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Elizant II seemed as calm as she could be about the current situation, maybe that was owed to the fact Gen could not see her face.
The journey to the Termite Kingdom, with her sister, Team Snakemouth and Queen Elizant, had been going well –ignoring the big Weevil. She was a bit nervous about returning home, but she and Eri had been able to help lead the way, this being their homeland, and hopefully would be able to help in diplomacy as the only explorers to be termites.
While Team Snakemouth had their idle chatter, and the Queen seemed content staying silent, Gen thought that maybe Eri would wish to talk in the current posture they were in, returning back to the colony after many years.
She turned her head to her identical twin, like her clad in armour emblazoned in the Ant Kingdom’s symbol, something they did to show their loyalties despite any reservations their kingdom of birth may hold. “Sis, uh, are you excited? We’re going to our colony again, after all…”
Eri’s eyes mildly widened, her mouth even before the question was curved mildly downwards. “I’m nervous, we’re termites and we work for the ants, and we are gonna see the Queen and King, maybe our presence will only make them angrier.”
That was a factor Gen could not deny being worried of too, though returning to their colony in its very concept was daunting, they left mostly for want of adventure and she was not sure if any termite would take them not having returned once relations with ants were broken fully, as most of the termite diaspora did, and that was ignoring the fact they worked for the ants and wore ant armour emblazoned with the ant symbol on clear display in the chestplate.
“Well, I get that…”
Before the previous conversation could make the now present silence uncomfortable, the small cohort reached the gates of the Termite Kingdom, imposing as always.
Gen recognised the guards, what termite wouldn’t? They were Cross and Poi, the ones usually assigned as the gate guards, famed for their bravery ‘cross the colony.
After uttering a few vaguely threatening warnings, they were let through; it was technically against the kingdom’s policy for them to do so, but they correctly assessed the likely gravity of the situation, for that she internally thanked them.
The city’s hustle and bustle was a bit overwhelming, she had expected as much, the Termite Kingdom was the most populous of Bugaria’s nations after all, but the Ant Kingdom’s calmness was something both she and her sister had ended up preferring.
Queen Elizant II turned to them and Team Snakemouth, that regnal mask still enveloping her expression in mystery. “I shall go first in visiting the Termite Royals; Team Termite, you will come with me first, while Team Snakemouth will appear second to you in their presence.”
That voice tone had left no space for discussion, Gen could already see other termites gather around them, surprised at both the Ant Queen and the fact she was ordering around two termites covered whole in ant armour.
Looking at Eri, she was not taking it well, though Gen could not claim to feel otherwise.
They recognised some faces too, it was easy for an eusocial species such as them to remember a lot of faces and names from their colonies at the same time, they were all siblings in some way after all.
She would have to ignore their kin for now, Eri seeming to silently agree as they simply followed the Queen they served to the palace of the Queen they owed their hatching to.
The royal palace’s outside contrasted with the overall pseudo-skyline of the Dome, a castle quite rustic in style surrounded by clearly industrial buildings, yet with almost blatant displays of technology in the form of electric lighting, security cameras and screens.
None of the guards attempted to stop them, though some did look shook at seeing the Ant Queen herself not only in their city, but approaching their own. Gen could only assume that Cross and Poi had talked to and convinced enough of them to not interfere in what was occurring while they were still getting near the Mound, which if she was right had prevented them a lot of trouble.
The interior of the palace was one the average termite did not see too often, and they had been no exception while they lived here, but they had visited it a few times in the past; it was more or less how they remembered, though Gen did not remember that strange iron statue vaguely similar to a scepter in the middle of it, or was it a flower?
In any case, the throne room was immediately posterior to this room, the stares and glares of both the servants and the royal guards made her almost anxious for Elizant to get this done with.
Team Snakemouth, as instructed, was behind them. It would probably be best for the termite Queen and King to see two of their children accompanying the Ant Queen first before seeing the three other foreigners working for her. It was likely they would be recognised, eusocial royals do not have much trouble remembering close to all their children at least by face, and they had become notable not only by leaving and not returning from the diaspora but also working for the Ant Kingdom, even if as low-tier explorers.
As they walked to the throne room with Elizant, Gen grabbed her Eri’s hand, not clutching it hard but still holding onto it, Eri reciprocated the gesture afterwards despite knowing that they could not stay in such a position while talking to royalty.
The king and queen came into view, they seemed to be talking between themselves about something that Gen could not hear in any amount of detail beyond noise, which immediately ceased once they both laid eyes upon their visitors.
Neither of them had seemed to age a single bit since Gen last saw them, which was expected from how long both termite queens and kings live, especially queens. The termite queen’s massive abdomen which hung on her back had never seemed unconventional to Gen before, because she was used to queens looking like that, but so long serving under an ant queen had made it feel kind of strange.
Separating her hand from her twin’s for formality, though feeling a bit bad while doing so, she stepped forth to their shocked stares as Eri followed suit, flanking the Ant Queen as they waited for her to speak.
“How DARE you walk into my hall?! With two of our own clad in your armour no less?!” King Hector IV looked furious, while Queen Layra II looked more shocked and upset than anything.
As expected.
“Your eminences…” With that, it was clear Elizant II was trying to be respectful, maybe even mildly servile; though she couldn't be blamed for that, Gen doubted it was the right approach when it came to this situation, neither the King or Queen would buy it, and maybe would feel more insulted than if she simply stated the reason she came here and why it concerns them right away.
“That's King Hector IV and Queen Layra II for you, ant!” The manner in which he spelled out the word ‘ant’ made Gen feel a small amount of anger towards the King of the termites, but she knew better than to show it even facially, her countenance staying mostly stoic.
“My apologies, King Hector. Queen Layra.” The reaction of the King and Queen was not exactly unexpected, but she had expected a bit more regalness an decency from the King. Either way, Elizant was not doing too bad, it just depended on if the other party would be willing to listen to them.
She wondered if they could intervene in favour of the ant queen at any point of this conversation, or if they would be merely decoration in practice, she hoped they could help out.
“I said HECTOR IV! Not HECTOR!”
Seeing her former King and in a biological sense father acting in this manner in front of two queens was making Gen feel a bit embarrassed on behalf of her people, she could tell Eri felt likewise with a quick glance too.
Queen Layra, seeming concerned for the mental state of her husband, intervened. “Dear, watch yourself. You’ll faint from disgust.”
Team Snakemouth seemed to be finally, hesitantly approaching the scene from behind. The guards and servants alike were giving glares like spears at them more than they were giving even to the Ant Queen, even after Vi’s boomerang was temporarily confiscated during the entry to the palace.
“...What is your business!?” It seemed that Hector had at last come to his senses a bit, quite a relief for all Bugarians, including the termite people judging what would soon happen if the wasps were to not be stopped.
“I… won’t mince words nor play around the issue, the Ant Kingdom has been raided by the Wasps.” Elizant II’s voice had become less rigid than moments ago, yet still kept that air of slight insecurity. “My people have been hurt, and the artefacts to the sapling have been taken…”
“The artefacts? So you did find them after so much struggle…” Layra had been relatively pretty calm this whole time. Maybe she should be a bit more worried, but her modals had always been relatively impeccable.
Gen did feel like she and Eri were kind of standing around, maybe bringing them in hadn’t been a good idea after all…
“And then you incompetently lost them!” Gen’s opinion of Hector was ever-declining as he continued to talk, had he not been the king she would have told him from almost the exchange’s start. Really, she had her fair share of criticisms towards Elizant II as well, but that did not excuse this kind of behaviour from a ruler, much less a king.
“...Indeed, the Wasp King holds an amount of power that I had never witnessed. Team Snakemouth behind me, some of my finest warriors, were not able to defeat him.”
After Team Snakemouth each greeted the termite royals, Kabbu being the only one which did it in a truly appropriate manner, King Hector still looked quite bothered at the situation he had suddenly found himself in.
“Hmph, and why did you feel the need to bring along those two turncoats with you? Dressed in your emblem?!” Gen had expected this to happen deep down, it had been a bad idea that they appear in their presence, they should have stayed out the palace after guiding the Queen through the Forsaken Lands.
“They helped me greatly in reaching your Dome, and for that, the help of Team Termite has been invaluable for Bugaria’s safety today.”
King Hector mildly scoffed, before his mind refocused into a different topic. “And about those mantises, ‘Team Maki’? Eschewed those two after all?”
Keeping her composure despite the wave of disconnected reproaches being sent towards her, she replied. “They were wounded from the attack of the wasps, it would not be prudent to ask them to come.”
Hector turned his head towards his wife, who seemed to be silently musing on the situation, before turning to the ant monarch afresh. His frown was alleviated, yet not erased in totality.
“And what’s to us, then? You were attacked and got your trinkets stolen, you shouldn’t have ruled so poorly if you wanted to keep us as allies to save your abdomen now!”
Queen Layra did not look entirely satisfied with the situation still, but she gave a comment in support of her spouse. “This dome of ours has survived storms without a single scratch, and the wasps are quite far in the north, not to mention the Forsaken Lands. I can do nothing but condemn them attacking another state, but I do not see how this concerns us.”
“The Wasp King holds a strong magic of flame, that was what allowed him to so easily break my colony’s defences. And that is not to mention that with those artefacts, the Everlasting Sapling’s full power could be his soon.”
“F-Flame, you say?” Layra started to appear truly concerned after those words reached her antennae, hopefully this could start turning the tide of the conversation in favour of Elizant II, but Hector IV was hardheaded and at times petty.
“That sapling is a darn myth which drove your mother insane!” The Termite King almost immediately retorted, with a tone that indicated spite for even the mere notion that it could be a real object.
“It is NOT a myth!” Elizant sounded more staunch than in any other moment of this dialogue, Gen reckoned that this ironically may be a better way to make the Termite King enter reason than to try to be urbane in the face of his belittlement.
“Watch your tone, ant!”
“The mask, the table and the key have been one by one found, they all lead to the Everlasting Sapling! The Wasp King is heading to the Giant’s Lair with the three of them, what do you think he pursues? Open your eyes!”
Seeing the momentum she has gained, the queen of the Ants pressed onwards with her speech. “You truly think I would travel the Forsaken Lands personally, bringing two explorer teams with me, for nothing? Or that I am attempting to deceive you somehow? You think of me so pathetically?! I am not asking you to forgive me, I respect your decisions, but if you care for your colony and its people, you cannot turn a blind eye to the Wasp King!”
“Grr…” It was clear Hector knew the truth in those words, at least internally, yet he looked reluctant to accept it.
“Dear, calm yourself, you’re being blinded by the past.” Layra in contrast looked accepting, her facial features relaxed.
“You cannot truly mean she has swayed you!”
“...Ants are unrefined in many ways, they cannot match termite intellect either, but-”
No, Gen would not be taking that. Maybe she would have years ago, but living amongst ants this long had served to utterly discredit anything these two had to say about them as a species. She hoped Elizant II could forgive her for this, but if there is someone they would be willing to accept a correction about ants from, it’s from a termite.
“Sorry, your Majesties, but… as a termite that has lived side by side with ants for around five years, that is not true. My sister can prove it for you too.” Maybe she had just committed a mistake, challenging the word of who they seek as allies in their own throne room, but she felt that she ought to. The termite king did look angered, not something which varied much it seemed, but the Termite Queen looked a bit more intrigued than anything.
“Oh? And what makes you reach that conclusion, looking at the technologies of our Dome in comparison to theirs?” It seemed Layra was being authentically curious in lieu of attempting to mock Gen, this truly could be a chance to achieve what she hoped.
“That’s not a fair comparison, we had more time to develop those technologies and even trade with roaches, and even if that wasn’t the case, technology doesn’t necessarily prove that a species is dumber than another… for what I saw, the average ant is just as smart or dumb as the average termite is.”
It was impossible to tell how the Ant Queen felt about Gen’s intervention as long as she wore that mask, but she could tell Eri felt nervous about her doing this. About Team Snakemouth, Vi and Leif looked somewhat indifferent, while Kabbu looked kind of worried.
King Hector only became angrier at Gen’s retorts, which was not unexpected given how he appeared to view them. “Yeah, right, the ant-lovers who chose to leave behind their colony in favour of serving the Ant Queen are absolutely unbiased when it comes to comparing those!”
“...I’ll ponder that when there is time. But I know you speak the truth, Queen Elizant II.” Gen really could not know if she had helped in any way whatsoever doing that for Layra to reach that choice, but that didn’t stop her from feeling good about her little speech.
“Layra, you were always too soft!” The King protested, clenching his hands still, yet it could be perceived less forcefully than before.
“And you too stubborn. That’s why I am by your side.” She retorted, her voice tone more staunch, though not hostile.
Hector decided to sit back on his throne, as he had been walking around in stress through the entire duration of this conversation, before somewhat quickly relaxing all the features of his body and in a more stoic voice uttering a question.
“What would you ask of us, then?”
The Ant Queen was unreactive for only a small moment after the question reached her antennae, Gen reckoned that out of nervousness, yet it almost felt like a whole minute. “Although I think it would be best for our peoples to reconcile eventually, I merely ask you a way to enter Giant’s Lair, as we cannot currently cross the sea with almost all our fleet sunk by the wasps.”
“Hector, weren’t the scientists…”
The recipient of the question’s eyes widened, for the first time looking not angered but merely shocked. “You mean that? You’d TRUST them with that?!”
“It’s missing just a few touches. It’d be a good test ride.”
Hector frowned, seemingly not fully relenting, finally restored the stern frown on his face that he had worn for most of the conversation. “I’m not convinced!”
Gen could hear a faint “Dear…” coming from the Queen as Hector continued to be browned off, it seemed this was not over just yet. Gen had not realised beforehand how petty and undignified her king could act, maybe because of lacking knowledge from other royalty in Bugaria.
“You say your ‘Team Snakemouth’ explorers lost to that puny wasp? You think our soldiers couldn’t match up?” I wish for proof of the enemy’s strength!”
Proof of the enemy’s strength? Was he mad?!
“We do not think you’d wish for their visit upon your kingdom…” Leif slightly coyly, yet quietly, retorted. That was what she was thinking too, had he truly just wished for an enemy invasion upon the colony out of pettiness?!
“The… mentioned vehicle, still needs some time to be completed. Before then, I want to have your ‘Team Snakemouth’ participate in our ancient battle tradition, to test your strength.” Oh, he meant the colosseum.
“Ah, the colosseum!” Layra had seemed confused and concerned too for his wish to see the enemy’s strength, but after he stated his wish to see them participate in a tradition, she immediately realised what was that which he meant.
Team Snakemouth had their own reactions to the news, with Vi seeming excited, Kabbu seeming worried and Leif seeming at least outwardly indifferent. But when it came to her, she was curious as of how this would go, to her knowledge no non-termite had ever participated in the colosseum before, and they were quite strong combatants.
“If your explorers here best our bravest warriors, I will recognise my people face danger. I shall decide after the combat’s settled!” The king seemingly had cheered up a bit at the prospect of seeing explorers of the Ant Kingdom battle against his troops, even if said explorers were not ants themselves.
“You won’t let me join them?”
“A monarch should not fight in the colosseum, and I wish to discuss certain matters with you and… ‘Team Termite’ as the fighting goes on.”
Layra II would wish to talk to them? Gen honestly had not expected such an event to occur, but she could not refuse it nor wanted to.
In the throne room, excluding guards and servants, stood now only the termite twins, their queen by birth and their queen by service. Gen could not lie to herself, the situation felt tense even after King Hector IV departed to watch the fight, but she trusted Layra more in keeping a rational aptitude.
Eri had left her spot flanking Queen Elizant II and settled next to her, Gen did not attempt to discourage it.
“If I may, I would like to commence with a more unimportant matter, yet one that has called my attention thoroughly.” Queen Layra II’s inquiry was very peculiar at first sight, making Gen contemplate what that question could be, and she was sure Elizant and Eri were too.
After Elizant nonverbally agreed, Layra in turn asked her question. “It’s directed to the two termites under your authority… I will not label you traitors or anything of that sort, but I am very interested as to the why of your choice? It seems to me the termite dome has many more commodities and technologies for your quality of life, even if I accept it true that the character of ants is far more similar than I imagined to ours as you swore with such an iron will; I know you did not say that just to impress your queen, I could feel that you truly believe it with all your heart, so I will study it further later on.”
Both of the twin sisters hesitated a bit to find the right words, but once Eri believed she did have them, she urged Gen to let her speak first. Gen agreed, Eri was always a bit better with these things than her.
“Your Majesty, we chose to stay in the Ant Kingdom instead of returning because we felt it was a lot more friendly than the colony in many things and the freedom it offered. Even far away from all our siblings at the colony, we felt that most people, both ants and non-ants, treated us just as kindly or sometimes even more than them despite not sharing a colony. The air is clean, the Sun took a bit to get used to but was beautiful, the city was calmer and less overwhelming, we just… preferred it, and we loved being explorers even more.”
Layra listened silently to Eri’s explanation, with a mostly neutral if a bit intrigued expression, before lightly smiling as it ended. “Interesting, I will think about it further.”
Shifting her attention to her ant analogue, she decided to first query her about the wasp attack. “If I could ask, though I know it must be a sensitive topic… how much damage was caused in the Wasp Kingdom’s attack and how long did the battle last?”
Elizant did not shy away from answering those questions, though her voice’s tone was enough to tell how important it was to her, as it should be to any eusocial royal, to the both metaphorical and literal mother of her colony and people. “There are luckily no known casualties, likely thanks to the fact that their king was focused on stealing our artefacts, but several soldiers and civilians still got severely harmed, and a few others were kidnapped by the wasps. As a fellow queen of a colony, you surely can imagine how it feels, seeing my worker and soldier daughters mutilated or taken hostage.”
Layra’s face and antennae dropped in concatenation as Elizant described the situation the Ant Kingdom had faced; despite the animosity that had existed between ants and termites, it was clear she would have never wished this to occur to another colony of any species whatsoever. “I am sorry you and your people had to face that, that there were no casualties is consolatory at least. I now agree that the wasps are a potential threat to my people too, and I would hate nothing more than my civilians facing that, but my husband can be a bit hardheaded… he’ll come around in time.”
The termite monarch continued, holding a voice considerably more soft than at the very juncture of Elizant’s appearance. “If I am to be honest, I would not be against progressively trying to reconcile our peoples. Though I too was angry, it was mostly Hector’s will that all ants be unwelcome to our lands, and though I felt it was a bit unfair of a collective punishment when the object of our anger was only you, he went ahead either way and I did not stop him. On foresight, I regret not doing so, or at least convincing him to lessen the edict a bit.”
Gen wondered for a moment if Elizant was smiling at that statement behind her mask, though she would never know.
“I am honoured at that possibility and welcome it openly, but the crisis with the Wasp King needs to be resolved first, as if it is not both our peoples could reunite in a much different sense, under the equal enslavement under the wasps we would suffer if their king acquired the Everlasting Sapling’s power.”
The strong wording Elizant used was likely intentional, and Layra seemed to comprehend and agree with the sentiment expressed. “I understand that this crisis requires more attention at this time, and I wish to help you resolve it as I said. But, there is another matter that much concerns my kingdom on this; what do you wish to do with the Everlasting Sapling after stopping the Wasp King from reaching it? Both your mother and you pursued it for so long, and, with all the respect a fellow queen deserves, I hope you can understand that even though I trust you my colony requires some tangible form of assurance that you do not secretly pursue the same objectives as your enemy does.”
Elizant was not offended by this, knowing she likely would ask the same had their situations been reversed… and maybe without as much tact too. “I do not wish to use it for myself, and after this whole ordeal I am starting to doubt if my mother’s pursuit for it was worth it after all, but I understand you need a reassurance. How would you wish I offer one?”
“I feel it would be more appropriate if we discussed this more privately, somewhere away from both my servants and from your two explorers who still remain here. Gen and Eri, could I ask you to leave and watch Team Snakemouth fight with your colony-siblings as I and Elizant discuss private royal matters?”
Quite clearly not having much choice, they agreed, respectfully bowing to the two queens before departing for the ongoing fight.
Strangely enough, they were not charged to enter the colosseum as spectators, as apparently this was a round which was very relevant for the nation; that was true, but none of them had expected it to have an effect on payment.
They received weird looks often due to the armour they donned, which outwardly expressed allegiance to the ants, but luckily no significant incident occurred with any termite through the trajectory until they reached their seats.
King Hector IV eagerly spectated, though from their seat that was relatively near his left lateral they could not see much of his expression or reactions. As expected, the Queen’s throne was vacant this time.
Team Snakemouth were currently fighting some of the finest warriors the Termite Kingdom could offer, Cross and Poi whom they had met beforehand and who allowed them to get this far.
The gatherers of the artefacts were doing well, especially given they outnumbered Cross and Poi by a member and had a magician within their ranks, but it still was clearly no nymph’s play to keep up with the two termite soldiers.
Gen and Eri were both never too into the colosseum, the violence could at times get quite gruesome, in a few catastrophic cases there were even deaths, and it was generally just unnecessary morbid violence towards other termites and towards animals if Gen had to give her opinion, but this fight was somehow still almost entrancing.
Maybe because it was important that Team Snakemouth won, both for the ant and termite peoples, and for all of Bugaria at large. None of the two had made any bets, but the continued freedom of thousands and thousands of Bugarians, including the termites they were fighting against and the ones who spectated said fight, were betted on Team Snakemouth.
Still, she wished it was not necessary to do this, to have to fight in a colosseum just to convince Hector to help when not only was it the right thing to do, but it was necessary to prevent his people and himself being subjugated by the wasp tyrant, Layra really was the brain of the two.
The termite audience was mostly composed of workers, as expected from the majoritary caste of the colony, though there were also a decent amount of soldiers. No alates were present, as was policy, it was deemed inappropriate that princes and princesses should watch this before becoming kings or queens.
Being around so many termites again felt a bit strange, but she could not deny that despite it being on the colosseum of all locations, it was nice to be back at the colony at least for a little bit. The only termite she recognised as close family was her twin sister Eri, but she did see every termite of the colony as a sibling in some odd way, not in a way a non-eusocial bug could understand.
As Cross and Poi fell exhausted into the ground, the termite crowd collectively gasped in shock. Gen would have cheered for Team Snakemouth, but the Ant Kingdom armour they were wearing was already strange enough –and Eri did likewise.
Well, with that, Team Snakemouth shouldn’t have many fights left until emerging triumphant.
“Impressive- well, it is time for the final battle, against a Primal Weevil!” Team Snakemouth was capable of defeating it on the way here, so it should be an easy task, but it made Gen kinda angry this was the reason they were trying to recapture it of all things, not that she didn’t know it internally though; she did not want to add tension to the atmosphere when Cross and Poi said it was for ‘research’ and so stayed silent, but it was quite obvious to any termite what was happening at that time.
The audience cheered at the violent spectacle they were about to watch… it was true that those who fought here fought willingly, but it was still morbid to Gen how easily they could disregard the violence, danger and sometimes death that happened here completely unnecessarily.
Though one thing that surprised Gen is that this time, despite Team Snakemouth being the first foreigners to fight in this colosseum, the spectators almost universally were cheering for them by now, wishing for their victory, despite the fact almost all of these termites probably had bet against them. It was heartwarming to see, some things she could not deny.
The fight went without issue, Team Snakemouth had beaten this thing once already, so it wasn’t much issue to do it again. The audience exploded singing their praises, and the Termite King had received what he wished for.
“That was not a bad showing at all, Team Snakemouth! With that, this battle is concluded, please meet us back at the Throne Room.”
The victors left the arena amidst a cheering din, and Gen wondered who were the termites that had wagered for Team Snakemouth instead of against them, they must have been quite few.
As people began standing from their seats to leave, Gen began doing likewise, though an unexpected voice stopped her.
“I kinda feel a bit bad that we’re probably about to leave the colony, it was better than I expected and we were barely any time in the city proper.” Eri’s slightly lower-pitched than usual voice pointed out unexpectedly, though now she had Gen did agree with the sentiment admittedly.
“I understand that, but we can’t just stay as long as we want in this situation, we have to go to the throne room now.” Well, she was sure Eri knew that too, but she pointed it out regardless.
“Yeah, I know, but… could we visit again at one point when this is all over? As a personal visit? It would be nice to rehash some memories, meet some people from the colony again, you know.” Her voice returned to its standard pitch as she said this, and Gen reckoned that was a good idea.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. But for now, let’s go back to the throne room. Both our queens probably will want us there along with Team Snakemouth, though we’re not as important as them, but…”
They still would want them to go to the throne room as soon as possible, Queen Elizant II could not leave two of her explorers around the Termite Kingdom after all, but they felt like they were mostly just useful for guiding her and Team Snakemouth through the fog, and even that they didn’t do the greatest job in.
Termites are usually physically strong, even the worker caste which they form part of is renowned amongst bugs for handling things over twice their weight fine similarly to ant workers, yet she and her sister were not that strong physically. Sometimes that was just how it was, and it was fine, but they still wished that they were strong like most of their worker siblings were.
They got up from their seats and with haste returned to the palace, where Elizant and Layra, who were just being joined by Hector and Team Snakemouth, were. Gen guessed the two had already finalised their negotiations, whatever those negotiations entailed, and now it was time to truly settle the deal.
It went fine, the true final negotiations were once again away from the antennae of the two explorer teams, but the ‘submarine’ had been secured. Neither Gen or Eri had any clue their kind was inventing a vehicle which could travel below the sea, but Gen couldn’t deny it did make her feel a little bit proud.
Three other termites were getting on the submarine with them, a rich man and a pair of twin sisters not dissimilar from themselves, who were the employees of said rich termite as he apparently intended to form an arcade business in the Ant Kingdom, which considering only the Termite Kingdom have had videogames as of now as far as Gen knew would be interesting. She heard Kabbu and Leif comment on the similitude between them and this other pair, which Gen did not know how to feel about.
As they all got on the submarine, hoping the presence of 9 bugs at the same time would not overload it –as much as they all had been reassured it wouldn’t, it seemed that all was alright.
They were returning to the Ant Kingdom, with the good news of the mission being complete and of both the nations they felt belonging in having been brought closer to reconciliation. They were not a vital part of that occurring, Elizant and Team Snakemouth were, but she merely hoped that at least they helped a little bit in it.
There were no seats in the submarine as of now despite its spaciousness, so she, her sister and the other three termites sat down close together on the steely floor of the vehicle. The rich termite did not seem too interested in talking, not even to the two employees he was bringing with him, but the slightly younger-looking twins did seem to desire just that.
They both had a green lace around their abdomen, which looked absolutely identical, maybe it was an employee ‘uniform’?
One of them, the one sat on the left, spoke first. “Hey, sorry for asking but, are you two twins like us? You both look… very similar.”
Eri was faster with her words than Gen. “Yes, we are, but we hadn't seen other twins until now.”
“Oh, we hadn't either! What a coincidence we’re both in this ride, though I guess you do work for the ants.” There was not any hint of malicious intention in that voice, but the mention of them working for the ants by another termite did make Gen feel a very small bit apprehensive for a moment. “How is Bugaria like? With all its sunlight and plants and all.”
For a moment she had almost forgotten both those mentioned things were at least slightly exotic for most termites, a memory which seemed distant now. “It's really nice and beautiful, but the Sun takes a while to get used to for a termite…”
A while may be an understatement, at least in her own experience, it was well over a month before her compound eyes stopped feeling like they were aching at almost all times during the day; Eri had taken it better, admittedly, but not by much.
“I see, well… we’re gonna work in the Ant Capital, so we will have to live here during our shifts, we’ll get used to it I suppose.” As she was saying all this, it was noticeable that her twin had not said anything during this whole thing, simply looking at both them and her own sister, Gen assumed she simply was shyer.
“Sounds interesting to finally have a few more termites around, we’re almost only ones we saw across all of Bugaria somehow after the royals motivated the diaspora to return, I think I only remember like three others around and none of them were in the Ant Kingdom.”
The submarine for a small moment trembled as it seemed to slightly hit something, making them all momentarily panic before nothing else seemed to occur.
“W-what was that?” Vi could be heard asking her teammates, seemingly just as confused as them despite having been supposedly managing it with them and the Queen. Maybe the detailed explanation of how it functioned the termites had given before letting them depart was not quite enough.
“We believe it was a small rock that was floating on the ocean.” Leif answered her question with a calm tone at this point expected from him, he had apparently been rescued from Snakemouth Den and had the extremely rare ability of ice magic, and nobody quite knows where he comes from despite him claiming to have lived in the Ant Capital. You didn’t really get more mysterious than that moth when it came to explorers, not to mention the fact he forms part of the only explorer team which has three members instead of two, and how well it worked made you wonder why weren’t three-member teams permitted before in the first place.
The travel continued without any other issue until reaching the coast of the Ant Kingdom’s main port, the ant soldiers there stationed must be feeling quite a panic seeing this thing come out of the sea without any apparent explanation.
It was as she predicted, though the two poor ant guards rapidly realised what was occurring as the first to emerge from the hatch of the submarine was to be their Queen.
Armoured insufficiently compared to the termite soldiers they just saw and armed with only a long stick, it really left clear just how much more termites took seriously their defence, as the reasons for this poor equipment were likely that both the ant Queen and people did not seriously think the wasps could have posed a threat to them until quite recently, too recently to renovate the army before what happened ended up happening.
When this is all dealt with, and the Wasp King is either behind bars or dead, Gen does agree with Eri that it would be nice to visit the Termite Kingdom now. She would not want to live in it again, especially worker for the ants now, but maybe an occasional holiday in it would be good too, an eusocial bug seldom would hate being inside their colony after all.
And if termites and ants truly did reconcile, she could not think of any news more pleasing. Not only would their situation no longer be awkward or conflictive, but termites would be capable of visiting and living outside the colony considerably more freely anew, and she had admittedly gotten weary of the only termite not counting herself she could see being Eri, as much as she appreciated her sister.
Maybe she could make friends out of the two Termacade employees whenever they were not working, after all they would surely appreciate being able to talk to other termites while being stationed on the Ant capital.