__________ POV Ashton__________
A week passed by, with me training Pitou to the best of my abilities. Her progress was plentiful, staggering even, in some places.
She could now understand basic mathematical equations, like adding and subtracting. She couldn't speak, but she seemed to understand them in concept.
Most of our communications are done by her pointing at things, me telling her their name and patting her.
I was doing my best to reward her for her curiosity. It's the only way for her to develop ant personal desire in the future.
You'd think I would try and prevent that, but eventually, she will do so on her own, and if she realises that I've been strangling her freedom to that extent she won't be pleased.
My strategy of positive reinforcement worked like a charm. And Pitou acting like a child reminded me of something else.
I have another ant that I had plans for. But that was before getting interested in going back home.
I should still visit it if only to find out what had happened with it. And just like that, I decided to go back to the ant manor.
I didn't let Pitou stay in my laboratory all by herself. Nicely telling her to enter my void space worked quite well. She is perfectly obedient, something that makes me happy to see.
Getting to the mansion took around three hours. I used moderate speeds to reach them, not wanting to make too much sound. Although, any explosion is loud enough already.
The grown-up ants were waiting at the door. I knocked politely and entered.
The ants weren't surprised to see me this time. I guess the sound of explosions is still a giveaway to my presence.
"It's nice to see you guys are still living here. I had my doubts for a second." My smile seemed to creep them out a bit.
But it wasn't even meant to, I was just trying to express my relief in seeing that I don't have to call Smokey and ask about their whereabouts.
"Ashton! It's good to see you again." Colt, the bird looking green ant, greeted me with a smile on his face.
A welcome that is a lot warmer than I thought I would receive. Politeness is nice to see, no matter what species it's coming from.
" Good indeed! I came around to check on the little one. How is she faring?" I asked with a friendly smile, I find my mood being quite good lately.
But when I mentioned the little ant their expressions seemed a bit weird.
"Well... About that~" Colt started explaining a few interesting things to me.
Like how the little ant refuses to be called anything other than Kite. Or that it seems to be able to use nen to a high degree of proficiency.
Umm... That sounds a bit familiar... Wasn't the name of Gon's friend 'Kite'?
Oh... Well then, I guess he was reborn into an ant. And that is something quite interesting. Chimera ants do have a lot of unknown variables about their birth. It's why I took the body of the queen with me.
But to think it gives one a chance for revival. That is something quite useful if I do say so myself. But I still don't know everything about that aspect of the Ants reproductive system.
And the expedition is soon approaching, so I don't have much time on my hands. I guess I'll have to meet Kite and see how exactly this works.
But I am now in a predicament... I thought I could dissect the little ant if I couldn't find the king. Or at least raise and train it alongside Pitou.
But since it's a reincarnated individual that makes things a bit more complicated. I don't want to kill Kite, it would be quite hard to explain to Morel and the others, they definitely know of Kite's revival.
I could just take Kite away, wipe his mind clean and reteach him everything. But that would be an arduous process that would likely ruin any shred of reputation I still have left within the association.
Reputation isn't really something I wholeheartedly care about, but it's good to have whenever you need a favour, no one will do one if they can't even stand your presence.
Still, I need to be careful with my emotions... My lack of skills in social situations seems to show itself quite often lately.
Failing to keep my composure, joking around and scaring people. Causing an earthquake due to a slight disagreement...
It seems that I have quite a few things to work on besides my strength. But, strength comes first.
Such a thought strays far away from the person I used to be. The first half of my life was an extremely peaceful period.
I did not need to learn how to fight, only the last two or three centuries have been filled with conflict.
The times when I could just laze around and stare at the sky is long behind me... I blamed humanity in general for the aggression my family started showing to me.
But were they really at fault? We're the expeditions actually to blame for my misfortune?
I wasn't curious enough to find out back then. I just pinned it all on a single aspect. I needed a target for all of my rage, and humanity just happened to show up...
I made a rash and irrational decision that brought me around in a full circle. As of now, I plan to head back to where it all began.
The wheel of fate spins rapidly... If I refuse to look into my homeland properly I have no doubt this wheel will eventually fall down and crush me.
But, for now, I need to check out how Kite is faring. I doubt he will be all that pleased to see me, but I am still curious, and the only person that can sate that curiosity right now is Kite.
"So... Will you guys take me to Kite?" I asked the ants that were still gathered around me.
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Kite's finally back!
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