The two Yautja battleships landed in the shipyard just outside the capital on Yautja Prime. The Prince's battleship was to be repaired immediately. The Prince and Nahuel parted ways and then the Prince regrouped with his two wives and son. Makawee and Lex were already dressed in ceremonial dresses appropriate to their rank.
"Tell the other wives I will be arriving at the palace soon," the Prince ordered Makawee. "Send for my personal physician as well."
Upon arriving at the palace, Nizhoni led the remaining wives in greeting the Prince. In accordance with the custom, Lex would have immediately left the Prince to join the lower ranking wives. Of course, she did not.
"Welcome, my Prince," Nizhoni greeted him.
"It has been a long journey. I will rest now," the Prince said to her. The Prince then turned to Makawee, Lex, and Wayra. "You will join me in the evening hours."
The Prince then walked off leaving everyone else behind. Typically, he would bring at least one wife with him but not this time. "I will inspect the palace within the hour," Makawee said to Nizhoni.
"Everything is in order," Nizhoni promised.
"I expect that it will be," Makawee said and then walked off towards her chambers.
Nizhoni gave Lex a curious look as she also left for her room. "Keep watch on her," Nizhoni ordered Kachina.
The Prince's personal physician came to the palace and was greeted by Nizhoni who had taken charge for the day. Nizhoni led the physician to the Prince's quarters. "At your service, my Prince," the physician said as he entered.
"Thank you for coming," the Prince said. He then nodded for Nizhoni to leave.
Once Nizhoni was gone, the physician started examining the Prince's brain for any unusual activity due to the Yeerk. "There is foreign residue from the Yeerk, but it will soon exit your system," the physician assured him.
"There is no brain damage," the physician confirmed.
The Prince then took off his armor revealing deeply bruised skin on his chest and side. "My Prince, what I am going to next will be very painful," the physician said.
"Proceed," the Prince permitted. His roars of pain could not be heard past the sound-proof room.
The physician and Kachina came to Lex's room. "What is this?" Lex asked suspiciously of the physician.
"This is the Prince's personal physician," Kachina introduced.
"I'm fine," Lex said disdainfully
"You were infested with a parasite. Your brain should be examined for trauma," the physician pressed.
Kachina stared at Lex in amazement. "Go ahead," Lex relented.
While Kachina watched, the physician examined her brain and then the pregnancies. "Everything is as normal as can be expected from you," the physician said.
"You're having twins. You have been blessed," Kachina said.
"Yes, I couldn't be happier," Lex said sarcastically.
"I suggest you not go on any more missions with the Prince until you give birth," the physician advised.
"I didn't ask to go on missions. They just found me," Lex replied.
"Then perhaps you should stay in the palace."
Lex and Kachina walked over to the medical wing of the palace. Lex approached the crib that held Naira. She still struggled to breathe but not as bad as before. Kachina changed the atmosphere of the room so that Naira could breathe outside the crib.
Lex and Kachina felt the uncomfortable atmosphere but not enough for it to hurt them. Lex brought Naira out of the crib and raised her to eye level. Naira grabbed at Lex's mandibles and then placed her hands on her own face. "Different," Lex said to her in English.
Kachina brought two circular devices to Lex. "These devices will teach her Yautja vocabulary while she sleeps. She will need it if she is to stay at the same level as her peers. She faces...disadvantages," Kachina said.
Lex had heard of similar techniques on Earth but wasn't sure she could trust Kachina with it. "I can understand you because of my universal translator, but I speak poorly," Lex said.
Kachina nodded in agreement. "Let me try it first and then I will have her try it," Lex said.
"We have more than one set," Kachina said.
Lex simply stared at her. "Very well. Try it yourself," Kachina said giving her the headset.
That evening, the Prince, Makawee, Wayra, and Lex walked up a hill a distance away from the palace. The Prince's servants brought a large metallic box and took out what was inside. Lex saw the body of the cyborg taken out of the box and placed on an altar. His cybernetic body had been stripped of its sophisticated circuitry and equipment. All that was left was the organic matter and a metallic shell resembling a humanoid shape. The servants then poured an oily substance over the body.
The servants then left leaving the four alone. "Friend, you have regained your honor," the Prince said. He then fired on the body with a shoulder plasma cannon. The body burst into flames. The four simply watched as the flames consumed the body until only ash remained.
"Don't tell anyone else about this. They wouldn't understand," the Prince said to Wayra.
The four then walked in silence back to the palace.
For the next several months, the Prince was withdrawn not entertaining hunts or political schemes against his brothers. He rarely interacted with the wives and when he did it seemed more out of duty than pleasure. Lex asked Makawee why the difference in mood.
"He believes he was defeated by the Yeerks. His pride is wounded," Makawee said.
"How long will he be like this?" Lex asked curiously.
"I have never seen him defeated in this way. I hope that the birth of your twins will end it," she said.
Eventually, it did come time for Lex to give birth. The effort was even harder than before, but Kachina was present the entire time. The Prince arrived at the hospital with little fanfare. He said little and just watched as the birthing happened. As before, Lex wanted to give birth like a human woman would.
After several hours of labor, the twins were successfully delivered. The doctors immediately placed them in atmosphere pods so their lungs would be able to breathe. Since the twins were also hybrids, the doctors ran a number of tests on them. As before, they lacked Yautja mandibles and large cranium heads.
"See to her needs and report anything of interest," the Prince ordered Kachina.
Lex felt monetarily depressed as she was unable to hold the infants. As much as she despised the Prince, his absence was also disturbing.
Still, the Prince's absence meant a lack of traumatic excitement and risk of death. Lex soaked up Yautja data lessons like a sponge while interacting with the three children. The Prince would occasionally observed the children and noticed they played in an unusual manner. As expected, the children learned at a slower rate than a normal Yautja child. The Prince refused to designate the children as the equivalent of "autistic" to the educational centers. The children were a state secret not to go out in public.
Lex followed the Prince early in the morning and discovered he had been going to a Yautja religious shrine. Lex saw golden statues of warriors from long ago. The temple reminded her of a Buddhist shrine she had gone when she had traveled to Nepal.
"My Princess, do you wish to purchase a sacrifice?" a priest asked her.
"No, this isn't my thing," Lex said dismissively.
The priest gave her an odd look and realized who she was. "I advise that you leave, Princess," the priest said. Lex noticed other priests walking towards her.
She had healed from the pregnancy and had an instinctive urge to fight. She figured she could get a few good shots before she was kicked out. Sanity prevailed as she decided to leave by herself.
Lex ordered engineers to make a chamber large enough for an adult under the justification the children could play together inside it. Once the chamber was built, Lex worked on the settings to create an Earth-like environment. Too much oxygen and it would poison her. If the pressure was too low she would suffocate but if it was too high the nitrogen would create bubbles in her blood stream. Once she was done, she entered the chamber naked. The Earth-like atmosphere was uncomfortable, but she could live with it as long as she didn't strain herself. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her former self. The human DNA became activated and within seconds her frame became smaller. Her tan skin became a dark brown, her hair became wavy, her claws became nails, and her face started changing. Within a few seconds, she was now human Alexa Woods.
Lex looked over her human self staring at her feminine hands. She checked her whole body and kicked herself for not installing a mirror in the chamber. Taking a few cautious breaths, she didn't notice anything unusual. The air felt dry as if she were scuba diving. With her human eyes, she noticed the colors were a little different looking through the glass of the chamber. The Andalite technology had worked, and she could be anything she wanted as long as she had physical contact with it. No longer pregnant, she could remain human for two hours and stay that way permanently.
As Lex considered the possibility, she realized the reality that she would never be able to survive outside the chamber for very long. She would also be leaving behind three of her children. As an experiment, Lex exited the chamber. Her skin immediately felt the humid heat of Yautja Prime but nothing beyond a tropical climate. She then felt her lungs burns as carbon dioxide starting building up. Her muscles twitched and she struggled to breathe the air. She made her way to a mirror and examined her body. Her face was the same as how she remembered it. Satisfied, Lex concentrated on turning back. Within seconds, her body became larger and taller. She took deep breaths as her lungs changed.
Fully changed back, Lex decided to conduct her final experiment. Her body became slightly taller, her muscles increased and became firmer, her stomach formed abs, the skin pattern on her body changed, and her face became masculine. Her breasts deflated and expanded as pectoral muscles started to build up. Her internal sexual organs morphed into external male ones. Lex stared at the Prince's image. She turned her body examining the Prince's body. All of his scars from countless battles were gone. She was now a genetic copy of one of the most powerful beings on the planet.
Lex then morphed back to her female self. Taking a communicator, she contacted a scientist the Prince was familiar with. "I want clothing that can shrink and expand. It must be fashionable," Lex ordered.
"As you wish, my Princess," the engineer on the other end said.
Pleased, Lex was suddenly interrupted by Kachina. She stared at the naked Lex confused. "Your hair is a mess," she noted. "It must be completely redone."
"Sorry. I just wanted to give my hair some air," Lex said sheepishly.
"And waste hours of my time," Kachina said displeased.
"Shall I put on clothes?" Lex asked her.
"That won't be necessary. The Prince isn't giving any of us attention, so you will have to do. I expect to be compensated after this."
Author's Note: The story has now surpassed 200,000 words, and I feel there is much more to tell. Any ideas are welcome in the reviews.