Emir's Stories

If a god could be summoned by humans who were so far beneath it, why can't humans be summoned by those beneath them too?

A question Emir wondered as he chanced upon a world far beyond his own.

In this dream, he heard someone or something call him.

It seemed to be a collective chant from a group of things:

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

Emir pushed himself off the bed and left his room.

The mansion-like building they had acquired took him some time to exit, as it was extremely large.

He didn't meet any of his family on the way, which wasn't unusual.

He was dreaming, after all.

And as he reached the gate, he kicked it open.

Bang! 

Emir's face showed the epitome of annoyance, anger even.

"WHAT?!"

But his scream paused, and his head shook as he eyed those before him.

"...Ants?"

"Lord Emir! You're finally here!"

Soon a calm face returned as his gaze scanned the circle of ants that surrounded his house.

They were normal ants, not those that had transformed into giant beasts.

Small creatures that he could crush with a simple step.

Just as he was about to speak, the world suddenly paused.

Woooong!

***

I couldn't move.

'Are the ants doing this?'

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, my body regained the ability to move.

'Ah...'

I flinched forward and regained my balance.

But when my eyes focused, my body shook once more.

I was in a land—a world not of my own.

The sky was brown, not blue.

The ground was blue, not brown.

It was as if the ground and sky switched places.

The buildings disappeared, replaced by nothing but dunes of dark blue sand.

"We have summoned the EMIR!"

"FINALLY!"

"Our queens will be so happy!"

'These guys sure are rowdy...' 

I inwardly commented while watching the worker ants clamor like children, their voices sounding like screeches.

"LORD EMIR—"

"Too loud."

After I cut off one of the worker ants, she solemnly looked down.

She was sad.

Or at least that's what I thought she felt... if her lowered antennae were any indication.

I couldn't really describe it in any other way. 

"Sorry, Lord."

The other ants' constant chants also quietened down, seemingly affected by my remark.

I let out a chuckle at the absurdity of the situation.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be in a circumstance like this one.

'Let's play along.'

"My apologies, young one. Now do lead me to your queen; you all want something from me, don't you?"

Her face appeared to brighten while her antennae flailed around like a dog's tail.

"Of course, Lord!"

"The queen had always wished to meet you!"

"We are honored by your presence!"

I nodded and followed the ants as they led the way to their colony.

'Am I god to these ants?'

This question came to mind while I listened to their never-ending praise. 

'Well, this will be fun...'

…

We reached there a few hours later.

Yes, hours.

The ants were slow.

It was expected, but still...

Minute after minute of short steps while listening to praise on repeat was mentally exhausting.

Their words of praise were never the same.

Not even once.

It was as if they had a dictionary in their minds to list out all the positive things about me. 

'This was even worse than back then when I was tortured for three days...'

I let out a scoff, and my eyes locked on the ground in front.

Stood before me was their supposed meeting place.

It was above ground.

Above the colony, which occupied the blue wasteland.

"Where is your queen?"

"We have more than one, Lord! And they will meet you now!"

The worker I grew familiar with answered my question in a heartbeat.

Her words spoke true, as three queens appeared where my gaze remained.

Their apparent leader stepped forward or rather took multiple ones forward.

And a hundred or so steps later, she had finally reached near my feat.

"We greet you, Lord Emir!"

She was as loud as the ones before her.

"Uh, sure. Nice to meet you."

Her antennae began spazzing out too.

'These guys are more like dogs than ants, but sure, we continue.'

"What is it that you require of me, queen?"

"I-no, we need your help! We need you to destroy a neighboring ant colony!"

"Yes! They've been stealing our sugar for too long!"

"We need to eradicate them!"

"They are not of our kind!"

"We shall take their territory!"

"It was ours in the first place!"

I raised my hand to calm them down.

An action I've repeated hundreds of times in the past while.

"I don't want to."

My words were like a storm to those ants.

All of them showed despair at unimaginable levels.

As if I killed all their loved ones. 

But the queen wasn't like them.

She showed a face of...

'Cunning?'

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE WE DREW A LINE OF CRYSTALS! YOU MUST DO US THIS FAVOR!"

I looked around, and a line of brown crystals was indeed there.

Surrounding me in all directions.

They were small—the size of the ant's head—but I easily spotted them.

This wasn't due to my incredible eyesight, as my abilities didn't exist in dreams, but to the contrast they presented against the blue ground.

'Well... let's just see where this goes.'

"Yep, you've got me. I'll do this favor."

"Will you give us a pile of sugar as well?"

"Sure."

"AHAHAHAHAH! THANK YOU LORD!"

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

"Emir!"

…

…

…

My feet were surrounded by ants.

These looked different than those before them.

They kept saying that they had done nothing wrong.

That they were oppressed, and that the ant colony I came from was the one stealing from them. 

'Is this dream a metaphor for something?'

'Ah, who cares...'

I ignored their shouts, and my feet crushed the blue earth beneath me.

Stomp!

Stomp!

Stomp!

I made sure to end the lives of all the ants.

Even those who lived deep in the colony.

The only thing that remained were their horror-stricken screams that echoed through the wasteland.

…

…

…

"I want you to kill those over there! Also, give me more sugar!"

"Sure."

The queen asked for another favor.

I complied.

And another colony died.

…

"More sugar!"

"Sure."

I got her sugar.

But how did I do it?

Well, another colony died.

…

"SUGAR!"

"Sure."

…

"KILL— "

"Sure."

…

This became a routine.

I had killed many colonies by now.

The fun was lost.

'I'll wake myself up.'

But before I could do so, I noticed that an ant was heading in my direction.

A few minutes later I realized that she was the one that I had first met.

"Lord? Are you busy?"

She wasn't as loud.

'Interesting...'

"No. Something happen?"

"Yeah, so... there's this guy I'm interested in, but he won't pay attention to me, so I need you to make me more important to him!"

'...How?'

'Actually... I know the exact way.'

I figured it out rather quickly, as I said:

"Sure."

I then proceeded to kill every ant in their colony except the two of them.

The queen was confused as she repeated the phrase:

"Why don't the crystals work?!"

Until her death.

Those weren't even crystals, just different-colored sugar.

I laughed a lot at her antics.

This dream sure was a fun one.

Anyways, the problem was solved.

So I returned to the one who requested this favor. 

"You guys can get along now, right?"

Her antennae trembled violently, and this time it wasn't for excitement but out of absolute fear.

"What have I done?"

Her voice came in a horrified whisper.

"Do you have any more requests?"

I asked while ignoring her current state.

She looked at me and then at her new boyfriend.

"C-Can you bring them—"

Her words stopped as if she realized something.

I nodded while making a gesture.

"Please continue."

"...No, it's alright, Lord. Thank you, I-I don't have anything else to ask....." 

Her stuttering words continued, but I couldn't hear them anymore as I had already left.