Pyrrhia couldn't stop thinking about the dragons she had seen. And how she had seen them. She was so distracted that she dropped a plate she was washing and it shattered. Everyone stared at it.
"You should clean that up before someone comes to investigate the noise." Violet said. Pyrrhia scooped up all the broken pieces of plate just as a HiveWing walked in. "Who broke that?" The HiveWing demanded. Pyrrhia panicked for a second. She had enough bruises from other mistakes, thanks very much. Violet stepped up to the HiveWing awkwardly. "I dropped it. Won't happen again."
"It had better not." Then he slapped Violet square across the face. Pyrrhia flinched. Violet waited for the HiveWing to leave, then whispered, "Ow ow ow ow ow ow." Pyrrhia could see a short line of blood where the HiveWing's claws had been. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Totally fine." Violet replied. "Let's see... what should I do this time..." Violet wiped the blood on her talon and smeared it on the wall. Everyone knew how hard it was to get blood out of treestuff. They all continued about their work, when another HiveWing came in, except... no one seemed to notice her.
She was an orangey red, with black spots that looked like inkblots. She looked just like Queen Dragonfly. "Hello!" She said. "How's it going?"
"Going well," Pyrrhia said in the vision-esque realm.
"Good. Have we... met before? I'm Dragonfly."
What? But how could this be Dragonfly? This dragon was the polar opposite of the queen. Then again, sometimes dragons change. "I believe we have." Pyrrhia said coldly. "Through the dragons you control." She had only met Dragonfly face-to-face once.
"What do you mean, control? I think Beetle knows about this. Where is she?" Beetle? As in Lady Beetle? But how- what? She needed to get out of this vision and see Lady Beetle. Fortunately, she remembered how to do so. "I'm looking at Queen Dragonfly." Strangely, it didn't work.
"I'm no one's queen. Certainly not a SilkWing's." This must have been her before she became queen. "Okay. I'm looking at Princess Dragonfly of the HiveWings." And with that, Dragonfly disappeared.
Pyrrhia headed out of the kitchens and toward Lady Beetle's chambers. She needed to figure some things out. As she was walking, she slammed into a blur of yellow and black. "Sorry!" She exclaimed.
"No, sorry, my fault." Said the HiveWing, whom Pyrrhia recognized as Lady Beetle. Wait, what? Did she just... what??? "Ma'am." Pyrrhia said. "We need to talk."
Beetle nodded. "Is this a private thing?"
"Um... I guess."
"Then we should talk about it in my chambers." Beetle went back toward her chambers, and Pyrrhia followed. She sat down on a cushion, and nodded for Pyrrhia to do the same. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Pyrrhia took a breath. "What was Queen Dragonfly like before she became queen?"
Beetle's expression darkened. "She was such a kind dragon... always helping others. Once she even saved a young SilkWing's life. Tell me, young one. Have you ever noticed how blank her expression is? No emotion at all?" Pyrrhia thought about it. Now that she thought about it, Beetle was right. But what was she getting at? Beetle continued. "She was kinder than any SilkWing, or anyone at all. At least, until... it happened."
"What? What happened?"
"One night, Dragonfly was really worried someone was trying to poison her. She kept saying that her food smelled funny. That it tasted funny. It wasn't poison, though. It was worse." Tears began forming in Beetle's eyes. "I told her it was alright. She'd be fine. I was wrong." She stopped, took a deep breath, and continued. "That night, I could hear her grunting from my room. So I went to check on her. When she answered the door, she looked and sounded so aggressive, but her eyes looked panicked. I dropped a bullet ant on her talon. It bit her, and the aggression left.
"She told me that there was a thing inside her that controlled her. I had heard about a plant called the Breath of Evil. It had a mind of its own, and can control dragons, even animals. When she told me about the thing, I connected the dots instantly. The stuff in her food was the Breath of Evil. It was controlling her."
Pyrrhia stared at Beetle. "So the war wasn't her fault?"
"No. It was mine." Pyrrhia continued to stare at her. "So, is that the information you were looking for?"
Pyrrhia nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She headed out the door, and heard Beetle say, "Be sure to tell that to your Chrysalis friends!" Pyrrhia rushed back toward the kitchens. "Rio. What were you doing?" Grayling demanded. This could be trouble.
"Talking to Lady Beetle." Pyrrhia said.
"And what were you talking to her about?"
"Dragonfly. But I feel like we shouldn't talk about this now."
"We're meeting again. In that carpet store down the street. Rio, I'm leaving you in charge of keys."
Pyrrhia nodded. "Don't freak out, but I'm bringing someone extra to the meeting."
"Rio, we can't have you bringing enemies to our meetings."
"She's not an enemy."
Grayling rolled his eyes and walked away, muttering, "You're the boss."
. . .
Pyrrhia waited in the musty old carpet shop for the rest of the Chrysalis, plus two others. Grayling was also waiting. Eventually, the others arrived, three by two. "Great. Everyone's here." Grayling said.
"No, we're still waiting for two others." Pyrrhia replied calmly. A few minutes later, Cicada came in. "Hello, Cica-" Violet stopped when Lady Beetle walked into their spot. "Rio, what is she doing here?!" Violet demanded. "This has gone too far!"
Pyrrhia slammed a talon on the floor. "Everyone calm down! Beetle, tell them why you're on our side."
"I need to help my sister." Beetle was smart not to specify which sister she was talking about. Everyone gave her a weird look. "So, Rio." Grayling snarled. "What were you talking to her about?"
"Beetle, tell them."
Beetle told them all Dragonfly's story, but everyone was convinced that she was making it up.
"So you're saying that Dragonfly has her own tragic backstory where she gets controlled by a plant?" Delta scoffed. "Fat chance."
"I can prove it!" Pyrrhia shouted. "Have you ever seen Dragonfly face-to-face?! Did you ever notice how blank her face looked?! And haven't you heard about what she was like before she became queen?! She was such a caring dragon!" Delta opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again. And closed it again. "Wow. You actually shut that SeaWing up. Is there an award for that?" Beetle said. Delta raised her claws threateningly. "Relax! I was kidding!" Delta put her claws down, but continued glaring at Beetle. "I think I'm speaking for the whole Chrysalis when I say I'm going to need further proof." Delta said.
Beetle nodded. "I will prove it once the whole tribe goes all creepy-eyes." She looked at Cicada. "And you. I'm going to try to trigger the thing, so you'll need to hide all day. I'll close the library. Hide in the secret room I found in there." Cicada looked mildly terrified. "You- you know? But I thought-"
"Yes, I know. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Cicada still seemed wary, but she shook it off. "Oh, and one more thing. I need you to find an antidote for the Breath of Evil. Here's a vine." She handed a very smelly vine to Pyrrhia. "You need the disease to find a cure. Is there anything else you need me for?" Beetle looked around and saw Violet's raised talon. "What's your opinion on Dragonfly- I mean, the plant exploiting Flamesilk?"
"I mean, I don't support it, but there's not much I can do about it."
"Because..." Violet looked to Pyrrhia for consent, and she hesitated, then nodded. "Pyrrhia's a Flamesilk."
Beetle stared at Pyrrhia, then smirked. "I have a plan."
Pyrrhia shifted uncomfortably. "What is it?"
"I'll drop a thread of your Flamesilk on a greenhouse near Dragonfly Hive."
"Bad idea." Pyrrhia said. "We don't want you to get caught. Who's your least favorite dragon in this hive?"
"That would be Izula."
"Then have them do it. That way, they'll get in trouble instead of you. And Grayling, I need you to watch Izula to make sure they actually drop it." Pyrrhia spun a thread of Flamesilk, put it in a jar, and handed it to Beetle. "Here." Beetle nodded. "So is the meeting over?" She asked. Pyrrhia looked at everyone. "Anybody have any questions?" Nobody responded. "Yes. It's over." So everyone left.
Pyrrhia walked along the streets, when a pair of black talons grabbed her, and bashed her hard on the head.
WHAT HAPPENED?!