. Aurina is nicknamed the Land of Aura and it is said Tyrus first descended and bestowed the gift of Aura to the survivors of the Great Conflict. That is what Mauve tells me. Aurina is very green and brown with mountains... oh and White with the snow... And tan with sand but mostly green. A lot of bad people live in Aurina so Knights form guilds to stop them. I work in one of those guilds."
She put her finger on her lip hoping she got all the colors.
"Yeah I think I got everything. Did my greeting please you. Would you give praise to my guild when we re... Oh that's right..." Emerl lowered her head and crawled up onto the couch, balled up under her cloak with the food bag in her arms underneath.

Siren only giggled with a hand covering her mouth as they watched Emerl eat, "Oh wow, somebody was certainly hungry, weren't they?" When her guest started up her introduction, the alien could only sit there and tilt her head as Emerl's mouth went a mile a minute. Anytime she tried to open her own mouth, the other girl would just keep going and she would shut her mouth again.

"...I know we already said this, but our new friend is certainly not from around here..." Alan remarked to Aurora.

"Got that right, and it's also obvious we're gonna need to keep a close eye on her for a while. There's much to learn if she wants to make a life for herself here on Earth...," Aurora commented, "...But if what I'm hearing is any indication, she might be suited for a life out in the countryside."

Before Alan could make a comment in return, the pair noticed how down Emerl suddenly became and Siren went to her side, trying to gently rub her head to soothe her, "Hey...it's gonna be alright. You've been through so much in one day...what you need now is rest, and you're not gonna get it here on this couch..."

Siren would then attempt to help her up and guide her into the bedroom where Emerl would then be tucked in, "Now, rest, and if you need anything at all, I'll be right out here."