I gasp at the sight suddenly as Aita hides behind my neck.
“Jon... JON!!!”
“What is going ON here? And-”
The voice behind me gasps.
“Carina?”
I turn around to see that the changeling behind me is Queen Chrysalis. Aita moves to the front of my neck to see her.
“Queen Chrysalis?!?”
“Why, Carina, thanks for recognizing me. What is the problem?”
“What’s going on with Jon?”
“My drones have only cocooned him so that he is cared for. You have nothing to fear.”
“Wait. How does that work?”
“I know you don’t remember this. But our cocoon is practically like a time capsule. Nearly nothing will break down under any of the contents inside, so everything within the cocoon that Jon possesses will stay intact.”
“So, Jon’s going to be fine?”
“Yes. I could free him now if you want.”
“YES... please!”
And with that, Queen Chrysalis digs into the cocoon to break Jon free, she, stopping when he lands.
“Queen Chrysalis? Carina? What happened?”
I come over to hug Jon.
“Oh, Jon. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.”
“So, did you find Aita?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Aita... why does that name sound familiar? Wait. Didn’t I hear it when I was dreaming?”
“I think you did. You visited me in a dream that I had after Carina’s egg hatched.”
“Ah, okay. So, this is goodbye for the last time I presume? I’m asking because Aita is a pleasure to see.”
“Only for now. If someone says that you’ve been thinking about me, I could just teleport into your hive. You’re the one who teleported me here in the first place, so in a way, I thank you. I’d like to see you again, but I won’t go unrequested.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re in good terms then. Farewell, Carina. Farewell, Jon. You’ve earned the extra hours added to your life from your explorations.”
“Erm, thanks, Queen Chrysalis.”
Carina gets me, Aita, and herself back home at last.
Finally having a chance to sit on the couch, I start thinking.
“Hey Carina. What was the whole extra few hours thing about?”
“I think it had something to do with the cocoon that the hive put you in. Chrysalis had said that next to nothing will break down in the material contained in the cocoon.”
“Wait, not even paper? Doesn’t paper always break down in water.”
“I doubt it. You look no different from before I left.”
Suddenly, Carina hears Roman’s knock, so she levitates the door open.
“Hello?”
“Hey Rroman.”
“Hey Jon. Heard you were outta town today. What were you doing?”
“Carina and I went looking for Aita, and Carina found him.”
“Um, Jon, why does it faintly smell like a stink bug in here?”
“I don’t know. No one ever noticed since our trip home started.”
Roman plugs his nose as Carina sniffs the air.
“Hmm. Now that you bring it up, Roman, I can pick it up, but just barely so. It shouldn’t really be a problem though.”
“Well, either way, Sophie and Tim are here to pick up Aita.”
“Actually, I know where Aita may want to go for the night. Jon, do you mind if Aita and I spend the night at Headrest Centre?”
“I’ll actually want to recommend that for about a couple of days. I think Aita will want a break from humans for a while.”
“But what about during the day?”
“Roman, all a parent and a child of our kind need is each other. I’ll keep Aita company, sharing my love with him.”
After hearing Carina, Aita’s reaction is to purr.
“Well, I guess Aita and I will be going. It’s almost sunset. Bye Roman. Bye Jon.”
I wave goodbye along with Roman as Carina and Aita walk out of the house over to Headrest Centre.
Morning at last. It’s just after sunrise when Aita wakes me up. As I wake up, laying on my right side, has his forehooves on my left one. I wrap him under said hoof, causing him to loudly purr. After ten minutes of me and Aita bonding, the back door opens to a guard. Suddenly, he notices us.
“Oh, hey Carina.”
“Um, who’re you?”
“Dennis. I guess he was really telling the truth.”
“He?”
“Jonathan?”
“Wait. Are you a friend of Jon’s?”
“Yeah. But I’m just on duty right now. So, I see you found Aita.”
“Yeah. I guess I never took your job into account upon staying here.”
“Eh. You’ll get it on your next try. Want me to tell police that Aita is with you now?”
“Go for it.”
“Thanks.”
So, after five to ten minutes of looking around, no one else is spotted during Dennis’ search, so he just makes for the back exit, leaving Aita and I to our bonding.