"Well, Daniel, I'm impressed. Perhaps you would be a suitable mate for me after all, somebody who could provide strong-willed children for my nest," she admitted. The travelers looked at her with surprise and worry as she laughed a bit, the monster then looking to Triska.
"However, it seems my worker has brought you back in one piece, which I believe means you were successful in getting rid of those pests, correct?" she asked. Triska nodded with a bold smile.
"Yeah, we took out all of them in that tunnel. Your nest is safe from them for now," she assured. The group looked back to the rescued ant girl, the monster nodding with a squeak as her comrades stared at her with wonder. Triska looked at her with a proud smile then to the queen while pointing to the ant girl.
"Your worker even killed a few of them. She was scared of them, but she fought well and showed the ant-lionesses that your kind isn't so weak-willed to not fight back," she said. Victoria looked at her with surprise then over to the worker, with all the other ant girls staring at her with wide eyes. The ant girl squeaked proudly and held up her pickaxe, still dripping with the blood from her fallen enemies. The girl pantomimed swinging the axe around and squeaking bravely while the other ant girls stared at her speechless, listening to their comrade's tale of how she killed the underground predators.
"Really? My own worker killed those things?" Victoria asked in wonder. Triska nodded and looked back to the ant girl as the monster was holding her weapon up proudly, all while the crowd around her was squeaking wildly with amazement.
"Yeah, it was great to have another fighter down there with me," she said. Alyssa and Daniel looked at the ant girl with wonder then back to Triska.
"You two… really killed them all?" Alyssa asked softly. Triska nodded and smiled arrogantly at her.
"You seem surprised. Did you really think I was a weak human or something?" she boasted with a smirk. Alyssa looked at her with wonder then nodded.
"Well yeah, I always have," she said simply. Triska twitched at that then glared at the witch with anger.
"Hey! I told you I was Daniel's protection out here in the world didn't I?" she yelled out.
"Yeah, and that didn't do jack against me," Alyssa said with a raised eyebrow. Triska growled then reached for her sword as all the ant girls and queen were watching curiously.
"You know, for a witch who doesn't have her focuser you sure talk big," Triska threatened as she gripped her sword's handle. Alyssa jumped a bit and looked at her worriedly while Daniel looked to her curiously.
"What? You don't have your focuser?" he asked. She looked to him and shook her head.
"Well… no," she said softly. Triska nodded with a firm expression.
"That's right, and without it she's powerless. So stop talking like I'm the useless one here, Alyssa. I'm the one that helped keep this nest in one piece, I'm the one that did so in order to free Daniel, and I'm the one that did so because I'm going to protect him from the real Darker Ones out there," she declared. Alyssa looked at her with frustration then down.
"What happened to it? Did you lose it?" Daniel asked. Alyssa shook her head then looked to the queen with annoyance.
"No, those ant girls took it when we fell into their tunnel, along with all our stuff," she said accusingly. Victoria merely raised an eyebrow at the witch, not saying a word about the matter. Daniel looked to the queen then around at the other ant girls.
"They did?" he asked. He looked back to the queen as she didn't seem to react at all.
"You stole from us?" he asked in disbelief. She shrugged in response and glanced away.
"Well, we do scavenge what we can from above; it’s part of our way of life after all. Any tools or weapons we can find help strengthen our nest while any gold or riches add to our wealth for trade with other races," she said simply.
"Please, could you return our things to us?" Daniel politely requested. The queen looked back to him with a raised eyebrow. He glanced to Alyssa with concern then back to the queen.
"Please, all our belongings were in those bags, her focuser as well. She's powerless without it. Please, could you return them to us?" he asked again. Triska glanced to the queen as Alyssa nodded eagerly. Victoria sighed and then glanced away.
"I've already agreed to listen to you, Daniel, as well as let you go free. Yet you still ask for more," she commented.
"He's asking you to return what you stole from us!" Alyssa shouted out.
"You can keep her focuser if you want, I just want our bags back," Triska said, shrugging with a smirk.
"Hey!" Alyssa yelled out.
"What? I'm Daniel's protection out there remember? Not you," Triska said with a narrowed glance at the witch.
"Hey, don't start that again you two, please. Not now," Daniel pleaded.
The queen looked at the travelers then rolled her eyes, then snapped her fingers and glanced to a nearby guard.
"You, go fetch their belongings and have them brought here immediately," she said simply. The guard squeaked then ran off down a tunnel. Victoria looked back to Daniel and smirked slightly.
"You did say please after all, so I suppose I can return the kindness," she said. Daniel smiled and bowed slightly at the queen.
"Thank you, Queen Victoria, I knew you were a trustworthy ruler," he said politely. She smiled proudly and nodded.
"Well, you did help us with dealing with those ant-lionesses, so I suppose I can't be too cruel to you," she reasoned. After a pause she then looked at Daniel with a serious expression.
"However, even after listening to your ideas, Daniel, I'm not sure peace between our races can exist," she solemnly said. The travelers looked at her worriedly as she shook her head.
"I applaud your courage, boy, I do. And for what it's worth, I wish you luck on your journey. However, we have no guarantee that mankind is ready to coexist with us, and we cannot risk losing our means to breed on such a gamble," she explained. Daniel looked at her with concern then down.
"The men we have here in our nest will remain here, as will any others we find nearby. It is our nature after all, and we cannot just abandon our way of life on a mere hope you have. Especially with mankind having already rejected the idea of living with us," Victoria said shaking her head, her voice having a slight amount of disappointment in it. Triska looked to Daniel worriedly as Alyssa looked down with concern.
"But… is there really no way for us to get along?" Daniel asked looking back to the queen. Victoria looked at him curiously as she held a finger to her chin.
"You really are something, boy; it appears I have lost a potential breeding mate after all. Still, I'm afraid that as long as mankind still treats us as nothing more than monsters, peace is simply out of the question," she reasoned.
"But we're trying to find the proof that mankind needs to see reason, to see that you can be our allies. That's why we're traveling the lands looking for monsters like you," he pleaded.
"Proof you say?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Alyssa nodded and stepped forward.
"Yes. I'm proof that coexistence can be done," Alyssa said hopefully. Triska nodded and glanced to the ant girls nearby.
"Your kind is adept at tunneling and digging, I'm sure mankind could use your help with their mining for minerals and resources. And we can help keep those ant-lionesses from infesting your nests, along with the other monsters that your kind has difficulty keeping away. Our soldiers are more combat experienced and capable than yours, we could help protect you," she added. Victoria looked at the two then to Daniel.
"We can make this work; I just need to show my people the proof they need. If I can get more races of monsters like Alyssa's to stand with us, then maybe that would be enough to get my people to see that we can live together,” Daniel pleaded. Alyssa glanced to him at that remark then looked down and away, biting her lip slightly.
“I know breeding would be an important factor in our alliance, but I'm sure that we can work something out if we try together,” Daniel said hopefully.
&nb
sp; Victoria eyed him curiously for a moment then looked down in thought. The travelers watched her as she pondered his words carefully, the queen then slowly looking back to him.
"I'm sorry, but until we can be guaranteed our own survival we cannot risk losing what we have," she said shaking her head. The travelers looked at her with worry then down.
"However…" she continued, with the travelers then looking back to her curiously.
"I can give you something to aid you in your quest," she offered.
"You can? What?" Alyssa asked. The queen glanced to the ant girls behind the travelers.
"Take one of my workers with you, as your 'proof'," she said. The group jumped a bit then looked back to the ant girls, all of them watching the travelers with wonder.
"What? Take one with us?" Triska asked in surprise. The queen nodded and leaned back in her seat.
"Yes. Take one to aid you in your journey, as a token of my willingness to listen to mankind when they are ready to talk about coexistence," she said simply. Daniel looked back to her with wonder as the queen smirked a bit.
"You don't mind do you, Daniel? By all means, I ask of you to pick any one that catches your eye. I will give them the order to assist you on your journey however you see fit. And, while you're choosing, try to pick one that could possibly be your mate if at all possible," she said with a curious smirk. Triska and Alyssa looked back to her with wide eyes as Daniel jumped a good foot in the air with surprise.
"What?" he said loudly.
"His mate?" Alyssa and Triska cried out.
"Of course, after all, should he choose to mate with one of my workers of his own free will, it will help relations with our races. I'm sure all the ant girl nests would be moved if a human chose to be with our kind, and it would likely help your own race see reason as well," Victoria suggested with a nod. Alyssa and Triska looked at her with wide eyes then to each other. Daniel stuttered something before the queen held up her hand to silence his nonsensical babble.
"I am not requiring you to choose one as a mate, Daniel, only that you at least take one with you as the proof that you need. Of course, should you choose to mate with her that would be even more proof that our kind can coexist," she explained. Daniel looked at her with a stunned expression then over to the ant girls. They were all looking at him bashfully as they fidgeted a bit, none of them seeming opposed to becoming his traveling companion.
"Um…" he said unsurely.
"Wait, is this necessary?" Triska asked worriedly. Victoria glanced to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Is there a problem with him choosing one of my workers as a mate?" she demanded. Triska looked from the ant girls to Daniel worriedly as he glanced to her.
"Well… um…" she said hesitantly.
"Um…" Alyssa said as the two looked at all the ant girls, both hating the idea of even more competition forming for the boy's heart. All the ant girls had shapely figures and lovely faces, and were watching Daniel with bashful smiles, something that he was wishing he didn't notice.
“But… I thought that ant girls can’t get pregnant, so how could any of them be an actual mate to Daniel if they can’t provide children?” Triska asked with a nervous smile. Alyssa closed her eyes and slowly shook her head.
“They can’t get pregnant… unless they’re separated from their nest,” she said with regret. Triska glanced to her awkwardly as did Daniel.
“What do you mean unless they are separated from their nest?” Triska asked worriedly. The queen watched the witch with a raised eyebrow as Alyssa breathed out and looked over to the ant girls with concern.
“If they are separated from their nest for a prolonged period of time their bodies become fertile, allowing them to become a new queen for a new nest. It’s so that if they are stranded from their home, or the only survivor of their nest from an attack, they can make a new nest and keep their race from dying out. If one of those ant girls follows us away from the nest and distances herself from her queen, her body will believe her queen is dead, then she’ll be capable of becoming… pregnant,” Alyssa explained. Triska and Daniel looked back to the ant girls as they were still watching Daniel closely while the queen nodded slightly in agreement to what the witch had said.
“That is correct, witch; whoever Daniel picks could become an actual wife for him. So I ask again, is there a problem with that?” the queen asked carefully. Triska opened her mouth to speak then paused, knowing that any excuse she could come up with would only hurt Daniel’s cause.
Alyssa gulped and then slowly glanced to Triska.
"No, there's no problem with that, right, Triska?" Alyssa asked through a forced smile. Triska glanced to her then to the ant girls.
‘You've got to be kidding me, now we have to take one of them along with us too?’
"Well…" she said softly.
"I thought you wanted proof for his beliefs, to show your kind that we can coexist. Well, I'm literally handing over just that, something that I would never do for any other race. I'm letting you take along one of my workers for your quest, show some gratitude, girl," Victoria scoffed. Triska looked at the ant girls worriedly then to Daniel, the boy eyeing over the selection of monsters he had to choose from.
"I guess… when you put it like that, we could use more proof for the world to see," he said scratching his head. Triska opened her mouth to speak but stopped, unsure of what she could say in protest without causing problems with the queen and hurting Daniel's cause.
"And it's not like you're being forced to marry any of them," Alyssa pointed out nervously. Triska slowly nodded with a worried expression, not liking all the attention Daniel was getting from the group of candidates. Daniel looked around slowly and stepped closer towards them.
"Well… let's see then," he said softly. He looked from one ant girl to the next, all of them appearing the same and smiling at him bashfully. Some had longer hair, others were a little shorter, but they all appeared to be nearly the same. As he got to the last one who was holding a pickaxe he stopped.
"You managed to fight those ant-lionesses with Triska, didn't you?" he asked curiously. The ant girl squeaked and held her pickaxe proudly, with her comrades glancing to her curiously. Daniel nodded and smiled at her.
"That was incredible of you to do that. I’m glad you overcame your fear of them and were able to help keep your nest safe. You should remain here, your nest could use more brave fighters like you," he said kindly. The ant girl looked at him curiously as her antennae twitched a bit. She looked to the pickaxe in her hand then to Triska, the teen smiling at her.
"He's right, they're going to need you here after all," she agreed. The ant girl squeaked softly and looked back to Daniel with a curious expression. He smiled at her then looked at the other candidates.
"Well… I guess any one of them would be proof, so…" he said as he started walking towards them. He held out his hand and pointed across the line of girls, each one watching him with an eager smile. He stopped at the last one in the line, since he couldn’t really tell any differences between any of them to begin with, with the girl smiling brightly in anticipation.
"Wait," Alyssa called out. Daniel looked to her as the witch was eyeing the rescued ant girl carefully.
"Actually, I think the one that fought those ant-lionesses would be a better pick, Daniel," she suggested. Triska and Daniel looked to her curiously while the queen raised an eyebrow in question.
"What? But why?" Daniel asked looking back to the rescued ant girl, with the one he was still pointing to shooting Alyssa a death glare with bared teeth. Alyssa smiled weakly and rubbed the back of her head.
"Well… I mean it is dangerous out there with the Darker Ones, so the one you pick should be able to defend herself if need be. She's the only one here that can do that, so logically she's the only one that would be safe above ground with us," she reasoned nervously. Triska looked at her puzzled then to the rescued ant girl.
"But her nest could use fighters like her, she should sta
y where she's needed," she said. The ant girl Daniel was still pointing at nodded eagerly to that. Alyssa calmly walked over to Triska then yanked her down by the arm to whisper in her ear.
"Yes, but the one that you were with fought alongside you, which means maybe she'll listen to you when you tell her to back the hell off from Daniel," she whispered sternly. Triska blinked then looked back to the ant girl, the monster just watching them curiously.
"You saved her life, she owes you. Use that to keep her away from Daniel," Alyssa said before looking back to the ant girl. Triska nodded and smiled a bit.
"On second thought, Alyssa's right. It's dangerous up there with where we'll be going, an ant girl that knows how to fight would come in handy if we run into trouble," she agreed with an eager smile. Daniel looked at the rescued ant girl then back to his friends as the one he was pointing at growled quietly with anger.
"Um, what were you two whispering about?" he asked.
"Yes, do share," Victoria asked crossing her arms before her. Alyssa laughed nervously and shook her head.
"It was nothing, I was just… reminding Triska that she saved that ant girl's life. Maybe that ant girl can help… return the favor someday," she said with a shrug. Triska nodded with a nervous smile and shrugged as well. Daniel looked at them curiously then to the rescued ant girl.
"But… doesn't her nest need her now?" he asked while lowering his arm, the candidate he pointed at before nodding again worriedly.
"If having a worker that can help you survive along with helping prove your beliefs would be needed, then we can let that one go with you. I believe we'll manage without her, even though she may have braved the tunnels with your friend I don't think the rest of my workers are in similar spirits to fight," Victoria said looking to the other ant girls then to her guards. All of them glanced to the queen with nervous expressions from that remark. Victoria sighed then looked back to Daniel.
"Don't worry; we will handle ourselves just fine in her absence. When an ant-lioness infestation occurs we normally seal off the tunnel and branch out further away from the area. We may lose living space for a time, but we'll survive just like we always have before," she proclaimed, waving her hand to dismiss the comment. She then looked at Daniel with a small smirk.
chronicles of eden - act I Page 27
