Komi ran through the forest, climbing over rocks and swatting away branches as she made her way through the park. Every so often she'd wipe away the tears cascading down her cheeks as she ran. She had one goal; to find Clover. She doubted he was trustworthy, but at this point, she just wanted answers. And she didn't care where they came from. Finally, she came to the place she had found Clover the first time. Only this time, he wasn't there. Komi's breathing grew heavy as she frantically looked for any sense of direction where Clover may have gone. She started to panic. She didn't know what to do. All options for her seemed closed. Suddenly, something caught her eye, moving out of the corner of her vision. She whipped back around to see it properly. It was a parasite, clicking and hissing at it slowly stepped towards her. She gasped and pulled out her sword, ready to kill the horrible thing. But to her surprise, it didn't attack her. It simply looked at her quizzically for a moment, as if it was sizing her up. Seeing it wasn't hostile, Komi lowered his sword, but kept it ready.
"...Beat it!" She shouted at the parasite, trying to hide her tears. To her surprise, it did as it was told, turning around and scuttling away. But it didn't disappear. It stopped and turned back around, looking at Komi. Komi's eyes narrowed as she looked at the parasite in pure confusion. Then something clicked; it wanted her to follow it. It was going to take her to Clover. Komi confirmed this when she took a step forward, and the parasite began to move again. She followed the parasite through some thick vegetation, deep into the forest, until they finally came across a small cave. The parasite scurried through the opening and disappeared into the darkness, clicking and hissing loudly, signalling for Komi to enter. She hesitated at first, but eventually ducked under the entrance and made her way into the dark cave. It was pitch black on the inside, but the skittering as well as the small glowing dots all around her let Komi know that she was surrounded by parasites. Her first assumption was that she had been lead into a trap. But they were not attacking. Komi stopped walking, and realized she had no idea where Clover was. Then she remembered; her new ability. Right before she left Monster Island, she had learned how to produce an icy blue beam from her hand. She decided to try it again. She held up a hand and a spark appeared in her palm. She concentrated harder and harder, until the spark grew into a ball of light, and eventually erupted into a bright flame, illuminating the cave. It was a strange sensation, but it didn't burn her at all. As she looked up from the flame in her hand, she saw Clover, kneeling on the ground, facing away from her. She gasped and stepped back, alerting Clover to her presence. He slowly turned towards her, his eyes glimmering with the light of the flame reflecting against them.
"You came." He said.
"Y-yeah..." Komi muttered. Clover stood up to his full height. He towered over Komi, but his presence no longer seemed intimidating to her.
"Would you like to know how my children are born?" He asked her. Komi didn't answer. Instead, Clover held out an arm to her. She looked down at his long, skinny arm, only to see a slight bulge in one of his veins. It was moving. Eventually, the bulge grew slightly larger, and burst out of his vein. There was hardly any blood, and the thing causing the bulge in his arm appeared to be a small, skinny, grey maggot-like creature. Komi recoiled at the maggot, but Clover eyed it closely.
"They all start out this way." He explained. "They grow quickly, as long as they have enough to eat."
He demonstrated this by taking the maggot in his hand and placing it on an animal carcass on the floor. Komi looked down at it to see hundreds of maggots all feeding on the carcass. There were so many Komi had no idea what the animal even was. It was disgusting. She couldn't help but gag and cover her mouth. Clover seemed to ignore this.
"They create a chrysalis for themselves in the earth," He explained, "and when they emerge, they take the form you've already seen."
As he said this, the dirt at his feet began to shift and crack. A small parasite dug its way from the ground, screeching and clicking and writhing around. It seemed to instinctively scuttle up towards Clover, crawling up his leg and resting on his shoulder. Komi felt a range of emotions, including fear, disgust, but most of all, intrigue. The life cycle of these parasites was impressive to say the least.
"...Why are you telling me this?" She asked.
"Unlike your mother, I just gave you an answer to something you had questioned." Clover explained. He was right, Komi had wondered where these things came from. But when Clover mentioned her mother, she once again burst into tears. She knelt down on the ground and began to sob, holding her face between her knees. Clover cocked his head to the side and knelt in front of her, gently brushing a hand against her face.
"You know the truth now, don't you?" He asked.
"Yes... I know that I have a part of you inside me." Komi sniffed. "And I know that she abandoned me and didn't even tell my family what happened to me."
"Because she was ashamed of her own mistake." Clover added. "Don't worry, my child. We will make her pay."
Komi looked up at Clover, all her fear of him gone from her mind. Clover lifted the parasite from his shoulder and brought it towards her. Komi was obviously hesitant to touch it at first. But she slowly reached a shaky hand towards the parasite. It stepped from Clover's hand to her own, and looked up at Komi, making a quizzical sound as it cocked its bug-like head. Clover stood up again.
"You have my DNA. My children will follow you now too." Clover explained.
Komi stood up as well, holding the baby parasite in her hand. It made a sound more like a purr as it nuzzled into her palm. Komi was amazed. It was almost cute, in a strange way. She turned around, only to see the eyes of hundreds of parasites staring back at her. They eyed her as if they were awaiting her command. Immediately, a new feeling of power washed over her. She grinned, the corners of her mouth spreading wider and wider. She felt unstoppable. Clover placed a hand on her shoulder.
"So, Komodithrax," he said, "what will you have them do first?"