“I want an awesome changeling name. I think I will call myself… Alvarium Rex. Yeah, I like the sound of that,” I said, happy with my new name.

“I like it too, daddy,” said Klika. “Does that make me Klika Rex? That’s how names work, right? I get your last name? Because I don’t want to be Klika Rex, just Klika.”

“Hahaha. You can be whoever you want to be. We’re changelings, after all. You want a new identity, you get a new identity.” I smiled at my daughter and patted her on the head. At almost five feet tall, Klika barely manages to come up to my waistline. ‘I wonder how tall you will be when you are fully grown.’

The only problem with her was clothing. Currently, she wore bed sheets pinned around her body and through her arm holes. It is not like I could get her real clothes. Anything I got her would be outgrown within a few hours. My own clothing would not fit her, as it was too big. Heck, It did not fit me, but for the opposite reason. My natural body was so stretched out that my jeans looked like shorts and my t-shirts did not cover my chitin-plated abs.

I watched her run off and start buzzing around the apartment. Her tiny wings barely managing to grant her lift. Nick looked up to watch her fly before returning his attention to his game. Klika hovered over to my bookshelf and grabbed one of the spell books from the top. My little girl dropped back down to the ground and ran back to me. “Daddy, Daddy! Watch me levitate this book!” she said while setting the book on the table. Her smile warped into a grimace of concentration. Klika’s hands lit up with a faint green light. The book was enveloped in her aura and slowly lifted off of the table. The aura flickered as Klika struggled to maintain it, but it ultimately failed. The book made a thump as it hit the table. She was panting with exhaustion. “I almost had it. It was easier to lift this time. How do you do it so easily?” she asked.

“I’m older than you. I’ve had more experience than you and started using magic later than you did. Don’t worry, kiddo,” I said. Reaching out my arm, I set my hand on my daughter’s shoulder. “You’ll get it in time. Now, how is your transformation ability coming?”

In response, a green flame began creeping up each leg, slowly making its way up her body. It took a whole minute, rather than our normal change time of a quarter second, for the transformation to complete. In Klika’s place stood a nine year old girl with brown hair and very blue but human eyes. She started walking around the room. Her movements looked far more stiff than normal. In fact, the more I watched her, the more doll-like she appeared. ‘That’s creepy,’ I thought to myself. Teleporting in front of her, I quickly poked her in the forehead. The surprise caused her to drop the transformation.

“Hey! That was mean! I was doing so well,” she whined. Klika crossed her arms and pouted.

“If you can’t even hold a simple disguise like that, how are you ever going to get any love?” I asked her. I don’t want to be mean to her, but she has to practice. All of the converts started as fully formed adults, including myself. Klika, despite her hyper fast growth, is still a child. She has not developed the magical strength just yet for any of her abilities. She can barely stick to wall or produce binding goo yet. That said, she is making rapid progress and improves by the hour.

“Why, daddy? You love me. You give me magic all the time,” she said.

“Because I can’t take care of you forever. Eventually, you will have to move on and get love on your own, either by making your own character or stealing from somebody else. That reminds me. We need acting lessons. Especially improvisation,” I said to Klika. If we are going to survive, improve could save our lives and get us out of situations where we cannot use our powers. I spoke to Klika, “for now, though, keep practicing.”

Nick and I walked down the busy sidewalk, disguised as middle aged men in running clothes. A few blocks back, police sirens wailed as the cars raced to the bank we had just left. Their response time was getting faster. Apparently, the banks had learned to call the police the moment the cameras were cut. It still did nothing for them. Our haul lay snugly in the large back packs we wore. Although we could easily have sold Emeralds to the Mob through Marcus, bank robbing was still quite fun.

“Mex tic-a-toc, kin. Snig re nog for tig lod mopized, tish. Klik-klak medizi pour amore. Gif mewd jews not firodox, hem faux dip. Fi hes placers osmosi, to melzo hexido. Shnee, lot fo sue doc tacking spepid.” ‘I’ve been thinking, Nick. Things are going to get quite complicated, soon. Klika will need to leave eventually for love. If she uses an original, she’ll need fake ID. If she replaces someone, she’ll need acting skills. In fact, all of us could use acting lessons,’ I explained to Nick as we walked.

He replied, “Moe tee mien toe koo mozibidib kekash ee di zibibozi, don kapa.” ‘Not to mention the extra work if we have to add more to the hive beyond just the sleeper converts, like Marcus.’

“Hey, you know what would be funny?” I asked, switching back to English.

“What?”

“THE FLOOR IS WATCHING US, ALL HAIL THE ROAST BEEF GODS!” ‘Say random things in English, but encode it like changeling speak,' I shouted, earning quite a few stares from people walking near us.

“Hahaha! That’s awesome,” Nick replied. “You could have two conversations at the same time.”

“Or pass secret messages. The true meaning would be hidden by the idle conversation.” The two of us continued our walk home, happily making small talk all the way there.

“I forgot my key,” I said to Nick. The two of us were standing outside our apartment, back in our normal human skins. We were locked out, and of course, neither of us had a key.

“Dude. Magic, remember?” he replied.

“Who said I could do magic?” ‘There are people watching us.’ There was something going on in the room down the hall and it was spilling out into the hall. <<Klika. Open the door for us, please. And try to be in costume, if you can.>>

As we waited for my daughter to open the door, the elevator behind us dinged. Out stepped the last person I wanted to see: Catherine. She spotted us immediately. “Will! Nick! There you are! You won’t believe what I’ve been through. I try calling both of you, but you never answered! Next thing I know, your mom is telling me that you’ve moved out,” she said.

“Oh.. hello Catherine. Good to see you,” I said nervously. ‘Oh please-’ My thought was cut off by the door being opened by a toddler.

“Hi Uncle Nick, hi daddy.” I winced at Klika’s statement.

“Oh, who’s that little girl?” Catherine asked. I could see Klika’s words processing in Catherine’s head. “DADDY?!”

“Catherine. Inside. Now.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my apartment. She gave out a little shriek of surprise. Nick followed and shut the door behind him.

“WHAT THE HELL, WILL! YOU HAVE A KID? WHOSE IS IT? YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE A VIRGIN! HOW YOUNG WERE YOU WHEN YOU SLEPT WITH HER MOTHER, 14?!” She screeched like a harpy. In fact, I would rather face a harpy than a pissed Catherine.

“Catherine, please. I can explain. Just quiet down.”

“YOU RUN AWAY WITHOUT TELLING ME, YOU BANG SOME OTHER CHICK, HAVE A GOD-FORSAKEN DAUGHTER, AND YOU TELL ME TO QUIET DOWN? YOU ARE A LYING DOUCHE, YOU KNOW!”

Catherine’s rage was palpable in the air. Quite literaly, it physically hurt to be near her. Klika, poor dear, was positively shaking. The combined strain of holding a disguise and withstanding Catherine’s fury was proving to be too much for the little changeling. She started backing away, only to trip over herself. She went tumbling, hitting the floor with an audible smack. But that wasn’t the worst part, oh no. When she hit the floor, she burst into green flames.

“WHEN I’M THROUGH WITH YOU, You lying piece… of…shi-” Catherine cut off as she noticed what was lying on the floor.

“KLIKA!” I screamed, running over to her. I quickly scooped her up. “Klika, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, daddy. Really,” she said, working her way out of my arms. “I guess I blew it, huh.”

“No, you did fine. Things like this happen,” I said to her, trying to make sure she was not mad at herself.

“Ch-ch-ch-changeling…” Catherine stuttered, pointing a shaky finger at my daughter.

“Yes, she is.” ‘Nick, restrain her,’ I said. Nick complied with my order, grabbing Catherine with his magic and lifting her up so her feet could not find purchase on the ground.

“What are you doing? Why are you protecting that… thing? She’s feeding on you! She’s got you brainwashed! Let go of me, bastard!”

“No, to all three,” I said flatly, my voice devoid of all emotion. I took control of Nick's spell holding Catherine up. “She can’t feed on me. She can’t brainwash me. I can’t let you go until I guarantee my daughter’s safety.”

She spat at Klika. “Why do you call that… monster… your daughter?” Klika gave out a little sob at Catherine's harsh words.

I erupted in flames. In a second, Catherine floated eye level with my armored chest. She looked up at my monstrous face as I roared, “BECAUSE SHE IS!” Catherine whimpered at my powerful double voice. “I became a fucking monster for no reason what so ever. I have to eat the life force of innocent people just to avoid having a heart attack. But that girl…” I took a breath to calm myself. “That girl is as pure as Jesus Fucking Christ. I did not cheat on you. I loved only you. That girl is the result of a magical wish. I wished for a kid, and I laid an egg. Out of that egg hatched the smartest, most loving child a parent could ever hope for. And guess what? She’s four days old today. Not years, days. MY CHILD WILL HAVE THE SHORTEST CHILDHOOD OF ANY INTELLIGENT CREATURE TO WALK THE FACE OF THIS PLANET! You will not ruin this for me.”

“I-I-I-I…”

“Catherine… go. Leave. I’ll do whatever you want to make you keep quiet about this. I have money. But just leave. When Nick found out, I changed him. But I can’t do that to you. I still love you.”

“Will, I-” I cut her off, shaking my head.

“I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter. You spit at her. Go. And if I so hear so much as a rumor about us, I will drain you dry,” I growled, showing her my fangs. She nodded silently, fearing for her life. I set her down and she bolted for the door. I called out to her before she left, magically giving her dress a light tug. “One more thing. I’m not William Ross any more. It’s Alvarium Rex.”

The door slammed shut after Catherine’s departure. I collapsed to the floor, sobbing. I cried myself to sleep where I fell, held the whole time by my daughter and best friend.

Author's Notes:

*Dong* Have a chapter.

This chapter had a lot more feels than I intended. I had been puzzling thins chapter for a while, trying to get from A to C while having no clue where B was. I finally pulled it out last night. Actually, even if it sounds a little hammy, I like how it turned out. We haven't seen the last of Catherine.

Hive finances: $996,300
Hive population: 4

(hahaha, you thought I said 'Ding,' didn't you?)

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Bad news. I'm going out of town for a week, so I won't be able to write. I promise that I will upload as soon as I can when I get back. Until then, I'll miss you!

(It'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweekIt'sjustaweek)

(edited 12/22/2013)