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Cain stopped crying at so point...
When he lifted his face from his mother’s bosom, he found out that everything was over. The bad people were gone, and all the scary things had disappeared.
The huge fires and thick smoke disappeared. The bad sll in the air was also gone, as were the piles of dead bugs and their blood that ford rivers all over the world. The sky was no longer dark and gloomy, and the fear he had felt since everything began started fading away.
His face scrunched up in confusion as he continued looking around. He couldn’t understand why everything suddenly felt better and why everything seed more beautiful.
The skies were suddenly all clear and pretty, dotted with puffy white clouds that floated about aimlessly. The sunrays were warm and bright, the air was crisp and clean, and everything was peaceful, serene, and incredibly beautiful.
Cain might not be mature ntally, but even he could tell that sothing went different. He could still rember everything just now: all those terrible things that happened around him and to the adult bugs; he could still hear the shrill voice of his mother arguing with those two scary people who did all of that.
Then, all of a sudden, everything was over. Suddenly, he found that they were in a completely different environnt. How could he not be confused?
This was when he looked at his mother, and he saw that she changed too.
She was no longer a spider with a humanoid upper body. She’s fully humanoid now, standing on two legs instead of that monstrous six. Her eyes were puffy from all that crying just now, but she looked marginally better at least.
She looked at him with so much love, care, and attention that brought warmth deep into Cain’s heart, making it flutter like a butterfly.
"Mama? What happened?" Cain asked. He was really confused, and he really couldn’t properly articulate what exactly he wanted to know. He just assud that his mother knew the answer to his questions, just as always.
"Shh, honey. It’s alright now; the bad people are gone." His mother hushed him and fixed his ssy hair while carrying him with her other arm.
"They’re not here anymore? Everything’s over? No more scary stuff?" He asked, blind hope and faith filling his tone.
"Yes, honey. It’s all over. No more bad people, no more scary things," she confird.
If Cain noticed that there was sothing wrong with her tone as she said that, then he pointedly ignored it because he couldn’t understand its depth with his immature mind.
"Yay!" Cain threw his arms up, his face lighting up with a cheerful smile. "It’s over! Finally! I was so scared!"
"There, there...now that’s my brave boy; good job."
Cain’s head twisted in surprise. His eyes twinkled brightly as he stared at his father, who just ruffled his hair and praised him.
"Papa!? Was that you? You can talk now!?" Cain excitedly asked.
"Why, yes, my little man! I can. Finally, right?" Anuman laughed heartily at the excited tone of his youngest child.
"Wow! Wow! Finally! Yay!" Cain laughed even more excitedly, wiggling in the arms of his mother in glee and celebration.
He didn’t hear how his mother whimpered at his innocent celebration and upon hearing the long-lost voice of her husband.
When Cain ca a little down from his celebration, he stared more carefully at his father.
Like his mother, sothing’s changed in him too. He looked more handso, not bug-like anymore. He had an actual human face and shape; it’s just that most of his body was still bug, but that’s already a huge improvent from his silent and full-bug appearance previously.
Cain, of course, couldn’t fully articulate just how profound this change was. He also didn’t suspect anything or think that the changes in his father were anything bad. He was just happy about it.
"Hey, Bud! Check out!"
Cain’s attention was peeled from his father and to his older brother. Cain’s eyes widened.
Pelle was sporting a large grin on his face as he stared at him. He was still tall, but instead of a carapace and hive-like eyes, he also looked like a human. He’s still tall and lean; he has these very pretty amber eyes, tanned skin tone, pointed nose, thin lips, and ears with a couple of piercings. He looked really cool!
He was wearing insect carapace armor with wings folded behind him. There’s also a pair of cool swords sheathed behind his back.
"Wow! Brother looks cool!" Cain praised.
"I am, aren’t I?"
"Mn! Mn!" Cain nodded eagerly, making Pelle laugh heartily just like his father.
Cain didn’t notice how at ease Pelle was and how light he felt. His fiery temper had been cooled down as if a bucket of cold water had been used to cool down a blazing furnace. He had never felt this free, easy, and totally in control! It’s incredible.
"Aww! How about , cutie? You don’t like big sister anymore?" A lodious, mock-saddened, and slightly teasing voice fluttered in Cain’s ears.
He looked at the source and was dazzled by what he saw: his big sister Maricel.
She looked like their mother but younger. Not even a trace of their father’s gene could be seen from her. Standing side-by-side, others would probably think that the mother and daughter were sisters instead, twins, even.
"Wow! Big sis is very pretty! So pretty, just like Mama!!" Cain exclaid.
He doesn’t rember Maricel looking like this, ever. But he didn’t care. He was just happy about every good thing that he saw. His simple mind couldn’t explain it anyway, and he didn’t want to bother thinking about it because his happiness was far more important to him.
"Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go ho; we’ve got things to do," their mother firmly said using that authoritative voice.
"Ho?" Cain tilted his head. "But...but this isn’t ho? Are we moving, Mama?"
His mother smiled at him and nodded faintly, "Yes, honey. We are moving."
"I thought that our old ho was too big and too confusing for you, so I chose a smaller one. This is where we’ll stay in the future, and possibly until you grow old," his mother added as they continued walking.
"Yay!" Cain threw his arms up again in celebration.
Inwardly, he agreed. Their old ho was too huge, too confusing, and too quiet for his liking. Sure, he had a lot of people to play with, but it was too gloomy, and the atmosphere was too serious for him.
Although that’s also ho, he really didn’t like it this much. Hopefully, this new one was better.
The fact that his mother told him that they’d stay here until he grows old completely went over his head. They always told him that he’d grow up one day and it’s just slower for him.
Most of the ti, he’d just forget about it, and he’d gotten used to that, so he doesn’t think much about it anymore.
Shortly later, Cain saw a small settlent. There was a fairly large house there; that’s more than enough for the five of them. The territory was fenced; the house was atop a hill surrounded with large fields.
In Cain’s eyes, that place looked perfect. The way the sun shone down on it as it was highlighting that house on a hill, the way the wind blew towards it, and how his heart throbbed at the idea that that’s going to be their new ho...
"Is that our house, Mama?" he asked with a voice full of hope.
"Yes, honey." The Bug Empress nodded affirmatively. "That’s our new house. How is it? Do you like it?"
"I love it already!" Cain nodded eagerly. "It’s so pretty and big!"
If it weren’t for his limited vocabulary, he’d wax poetic about this place with how much he liked it.
"Co on, Cain. On my shoulders, I’ll run us there." Pelle moved forward and showed his back to Cain.
The youngest unhesitatingly rode on Pelle’s shoulders, his crisp and rry laughter spreading everywhere, blessing everything with his simple, innocent, and pure happiness and excitent.
Pelle laughed with him and began running towards the house.
"Watch your step; don’t drop your brother accidentally," their father warned but didn’t stop their fun.
Pelle probably didn’t even hear his warnings, but he was already being careful while still having fun. This was boosted even more as Cain’s pleased giggles echoed and bounced as he ran. He didn’t even care that his little brother was essentially pulling on his hair to keep himself stable on his shoulders.
Eventually, Pelle ran uphill and paused just outside the doors. He then sprawled flat on the grass, panting as if every ounce of energy he had was lost, all while Cain’s laughter continued. And it beca even louder when Pelle began tickling the little guy.
Shortly later, the others caught up. Pelle stood behind while Cain held both his mother’s and father’s hands as the two of them opened the doors to their new ho.
It took Cain a single glance at the interior and he promptly fell in love with the place right then and there. In his mind, words ford themselves:
’Ho sweet ho! ’
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