Free Web NovelChapter 9: Tilbo
Until, on a peaceful afternoon, as the sun began to set outside, painting the sky orange and pink through the window, the ant was there once again, perched right on top of Lukas’s nose.
He watched it for a long moment.
Its antennae twitched. Its front legs scratched themselves. Its abdomen rose and fell with the rhythm of its tiny breathing.
’Alright. I’ve decided.’
’Since you like me so much, you’ll be my first friend in this world.’
Lukas looked at it with an affection that would have transcended the barrier between species if an ant could perceive affection at all.
He thought, with all the intention and sincerity he could gather, as if making a solemn declaration:
’Your name will be... Tilbo.’
’Tilbo the ant.’
’What do you think?’ freewebnøvel.coɱ
The exact moment the name formed in his mind, clear, complete, and final, something changed.
It was not a thought. It was not a sensation.
It was a connection.
An invisible line of energy stretched from Lukas’s chest to the tiny ant, as though a thread of silver light had been woven between them.
It was not a gradual process but a sudden snap, the sound of a switch being flipped, of a key turning inside a lock.
The connection was deep, warm, and strangely mystical.
It seemed to last an eternity and less than a second simultaneously.
Long enough for Lukas to feel, truly feel, the presence of another consciousness beside his own.
Not a human consciousness, not words or thoughts, but something more primitive, more pure.
Hunger.
Thirst.
The desire to explore.
The instinct to protect the nest.
The memory of a scent, his scent, that Tilbo had etched into her chemical memory on the first day she landed on his face.
Lukas trembled.
His entire tiny body shook with a shiver that came not from cold or fear, but from something far deeper.
Then the connection vanished.
And everything changed.
A wave of pure energy flooded Lukas’s body.
It was not like the silver light he had seen in Clavor and Asmon.
That light was gentle, external, almost decorative.
This was different.
This came from within, from the depths of his cells, his bones, and his marrow.
His insides burned, but it was not a painful burning.
It was a comforting, powerful heat, as though every muscle and every bone were being warmed from the inside, reinforced, and strengthened.
The sensation lasted nearly five full minutes.
Lukas could not move during the process.
His body was rigid, his eyes wide open, and his breathing ragged.
He felt every fiber of his being being transformed, subtly, silently, yet undeniably.
When it finally ended, Lukas remained panting for a long moment, eyes wide.
’...Huh?’
He blinked.
He tried moving his arms.
They obeyed perfectly.
There was no hesitation.
No trembling.
No frustrating lack of coordination that had tormented him for more than two months.
His arms moved exactly as he wanted, at the speed he wanted, in the direction he wanted.
He opened and closed his fists.
Stretched his legs.
Bent his knees.
Everything with complete control, as if he had been born in that body eighteen years ago, not two and a half months ago.
’What... what happened to me?’
Carefully, very carefully, as though handling something precious and fragile, which, in this case, he was, he brought a hand to his face.
He lifted Tilbo off his nose. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The ant did not resist.
Did not flee.
Did not bite.
She simply remained there, motionless, as if she trusted him completely.
As if she knew he would never hurt her.
Lukas gently placed her on the pillow beside his head.
Then, without apparent effort, without the internal struggle that had once accompanied every attempt at movement, he planted his hands on the mattress, pushed his torso upward...
And sat.
Upright.
Alone.
For the first time in his new life.
His violet eyes shone with surprise and excitement.
He looked at his own hands, now steady and under control, as though seeing them for the first time.
He turned them over, admiring the tiny fingers, the crescent-shaped nails, and the soft, pale skin.
’I can...’
’I can control myself.’
’What was that? What happened when I named her?’
He looked at Tilbo, sitting quietly on the pillow, her antennae twitching softly.
The ant seemed... different too.
Her black body gleamed with an almost metallic luster, as though coated in a thin layer of stardust.
But perhaps it was only the evening light coming through the window.
Perhaps.
’Tilbo... what did you do to me?’
’Or rather... what did I do?’
At that exact moment, the bedroom door opened.
"Lukas, I brought your new blanket..." Aurora entered with light footsteps, her eyes still lowered as she adjusted a light-blue wool blanket in her arms.
"The seamstress finished it today, and I thought you’d like it..."
She stopped.
The blanket slipped from her hands.
Her violet eyes, so similar to her son’s, widened to their limit.
Her mouth opened.
Her breathing stopped.
"Lukas...?!"
The cry of surprise was so sharp that it echoed through the hallway.
Outside, a startled bird took flight from a nearby branch.
Seconds later, heavy footsteps thundered through the corridor.
Clavor burst through the doorway, alarm written across his face, his right hand already gripping the hilt of his sword by pure reflex.
His eyes swept across the room rapidly, searching for whatever threat had made his wife scream.
He froze.
His hand released the sword.
His jaw dropped slightly, a minimal gesture, almost imperceptible, but for Clavor Dmond it was the equivalent of shouting in shock.
His youngest son, only two and a half months old, was sitting perfectly upright in his crib, violet eyes shining with a calmness that belonged to no baby.
His arms rested against the sides of the crib, as though he had been waiting for them.
Aurora rushed to the crib, her hands trembling.
She touched Lukas’s face, his shoulders, and his arms, as though needing to confirm he was real, that this was not a hallucination.
"Clavor... look at this!" Her voice wavered between shock, fear, and budding pride.
"He’s sitting up! By himself!"
Clavor approached slowly, each step measured, as though approaching a wild and unpredictable animal.
He leaned over the crib, dark brown eyes fixed on his son.
"Impossible..." he murmured, his voice rough.
Normal babies sat up on their own at six months or later.
But two and a half months?
He looked at Aurora, then at Lukas, then back at Aurora.
"This..."
Lukas simply stared at his parents, perfectly still, his violet eyes maintaining eye contact with theirs.
Tilbo remained quietly on the pillow beside him, invisible to the adults amid the chaos.
He did not know how he suddenly possessed the strength to sit up, either.
He simply could.
And somehow, that tiny black ant had something to do with it.
’Tilbo...’ Lukas thought as Aurora wrapped him in tight embraces and Clavor shouted for Asmon and Judite to come see the "miracle."
’What did you do to me?’
The ant, perched on the pillow, merely moved her antennae slowly, understanding none of it.
