Chapter 920: Insecurities

While Jake had thought about Vesperia coming to Earth, and it was even theorized she could, he hadn't actually known it was possible before now. What's more, Sandy had returned with her, making it a double-whammy of creatures he had partly helped "make" come to the planet.

"Where is she and Sandy right now?" Jake quickly used the magic telephone Arnold had installed in his lab to ask Miranda.

"They already left and are heading your way, sho-"

Right then, Jake saw a giant worm appear above his lodge through his sphere. He smiled and cut off Miranda:

"They're here, thanks for telling me, and good luck with... stuff!" Jake said as he also cut the connection without admitting he genuinely had no idea what Miranda was dealing with these days. Hopefully fun stuff.

Hurrying up from his laboratory, he saw how Sandy struggled to find a good place to land without breaking anything. The valley Jake's lodge was placed in wasn't that large, and Sandy eventually shrank down a bit before finally touching down on the soft grass.

Getting outside, Jake smiled as he saw the giant worm. "Hey, Sandy! You look all healed up."

"Eh, I'm getting there. Still rebuilding stuff. Next time we go on an adventure, I would prefer if it didn't end with me dying," Sandy answered.

"Can't make any promises," Jake joked. "I heard you also brought along Vesperia?"

"Oh yeah, I did," Sandy confirmed. "She's just finishing up some work inside one of my stomachs. Did you know she also has a stomach-like thing for all her bug friends? Well, more bug slaves, but my point is she also got a big subspace."

"I knew," Jake nodded. "What are you having her help with?"

"Convinced her to leave one of her spawns within one of my stomachs to create stuff. Very efficient at gardening and stuff like that," Sandy explained. "Also, quick question, you're her dad, right?"

"I... won't really say that's accurate," Jake muttered. "Not really. I don't actually think there's any normal word for the kind of relationship we have. Calling me her creator also feels wrong, so I really don't know what you would call me."

"She calls you Sire. So I guess you sired her?"

"Again, all of those things feel very weird to put into words," Jake sighed. "Anyway, back to you! Have you remade that resurrection egg yet?"

"Nope, gonna be a while. Super expensive to make and damn time-consuming. They also take this kind of special resource that isn't even a real resource that shows up anywhere. I just know when I'm low on it, and it regenerates super-duper slowly, even if it is sped up when I get levels and stuff," Sandy explained. "It's a bit hard to understand, so it's all good if you don't get it; all I'm saying is that the egg isn't ready yet."

"Pretty sure there are few people who understand better than I do," Jake smiled, as Sandy had effectively just explained his Jake Juice. And no, Jake wasn't going to explain back in kind, nor would he use the term Jake Juice, as that would definitely get a lot of comments and jokes from Sandy.

"If you say so..." Sandy didn't really seem to take his words seriously. "Oh! Vespy is nearly all ready!"

"Vespy?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"A cute nickname for my little sister," Sandy joked.

"You do know that if you insist she is your sister, that would mean Sylphie is your big sister," Jake pointed out.

"Seeing as I don't come from an egg, I was born before she was, making me the older sibling among us all. Checkmate."

"Recently, there was also this Demon Lord..."

"Doesn't count," Sandy left no room for argument. "Besides, Vespy is fine with me calling her Vespy, so you don't get to complain. Also, here she comes."

Sandy opened their mouth before Jake could say anything more as the familiar yellow figure of Vesperia appeared before him. She still towered over him and wore a silken dress with a striped black and yellow bee pattern. Or, well, perhaps calling it a wasp pattern was more accurate.

"It's good to see you again," Jake said with a smile as he looked up at Vesperia. He saw her antennas twitch a bit as she also smiled.

"It is likewise a pleasure to meet you once more, Sire," Vesperia answered. She seemed a bit nervous for some reason. Jake couldn't even begin to guess why, as he really couldn't see any reason why she would be, and he chose not to mention it.

"How have you been? Did everything go well when you returned to the Endless Empire? Did your sisters, the other True Royals, treat you properly?" Jake asked a slew of questions. Vesperia did look like things had been good over the last few years, but he still felt the need to ask.

"Yes, they have all treated me most excellently," Vesperia answered in her usual polite tone. "I have also laid claim to much of my heritage that was left behind when the last Vespernat Hive Queen fell. All of my sisters have been incredibly supportive during this entire process and helped facilitate my growth as much as possible."

Jake nodded, happy to hear that things had been good. She definitely wasn't lying about the growth either... in fact, she was higher level than he was.

[Vespernat Hive Queen - lvl 284]

It was so high that Jake couldn't help but wonder:

"Wait, have you gone to Nevermore?" Jake asked, clarifyingly.

"No, and I likely won't," Vesperia shook her head. "The World Wonder does not fit me or my Path much. Going there would also be seen as a massive risk, and finally, we True Royals have many secrets we wish to keep hidden from others. Secrets that we do not wish to reveal to the Wyrmgod for him to spread to the highest bidder after the fact, especially not to the Automaton. No, my growth in level has come nearly solely from growing into my powers and accepting part of my heritage."

"I see," Jake nodded. Yeah, Jake doing Nevermore had definitely revealed many of his secrets to the Wyrmgod and others. Some things would still be kept hidden, but a lot had been shown off. One also had to consider that many of Jake's secrets were related to his Bloodline, and not even the Wyrmgod could fully analyze and detect what that did during the World Wonder. The same wasn't true for True Royals, who relied on system-based skills.

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Finally, the Wyrmgod would also be more willing to keep secrets for Jake due to Villy. The Primordials all had some odd bond and a lot of deals and whatnot, something the True Royals didn't have. So, yeah, he could see why going to Nevermore was a huge risk that Vesperia or any True Royal quite frankly had no reason to take.

It wasn't like Nevermore was mandatory in any way. To the vast majority, it was just a good leveling spot, and a way to bang out some dungeon clears for the Dungeoneering title. Vesperia could clearly level totally fine on her own without relying on that based on her progress so far.

"But I heard you have done quite well in Nevermore," Vesperia commented after a bit. "In fact, as well as anyone possibly could."

"Could have gone worse for sure," Jake jokingly downplayed the entire thing.

"That is an understatement. You know, many of my sisters weren't keen on me going to Earth initially, even if it was to participate in a system event, but when I left, none of them were voicing words of protest anymore, only well-wishes for my journey," the True Royal said, shaking her head. "The Endless Empire truly does want a good relationship between them and you, using me as the binding agent."

"Well, as long as you're part of the Endless Empire, we're automatically on good terms," Jake shrugged.

Vesperia took a second before she smiled and nodded her head again. It was also only now that Jake had noticed she had lowered herself to be about the same height as him by going down on her knees. Jake wanted to point it out but didn't.

"I do fear that it could cause problems with the Automate if you state that publicly..." she said, a bit worried.

"Eh, It'll be fine," Jake waved it off. "As robots, they should have enough logic to know that even if I'm on good terms with the Endless Empire, that doesn't automatically make me an enemy. Shit, I'm good friends with both Risen, vampires, and those from the Holy Church. I am using the Viper's peak strategy to attain perfect neutrality by pissing everyone off and making friends with everyone at the same time. All while trying to make myself someone really risky to outright make an enemy."

Hey, it worked for the Viper, so it should work for Jake. Sure, it did make the Viper some enemies, like Yip of Yore and all his cronies, but wouldn't life be boring if you didn't have at least a few people gunning for you?

"There certainly are a lot of people unwilling to make you an enemy for no reason and even more wanting you as an ally," Vesperia said in a slightly relieved tone. "I just want to ensure I'm not imposing on you."

"Of course you're not," Jake shook his head, not even sure why she would say that.

"Nevertheless, the other True Royals were also concerned that me being here so openly could create diplomatic challenges, so to hopefully make up for any problems my presence might cause, I've brought along some gifts. They aren't something you, Sire, can use but more something to support the budding empire you are constructing. We have already left the spatial stone with your assistant... Miranda, I believe," Vesperia continued.

"Not really making an empire, but sure, I'm sure Miranda will be happy with any resources she can get," Jake said. "I am curious, though, what kind of stuff did you bring?"

"Primarily formation blueprints and materials to make the formations. There were naturally also a great number of metals, gems, wood, bones, leather, carapace, and many other raw resources to support the growth of Earth."

"Sounds like good stuff," Jake nodded, unsure if it was actually good stuff.

"Outside of these gifts, please let me know if there is anything I can directly assist you wi-"

"Why are you being so weird toward me?" Jake suddenly asked, having finally gotten enough of Vesperia acting off. "You're being overly polite, and almost... see, that's what I'm talking about."

As Jake spoke up, he saw Vesperia become quite nervous as she fidgeted a little. Her antennas were practically vibrating, and her eyes kept darting around during their entire conversation, not to mention how she looked like she had no idea what to do with her hands. Then there was the fact she had taken a weird kneeling position to have her head slightly lower than Jake's. It was all super weird.

"I... I did not mean to cause any dissatisfaction... I-"

"She's nervous because she hasn't seen you in a long time, especially compared to the time you spent together. She already felt insecure if you really needed or wanted her in your life before leaving for the Endless Empire, and you seem to only have grown more powerful and influential since then with all the Nevermore stuff, making her even more insecure now. Pretty sure Vesperia has a strong innate need to feel needed and useful, and you have shown no indications of needing her for anything substantial," Sandy jumped into the conversation as Vesperia looked panicked, whipping her head around to look at Sandy.

"You! I confided that to you in confidence, I-"

"Jake is a bit of a dum-dum and doesn't have proper worm-level intellect, so you need to be straightforward with him at times," Sandy said, making Jake feel pretty insulted as he was already processing the first thing Sandy had said.

"Still... I don't want to..."

"Jake, stop acting dumb and give her head pats already!" Sandy yelled, throwing Jake out of his thoughts.

"That's not what I-" Vesperia protested.

"Oh, if you dislike those, Jake should make sure to never give you any ever again," Sandy shot back.

"I didn't say-"

Jake finally interrupted their conversation as he reached over and placed a hand on top of Vesperia's head as he spoke with a hopefully comforting smile. "While it pains me to admit, I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes regarding things like this."

Vesperia didn't say anything but only lowered her head as she blushed. Jake couldn't help but shake his head as he saw the movements of her antennas, making him ruffle her hair.

"I feel like I need to apologize for you not feeling comfortable to just talk to me if you felt nervous or insecure," Jake said after a bit. "But I can say that you have no reason to be nervous. Also... I won't just trust Sandy's words for everything, so please just talk to me, alright?"

Seconds ticked by as Jake kept patting her before Vesperia finally spoke. "The Boundless Hydra's Chosen isn't entirely incorrect..."

"Just call Sandy, Sandy," Jake said in a calm tone. "No need to act overly polite toward that big worm either."

"Seconded! It's super weird that my little sister Vespy calls me with some long title," Sandy jumped in again to support Jake. "And as your older sibling, let me once more say... just be candid, alright? That works best with Jake here."

"Alright..." Vesperia said, obviously trying to calm herself.

Jake just sat there for a bit, giving her time. He did feel bad about making her feel insecure and nervous despite knowing it wasn't really his fault or something he could have done anything about.

It took a bit longer before Vesperia finally spoke, having gathered her thoughts. "I... feel like I've only caused trouble for you so far. I forced you to reveal your identity as the Chosen of the Malefic One, forced you to openly disclose abilities of your Bloodline, and even made potential enemies for you, all simply for existing. Meanwhile, I've done nothing to assist or benefit you in any way. I wanted to pay you back, but I truly have no idea how to do so meaningfully. I can't see why you would need me or what value my presence adds, as you have proven yourself more than capable all on your own. I... am questioning why I even came or why you would want me here.""

Jake didn't interrupt as she spoke, even if there were many times he wanted to interject. When she was done, he let her words hang in the air for a moment before talking:

"You are right, I am more than capable on my own," Jake said, as he felt Vesperia fidget slightly. "And as you said, I don't need any of you. The key word here being: "need." Me not needing you, Sandy or almost anyone doesn't mean I don't want you around. I don't need you to add some tangible value or offer me some boon for me to want you here. We're kind of family, aren't we? You just being here is more than enough."

Vesperia slowly nodded, pushing her head slightly up into Jake's hand. He quickly understood as he started rubbing her hair again.

"Now, me not needing your help doesn't mean you aren't allowed to help," Jake smiled. "In fact, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of things you can help me with. Just helping those around me also indirectly helps me, and I'm certain you are capable of quite impressive feats. In fact, I've been looking forward to hearing and seeing what you're capable of after having had some time to do your Hive Queen stuff. Of course, only if you want to show me."

The True Royal finally looked up, her face entirely red, as she clenched her fists. "Please let me show you my abilities!"

So... yeah, Jake wasn't a psychologist or therapist or anything like that, but he was pretty sure Sandy had hit the nail on the head when the worm said Vesperia had a strong innate need to feel needed and helpful.