Out of all the insects in the world, I had to become the one I hate the most. I guess it's karma for killing those ants. Maybe if I wasn't at that nest killing those ants, then I wouldn't have died, Ari said to himself. Then maybe me and Keiko could have made up and everything would have been back to normal.
Where do I go from here on out? I don't even know where I am right now. The only thing I can do now is start moving, and maybe I'll find someone who can help or possibly a place to stay before nightfall, Ari said to himself as he started walking. As he kept walking, he stumbled upon a small group of ants who were walking in the opposite direction.
Ari wanted to ask them questions; however, his hatred towards ants prevented him from doing so. Eventually, he walked right past them, hoping not to interact.
"Hold it!!" shouted a female voice from the group. Ari stopped, but he didn't respond due to being startled by the voice. He then resumed walking, which aroused their suspicion.
"You there!! How dare you ignore her? Who are you? You're definitely not from our colony because I haven't seen your face before. Are you some spy sent here to steal from our resources?" asked one of the ants.
Ari turned around nervously and then responded, "Listen, you're right, I'm not from your colony. I'm also not from any colony at all. I'm not from this place. I died and suddenly woke up here. It's hard to explain, but..."
"Capture him, men!! Don't let him escape!!" shouted one of the ants.
"What the hell? I told you that I'm not from this world!" said Ari as he started running.
He ran into a nearby area filled with what seemed to be plants and forestry but was ambushed by two ants who tried to tackle him. However, he managed to dodge with astounding speed and agility.
"This ant is really fast! Can't believe I let him slip away," said one of the ants.
As the group of ants tried to catch up to him, he weaved through the forestry to try and lose them.
"I've gained a little distance from them. I gotta find somewhere to hide. There's no way that I'm going to allow myself to be captured and killed by ants of all things. There's a little cave up ahead. If I can make it in there just in time before they see me, then I'll be safe," he said to himself as he ran toward the cave. But before he could reach it, he was tackled and pinned down to the ground by an ant.
As he tried to resist and free himself, the ant pulled out weapons and held them at his throat.
"Don't move or I'll end you right here," said the ant in a serious tone.
"What the hell? Are these things their mandibles? But they're in the form of a weapon rather than an attachment to their mouth. What the hell is this world?" Ari asked himself, shocked.
"Wait, now that I see this ant clearly, she's female. I mean, she does bear features of human females—her face, lips, hair, curves, and breasts. What the hell are you thinking, you idiot?!! Snap out of it. She's an ant, the insect you despise the most, and your life's in danger. Now is not the time. Now stand up slowly. If you dare try to run away, I'll sever your arms and legs. Am I clear?"
"She's scary as hell. I believe every word she said. She looks like she'll kill me for sure. I should just comply for now if I want to live," Ari said to himself.
"Great work, Lieutenant Anastasia. I see that you've caught the ant. He almost got away from us. I apologize for our incompetence. Thank God you were with us," said an ant as he finally reached the scene.
"Lieutenant? Are these ants some kind of soldiers or part of some military setting? This world really is strange," Ari said to himself.
"There's no need to apologize, this is your first expedition after all," said Anastasia.
"Let's take this ant to the colony so that Queen Celeste can make her judgment on what to do with him," said Anastasia. "Be sure to bind his arms and legs together, he's a swift one."
"Right away, ma'am," said a military ant as he took out a gooey liquid material and bound Ari's hands and legs together.
"Crap, what the hell is this? I can't move at all. As soon as he applied it to my hands and legs, it suddenly hardened," Ari said to himself as he struggled to move.
"Alright, everyone, let's move out," said a military ant as all the ants marched and made their way to the colony.
"I need to find a way to get out of here. Who knows what plans they have in store for me?" After hours of travel, Ari woke up at the entrance of the colony. "That's the colony, it's huge, and it looks nothing like the ones I saw."
As Lieutenant Anastasia and her army of military ants walked through the tunnels, they were ambushed with cheers from other ants.
"They're back from their voyage and zero casualties! Lieutenant Anastasia is an exemplary squad leader!" said a worker ant.
"Looks like they brought a prisoner with them," whispered a female ant.
"Maybe he was a survivor from a fight that broke out," replied another ant.
"This place was not what I was expecting. Sure, there are a lot of tunnels. However, in my world, ants didn't have well-built houses and areas in their colonies that resemble ours. Not to mention the layout design of each tunnel—it's perfectly built," Ari said to himself, admiring what the ants had built.
"That must be where they store their food. It's not like what I'd imagine, built using stones and sticks. It's almost as if these insects have advanced their civilization."
"My Queen, we have returned from our scouting expedition," said Lieutenant Anastasia as she bowed down.
"Welcome back, Anastasia. Raise your head. I trust that everything went well?" said Queen Celeste.
"Yes, your majesty. We were able to find food sources southeast and northwest of the colony. To reach them, it would take approximately three days of travel. Also, there were no casualties," said Anastasia.
"I see. You have done a fine job, Anastasia. Keep it up and you'll be promoted to commander in no time," said Celeste.
"Words can't describe how honored I am for this praise. Now then, I would like to know, who is this ant you brought with you?"
"We found him on the outskirts of our colony wandering around the place. I have reasons to suspect that he is a spy from a neighboring colony sent to scout out our colony in order to infiltrate it and steal all our resources," said Anastasia.
"No, I'm not a spy. I told you, I'm not from any colony, I'm not from this world. I don't know what happened," said Ari.
"How dare you speak when not spoken to? Shut up!!" shouted Anastasia as she kicked Ari in the face.
"I can assure you that he's just playing dumb, your highness."
"That's quite the accusation, Anastasia. Usually, I would sentence him to execution. However, my gut is telling me to keep him alive because we are not certain if he's a spy or not. I say that we enslave him and force him to do work," said Celeste.
"No, but I didn't do anything wrong!" said Ari in disbelief.
"Oh, you poor little thing. You must be scared and confused. So let me spell it out for you: I'm actually doing you a favor. It's either slavery or death. Your choice."
"Queen, my ass. This ant is a witch," Ari said to himself fearfully.
"Take him to his cellar. He'll begin working in our mines tomorrow."
"Yes, your majesty," said Anastasia, who took it upon herself to escort Ari to his prison cell.
Anastasia then threw him into his cell, and Ari grunted in pain.
"You're lucky that our queen bestowed mercy upon you. Normally she'd order your execution on the spot. I'll ensure your days as a slave become so miserable that you wish you were dead," said Anastasia as she walked off.
"This must be a sick dream, a nightmare. Someone, anyone, please wake me up!! It's quite ironic really—becoming a slave to an insect that I despised and killed so much. If only I wasn't at that nest that day, then maybe me and Keiko could have been friends again after I apologized.
I want to see her again, her face, her smile. Why? Why can't I go back?" asked Ari as he curled up and fell asleep crying.