Swarming Sovereignty

Mary gripped the hand of her youngest daughter, trying desperately not to let her nervousness show. She had to be strong for her children, but it was so hard; how was she supposed to feel when she learned that Owen had been…taken as a hostage of some sort? Or was it that he was forced to join a new nation or…it was confusing, but now her entire family was being uprooted to go and join him as part of some sort of treaty.

If that was all it was, Mary wouldn’t be as nervous as she was. But…the way King Brom had acted, that wasn’t the case. Most people likely wouldn’t have caught it, but Mary wasn’t most people; she was good at reading people, and she had interacted with King Brom enough to know that he was on edge.

And…the way he had said goodbye, it was almost as if he expected to never see her again, it was final. Her family was to be accepted as “full citizens” of this new nation, and Brom said he had spoken with Owen, and there was clearly some way of contact between these nations, so…why? She would just have to wait and find out, and the moment was coming ever closer, there was only one minute now before they would be teleported, by the Hero herself.

“Mom, will teleporting feel bad?” Her youngest, Anna, asked.

“It feels a little funny, but it’s over after a second.” Mary said gently. “If you were sleeping, you wouldn’t even wake up.”

Her eldest, Jonathan, nodded. “I’ve teleported a couple of times, it’s not bad at all. You have nothing to be worried about.”

Mary could tell that he was lying. The way he was pulling his wife, Vivian, close and his unusually serious tone led her to believe that he was almost as nervous as she was. If he wasn’t, he would be making a joke, or trying to distract Anna or something, not…this. The clock struck twelve, and Mary braced herself for the teleportation. A moment later there was a slight unease in her stomach, and she was in some sort of auditorium.

Immediately, three young wolfkin women rushed towards the group, and to her surprise, one of them caught Mary in a hug. “Mary!” She said. “It’s so good to see you all here, safe and sound.”

Mary awkwardly disengaged from the hug, eyes flicking over to note that the other two women, who were identical to the one in front of her, were talking with her other children, tails wagging and a blissful look on their faces.

A look that was shared by the woman in front of her. “Um…this may sound rude, but do I know you?”

The wolfkin paused for a moment, a complicated expression crossing her face. “It’s me, Owen.”

Mary stared at the woman in disbelief, her frown deepening as she took in the audacious statement. “That’s not a very nice joke.” She said. “We’ve been worried sick about him, and we don’t find something like that funny.”

The girl frowned. “Did…did Brom not tell you?” She said. “Use your identification on my status. I’ve changed my name to Ophelia now, but the last name doesn’t lie.”

Mary hesitantly used some Mana to view the strange woman’s status.

The first thing that stuck out to her was, of course, the stats. Ophelia was only level one, yet her stats were more akin to a level seventy or eighty’s stats. Apparently, they were supposed to be even higher, but the system itself had deemed her too powerful for whatever this “swarm” was.

“Um, if that’s not enough,” Ophelia said, “on our wedding night, you were trying to walk towards me alluringly, and you slipped and fell, and neither of us could stop laughing. And you’ve always wanted a dog, but I was allergic, so we never got one. And when I got back from my first mission after we were married, you clung to my side for a whole day, not letting me go anywhere alone.”

This…this woman really was Owen, or at the very least had his memories. “But…how could you have changed so much?” Mary whispered. “You’re not even human anymore.”

Ophelia sighed. “Anna, can you go over to Jonathan for a bit? I need to talk with your mother privately.”

Anna squeezed Mary’s hand, and Mary squeezed it back. “Go to your brother.” Mary said quietly. If this woman truly was Owen, then Mary didn’t mind having a private talk. If this woman wasn’t Owen and just had his memories, Mary didn’t want to make her angry, so…either way Anna needed to leave Mary’s side, as much as she was loathe to let her go.

Anna hesitantly let go of Mary’s hand, then sprinted over to Jonathan, who was in the middle of conversing with one of the other girls.

“Who are those other girls?” Mary asked.

“Me.” Ophelia replied. “All three of these bodies are mine. I know it sounds strange, but it’s the truth. Things are…different here, we’re not like regular people, not anymore.”

“In what way?”

“We’re…well, honestly, in a lot of ways we’re closer to monsters than people, but according to Amelia we’re in some sort of new third category that isn’t quite monster or person. Personally, I think you could successfully argue that we still fall under the umbrella of “people” since we have souls, but we’re better. We can change and grow so much more than normal people, we’re not limited by our Jobs, and we can learn Skills just by doing stuff related to the Skill.”

A shiver ran down Mary’s spine. “And…they captured you and changed you into one of those?”

Ophelia nodded. “And I love it. I’m so much…more than I was before, stronger, faster, more Skills, and, best of all, safer. If one of these bodies dies, as long as I have one left, the others will come back in a week. I can keep a body here at home and go out basically risk-free.”

“And they just gave this all to you?” Mary asked. “This seems like strange treatment for a prisoner of war.”

Ophelia smiled. “Not a prisoner of war.” She said. “I…defected, for lack of a better word. I’m currently leading the scouting and intelligence division of this country.”

“But you…” Mary frowned. “Why would you defect, uproot everyone’s lives for this?”

Ophelia shrugged. “It’s the only logical option, really. This is the future, not just for us, but for everyone. It will be a future without war, without hunger, without societal injustice. If that’s not worth fighting for, I don’t know what is. And, even more…there’s no way people can stand up to the swarm. The Hero herself is one of the leaders of this movement, and you’ve seen my stats.”

“For us?” Mary said. “You can’t possibly mean you’re bringing the children into this!”

Ophelia shook her head. “No. They’ll stay home, probably help with the farms or something. None of you will have to fight if you don’t want to, but, yes, you’re all going to become like me. That’s what being a full citizen means, undergoing the conversion process and fully joining our community.”

“Can’t we just be partial citizens, then?” Mary urged. “We’d rather stay the same.”

Ophelia laughed. It was strange, hearing Owen’s laugh come out of her, pitched up a few octaves, but still unmistakably Owen’s laugh. “There are no partial citizens.” She said. “The closest we have are the non-sapient members of the swarm. Look, I know you’d rather keep your current bodies, but trust me, once you try it out, you’ll love it, guaranteed.”

“And if we say no?”

Ophelia’s ears and tail sagged. “Then we’ll do it by force. I’m sorry, Mary, but this is non-negotiable. If you’re cooperative, we can help tailor your new form, make it into something you really want, but we can’t do that if you resist.”

Mary opened her mouth to firmly object, but something clamped down on her emotions, a wave of anxiety and dread at trying to say no. She floundered for a bit, trying to quell her feelings, but Ophelia put a hand on her shoulder and began to massage it in the way Owen always used to when Mary got stressed.

“It’s the Oath.” Ophelia said. “You’re forced to allow this. It happened to us yesterday, when one of the others wanted to act as a spy in the Glens.”

Mary took a deep breath and tried to steer the conversation in a difference direction. “Okay, but…what about us? You know I’m not attracted to women, how will we…stay together?”

Ophelia smiled. “You will be, once the conversion is done.” She said. “Everyone is. There, um, are no men in the swarm, as my current sex so clearly illustrates.”

Mary shifted uncomfortably. “Okay, so I’m apparently not getting out of this, how is the process? What sort of input do I have? Will it hurt?”

“No, we put you in a cocoon, you get put to sleep for an hour or two, and wake up in your new body. Your input is helping decide what type of thing you’d like to do in the future or what race you want, and we’ll put other objects or monsters in your cocoon with you, simple as that.” Ophelia said. “And…we’re pretty sure we can remove your disease, too.”

Mary stared at Ophelia in shock. “Are you sure?” She said. “All those doctors we went to couldn’t do anything, but you think this can?”

Ophelia nodded. “Yes.” She said. “After all, your body is being remade. Evolutions have gotten rid of worse, so we’re about ninety nine percent sure this will work.”

Ophelia reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded up sheet of paper, which she handed to Mary. “This has a list of the types of stuff we’ve been able to make when converting things, give it a read and let me know what you think. If you want to stay relatively human-looking, we can swing that. If you don’t, then the sky’s the limit.”

At that, Ophelia paused, and then her tail began to wag rapidly. “Actually, this one would be perfect!” She said, moving over to behind Mary and pointing at a specific entry on the sheet. “This is the strongest non-sapient thing we have, and, I mean, you’ll have to be part-snake, but you can get around the downsides of that pretty easily. Mistress is a fox, but she has an ability that lets her transform into a human, and her mother has a similar ability.”

“Mistress?” Mary said sharply.

Ophelia gulped. “Sorry, the Queen.” She reached up, poking at her ears. “I became more doglike because of my transformation, and that includes the default mode of address. You’re the only one for me, don’t worry.”

“Then, wouldn’t I need to worry about being more snakelike?” Mary pointed out. “I don’t want that.”

Ophelia shook her head. “The snake isn’t that strong. The stronger the things you’re converted with, the more their original personality affects you in the result. The cerberus that I was converted with was almost certainly a Calamity class monster, that snake’s Champion at best. Plus, I’m pretty sure that snake’s constitution will let you eat whatever you want and not change your physique in the slightest; it’s supposed to be able to eat stars when it grows up, so a couple extra slices of cake isn’t going to do anything.”

That was…more tempting than Mary cared to admit. “And…you won’t mind if I turn into some sort of lamia?”

“Of course not!” Ophelia said. “That sort of thing honestly tur – I mean doesn’t bother me in the slightest!”

Mary gave Ophelia a flat look, and Ophelia chuckled nervously. “Sorry.” She said. “Um, all my bodies have their own…needs, and I’m still trying to get them scheduled differently so it’s not quite so overwhelming. It’s…a little hard going back to the libido of a twenty year old and having it tripled.”

Mary sighed, shaking her head. “Fine.” She said. “I’ll go with the snake. Will you try and keep my analyzing capabilities?”

“I’ll do you one better and enhance them!” Ophelia said proudly. “I’m gonna go send this body to let the others know what to grab, will you help the kids decide what they want? I’m already working with them, but another helper would be nice.”

Fine.” Mary said. “But you better make this up to me later.”

“Oh, I will.” Ophelia purred seductively. “This is the best thing that will ever happen to us, and I’ll make sure you know just how good it can be.”

---

When Mary awoke, she immediately understood where Ophelia was coming from; she felt fantastic. For the first time in decades her back wasn’t bothering her, and she felt so…youthful. The fact that she was a lamia now was a complete nonissue; she felt entirely at home in her new body, and…well, she wasn’t usually one to make snap judgements, but it was definitely better than her old one.

“Look at you!” Ophelia said, pouncing on her with a hug. “You look so good! How are you feeling?”

“Great.” Mary said, flexing a hand experimentally. And, as she looked down on one of Ophelia’s other bodies, she was surprised by her own feelings; how hadn’t she noticed how fantastic her wife had looked before? She was a feast for the eyes, and there were three of her, all for Mary. Yes…this would give their marriage an entirely new aspect, one that Mary was eager to explore.

Mary pulled the body that was hugging her closer, bending down a surprisingly long way to nibble on one of Ophelia’s ears. “Thank you for giving me that last push when I was being so reluctant.” She whispered into it. “This is amazing.”

Mary watched in satisfaction as the other body that was in the room turned a bright red. “Um, they’re…I…this…”

“Yes?” Mary teased, grabbing her other ear and beginning to gently play with it.

Ophelia gave a contented sigh, face melting into one of bliss for a few moments, then snapped back to attention.

“We…not now.” She said, gently pushing Mary away. “The kids are about to wake up, and if we go any further, I won’t be in a state to greet them.”

Mary stopped her ministrations, her own face growing red. “Sorry. I…I don’t know what came over me there. You just look so…good now that I couldn’t help myself.” As she straightened back to her full height, she realized that she had to be almost eight feet tall. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it would take a bit of getting used to. Hopefully she’d get some way to compact herself a little more, though; some buildings simply were not built for larger people in mind, and she could see it getting inconvenient.

“Yeah, I know.” Ophelia said. “I feel the same way. But we’ll have plenty of time to explore that tonight, right now we have to be good mothers and help our daughters get situated.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Mary said happily. Yes…Ophelia was right; this was the best thing that had ever happened to them or their marriage. Her only regret was that it hadn’t come sooner.