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Published:
2025-06-28
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2025-07-27
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Kur

Summary:

Team Snakemouth may have found all the artifacts, may have braved through the Deadlands, and may have won the Wasp King in their second encounter until he dirtily threw a grenade at them and rushed to the Everlasting Sapling.

Yet when the Wasp King opened its container and saw the Sapling's luxuriant, majestous visage, and in front of their eyes consumed several of its leaves, and burnt it down before they could even think about using its power, all three of them could feel none of their previous feats would mean anything compared to this.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: First Entry

Notes:

Somehow, I never saw anyone in this site write a "what if the Wasp King won", so I decided to try to do it, in the form of "if the Everlasting Sapling never wilted".

This chapter is quite short and mostly just an introduction. I will gradually write and post things for this when I feel like it, but probably not incredibly often.

It's my first time genuinely writing a story, so feedback is welcome, I guess.

Chapter Text

Team Snakemouth was unquestionably losing this fight, the power of the Everlasting Sapling was simply too strong.

The Wasp King, seeing the downed Vi and Leif, and the wounded Kabbu, laughed heartily.

“So… This is supposedly the best not only the Ant Kingdom, but all Bugaria has to offer? You’re almost not worth slaying.”

Kabbu then looked around the area, seeing almost every member of the Explorer’s Association, Queen Elizant, and a few ant soldiers, all scattered about and gravely wounded, from a single one of his fire spells, even if they had the Flame Brooch, it was truly hopeless from the start.

He is losing a good amount of hemolymph from the axe wounds, Vi’s barely an adult, and she would soon die because he helped her be able to explore. In fact, them exploring was the reason the Wasp King even had the artifacts in the first place, despite all they’ve done to help others, it would have been better for Bugaria they never became explorers, and the artifacts remained lost.

The Wasp King then hovered towards him, snatched the Flame Brooch, crushed it into bits in front of him, and didn’t even bother finishing him off.

The usurper then approached who he thinks is either Maki or Kina, his vision is getting blurry, and he can’t quite think straight anymore.

Kabbu thinks the Wasp King’s saying something to whoever he’s approached, but he can’t understand it too well.

He couldn't stay conscious any longer, the fight before he consumed the Sapling’s leaf and the hordes of flaming constructs they had to destroy just earlier had already tired him out enough, this was it…

 

Kabbu fainted.

 

Hoaxe decided to let Team Snakemouth die on their own, he didn’t want to waste energy even just bringing his axe down on their heads. He originally thought about killing every single pathetic bug here, but with a clearer mind after blowing off steam decimating Team Snakemouth, he realised that’s a bad idea, he needs the so called “Queen” Elizant to keep laying ant eggs for his upcoming empire, and it would simply be a waste to kill the other explorers, he had better plans for them.

Seeing some of the explorers were in a good enough condition to talk despite his flaming spell from earlier, he decides to lower himself to the ground and walk towards Maki, that mantis pest had been annoying him for quite a while. He thinks the mantis woman he had to fight earlier was his sister, if so, it could prove rather useful to know.

Maki was breathing heavily still, his face was contorted in a very angry look, Hoaxe assumed it was in part for what happened to Team Snakemouth, and he found it almost cute.

The mantis saw his approach and embraced that caterpillar he had been carrying around in a protective gesture, Hoaxe wondered why did he even bring a larva to the Deadlands, it even angered him, though he wouldn’t admit that.

Maki tried to speak, probably to call him monster or something similar, but Hoaxe stopped him.

“I won, with the power of the Everlasting Sapling, I’ll reign forever, and you and the rest of your little association will pay the hefty price of opposing me, but not with death. Now, get up, we’re all going back to Bugaria, and your queen will be the first to declare surrender.”

Chapter 2: Elite Explorers

Chapter Text

Maki hadn’t lowered his guard at any moment while on the Giant’s Lair, no sane person, much less knight like him, would. But at the same time, he subconsciously had kind of assumed they would defeat the Wasp King, Team Snakemouth had proved their mettle more times than he could count, and with the help of both his team and most other renowned explorer teams on Bugaria, the odds were on their side.

And when the Wasp King blasted them all away, with Team Snakemouth being mostly unaffected thanks to the Flame Brooch, he was logically worried, but he still had trust in them, which at first seemed well-placed, they had seemingly defeated the usurper, until he carried out a cheap trick stunning them with a grenade and rushed to the sapling.

Bugaria’s worst fears had been realised, he ate a few leaves from the Everlasting Sapling, and became more powerful than any individual bug had ever been before in the recorded history of Bugaria or it’s surrounding lands, Team Snakemouth was the only thing standing in his way now.

And they failed.

Maki was horrified, desolated, enraged watching this, but he couldn’t do anything, as the trio which had seemed infallible until now fell one by one, Bugaria as he knew it ended with them, even if the poor people of the three kingdoms that remained away from his control didn’t knew it yet, maybe he had taken this beautiful land’s freedom for granted all this time.

 

What happened next was the worst day of Maki’s life, and of everyone else there, he hadn’t seen his sister Kina act so much like a scared kid in probably well over a decade, she just started crying for minutes next to him while they walked back, he didn’t blame her.

He remembers the several soldier ants at the entrance of Giant’s Lair breaking down as soon as they came out of it and saw who was accompanying them, that scene repeating over and over, and then came the public announcement…

Aside from Elizant II’s speech surrendering the Ant Kingdom to the Wasp King, with the other two inexorably soon to follow, and giving the news about Team Snakemouth’s death, the usurper himself decided to give a few words himself, when the ant population was already rapidly falling deeper into panic, about some of the policies he would establish.

Most of them were expected, the Ant Queen herself being imprisoned being especially painful to hear for both the ants and the explorers.

But that wasn’t the end of the verdicts he decreed, the Explorer’s Association was officially dissolved, after being classified as “the Ant Queen’s paramilitary”, and most explorer teams were condemned, many with worse sentences than Elizant, too, which he listed with a pleased voice. The only notable exception was Team Ant, who wasn’t even mentioned despite Gen and Eri being in the Roach Village at the time the other explorers fought him. None of them were death sentences, Maki guesses that would be too “boring” for his standards.

For Maki and Kina, this meant life in prison, including forced labour, in separate cells. But, even in those circumstances, what worried Maki the most was that, even if he didn’t directly say it, it was very clear that imprisonment or forced labour is not nearly the only thing that would happen to them, someone like Hoaxe wouldn’t be satisfied with just that.

Well, he guesses this is it, his life is over, so is Kina’s, he feels awful but, at the same time kind of numb, the walk to the Ant Kingdom had given him just enough time for the initial shock phase to end and now he just feels the weight of the situation over him, of his failure to Bugaria, to the queen, to his sister, constantly.

 

Kina is just lying in her cell’s “bed” to save energy almost all day now, she couldn’t even tell for how long ago she has been here at this point, they no longer even bother to try to make her work, she is too problematic for them, and they realised it didn’t matter what they tried to do to break her will, which made her happy, but in retribution they started feeding her less, a mantis like her can’t function properly with this amount of food, she needs to manage her energy as best as possible.

She sometimes thinks about Maki, she is very worried about him, but the guards, of course, wouldn’t tell her anything about how he’s doing, those damn wasp guards, wasps are pure malice, she thinks, at least the eusocial ones, she can’t see any other explanation for what they are doing to Bugaria right now, or what they did in the past to the bees, or to the roaches.

Despite how unfairly spiteful Kina had been to Yin before all this happened, she is kind of worried about what had happened to that caterpillar, she can’t really know how the outside world was doing, but she can imagine based on what the usurper said while taking over the Ant Kingdom.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, as this cell, obviously, had no clock, she sees a small tray of food being slid into the cell, despite how dark the latter was due to the lack of window she could tell it was some kind of meat, enough to keep a mantis alive, at least.

Even if it was on a tray, she would much rather eat it quickly instead of leaving it on the floor, she had never seen anyone clean this cell in any form, but, being almost completely stationary for so long had caused her to struggle to stop just laying down and get up for anything, even if her fighting style during her time as an explorer was very acrobatic even compared to her brother’s, and, aside from the darts, she had been essentially a martial artist, how pathetic…

After Kina stretches her arms, she uses them to move her body upwards from this stone-hard thing that was purportedly a “bed”, she then stretches her legs and sits down on its surface, she then puts her legs’ two-clawed ends on the floor and starts walking towards the food. She devoured it all quite fast, and she was still hungry after it, but it was better than starving to death.

Chapter 3: Artists

Chapter Text

Jaune woke up on her bedroom, despite the lack of windows she could tell it was day from the sounds of bustling outside. She was hungry, but she didn’t feel like getting up from bed.

She still had a good amount of savings and a good honey supply, she didn’t know how long that would last, though it’s not like she was spending or eating much.

It had been around a month already, but it still was hard to even conceive the concept to Jaune, her precious little sister was dead, that wasp brute took everything from her, she now had no sister and no queen, two of the most important things an eusocial bug can have, but at least Bianca was alive, even if she had no more power and very little freedom, but Violet wasn’t.

After that, she stopped painting, she couldn’t enjoy it anymore, she couldn’t even bring herself to leave her apartment, some days not even her bedroom. She justified this to herself, why would she want to see how her society degrades under a tyrant’s rule?

It was all her fault, she should have gave Violet better reasons of why she was worried about her aspiration of becoming an explorer, she should have raised Violet better when she was still just a small kid, her greed and selfishness only were still there because she hadn’t tried hard enough to instill good behaviour when she could have done it relatively easily.

Even the Wasp King’s rule is indirectly Jaune’s fault in her own eyes, her sister’s team found all the artifacts, after all, and if she had just been more considerate and reasonable with Violet, if she had been a better big sister, she wouldn’t have left and become an explorer.

She wanted to go back to sleep, she didn’t like these thoughts, and she didn’t have them when she slept, but she was too hungry to go back to sleep…

She eventually could muster up the will of getting up her bed, she went straight to the door without toggling the lights, she didn’t like seeing the inside of her bedroom clearly, but she didn’t have the heart to throw any of it away, it would be disrespectful to her sister.

Despite having worked directly for the Queen, Jaune’s apartment was as compact as the one of any other bee in the Hive, it was small but convenient, and this allowed her to get to the kitchen faster to get her food, so she wouldn’t complain.

She opened her honey container and just took a large mouthful of it with her hands and shoved it into her mouth and gulped down, she couldn’t bother to use her honey spoon like she did in the past when she was fully into being part of the “bee high society” thing, she was never particularly rich anyways.

Honey still tasted good, of course, but she no longer got much pleasure from it, she only cared about stopping to be hungry so she could go back to bed.

After one other honey mouthful, her hunger was satisfied, and she started walking to bed.

 

She returned to her bed, stuffing her antennae under the pillow to silence the sound of the Hive’s day to day.

 

 

Artia didn’t know how to feel, on the one hand, her art was doing surprisingly good compared to before this all started, probably because Jaune, who she would call her main competitor, had cut herself off from society for a long while now, on the other hand, the so called “Emperor Hoaxe” had established heavy censorship after he came to power, and even if none of her art had ever been political, some of her pieces were still affected, she didn’t even know why, the only reason she could think of was him just wanting to show his power in any way possible.

And, on top of that, it also felt wrong to gain success due to Jaune’s mental state falling apart, especially when it’s due to Vi’s death.

She kind of wondered if her art, considerably darker than the ones of other popular bee artists, doing better was also related to the uncertain times the Kingdom was facing, with the Queen overthrown and basically on house arrest, and the wasps, who had been the Bee Kingdom’s only enemy for decades, ruling the bee people with their King, maybe her art just better reflected the feelings of the average bee these days.

While thinking about all this, Artia saw a wasp trooper approaching her, she nervously stood up, this had already happened to her a few times, but it still scared her.

The wasp had an angry stare and slightly lanky body, she was constantly chattering her mandibles in what seemed to be some sort of nervous tic, and she was carrying the typical spear model of the Wasp Military.

The wasp came to a stop just next to Artia and looked at her with a sullen stare for a few seconds, before opening her mandibles and starting to speak.

“Civilian, we have gotten info you had a romantic relationship with a beetle criminal named “Reed”, is that correct?”

‘No…’

“W-what? He isn’t a-”

“He was the bouncer of the “Underground Tavern”, a black market bar that has already been dismantled, and he has already been arrested. we need to know if you were aware of this but never reported it.”

‘Reed has been arrested?! No, Calm down, it would be fine, he may have been the bouncer of the Underground Tavern, he may have some… connections, but he never did any particularly grave crime, the death threats towards people who said they would tell the queen about the place were all intimidatory bluffs, he couldn’t really bring himself to do something like that, it would be fine.’

“N-no, no, I didn’t know.”

“We’ll figure that out soon enough, accompany me.”

“What? I didn’t do anything! You can’t-” The wasp took her by the arm and started pulling.

“Don’t worry, civilian, if you have nothing to hide, you’ll have nothing to fear.”

Chapter 4: Won't be much different

Summary:

Celia is a little nervous about going to the Deadlands after the Wasp King, but Levi's being quite brave, so she won't let any fear show.

Chapter Text

“Levi, I’m kinda nervous about this mission.” Celia says. She had never even thought about going to the Deadlands, much less Giant’s Lair, but it seems there was no avoiding it now, unless they wanted to shy away from their duties as explorers.

“I’m nervous too, Celia. But we have both Team Maki and Team Snakemouth at our side, with both their help, this won’t be much different from a normal mission to a dangerous place, you need to keep your confidence.” Levi responds, he’s considerably more scared than he lets on, but both Celia and himself need the reassurance. They’ll get through this together and stop the Wasp King with the other explorers, they have to.

“...Yeah, it’s just… we have never been the strongest explorers, that doesn’t mean we’re pushovers, but it still worries me in this situation. This is the Deadlands we’re talking about, not to mention the Wasp King’s fire magic.” Celia speaks again, she shouldn’t be saying this, she doesn’t want to discourage her teammate, but…

 

Celia wakes up, her first thought being one of resignation, she knows they’re soon going to take her out of her cell and then the cycle will commence again, and she has already accepted there’s simply no escape. Nothing she can do about it. Sleeping was the only part of the day she enjoyed.

She thinks to herself, like she did many times before, that they at least could treat her a bit better for all the hard work she has been forced to give them. It’s not even exactly hard to find something an ant would eat willingly, for example. But she herself doesn’t know why she is trying to find meaning in why the guards of this thinly veiled slave camp act like slave owners.

These thoughts are soon interrupted by the sound of the cell’s door opening and a loud voice speaking up.

“Get out the cell, prisoner! Work starts now!”

Great.

Celia nervously and hastily gets up the bed, she didn’t want them to have an excuse to treat her even worse by taking a second too long to get out the cell.

As she gets out, the wasp that stood outside her cell grabs her arm to lead her towards her “workplace”, as if she could even try to escape in the first place. She is always disgusted by looking around and being reminded that there were guards here that weren’t wasps, even some that were ants, traitors to both the Colony and Bugaria.

She prefers to lower her head for most of the walk, she doesn’t like looking at the scenery of the other prisoners and guards.

The wasp leads her to the entrance of the magic crystal mine and frees her arm.

“Grab a pickaxe and get to work, you know what to do.”

Celia holds back the urge to insult him in response, as she grabs the pickaxe and tries to spot the easiest crystal to extract that another prisoner wasn’t already mining. She couldn’t take too long to find one or the guards wouldn’t be happy.

She spotted a medium sized one that seems like she could easily pull out with some mining, though she would need some other prisoner’s help to carry it. She approached it and brought her pickaxe down to its surrounding rock.

She feels so weak compared to how she used to be, this labour wasn’t nearly as tiring the first days, even with how miserable and resistant she was those days. Isn’t it counterproductive for Hoaxe to not keep his slaves healthy?

After a while, Celia managed to fully unearth the crystal from the ground, next she’ll need to get someone to help her move it. But her body, especially her arms, were agonising. She needed to rest a small bit if she didn’t want to pass out from exhaustion.

She laid down next to the crystal and placed her pickaxe on the ground next to her. She hopes the guards at the very least are rational enough to prefer her to rest for an insignificant amount of time over probably ending up needing to bring her to the infirmary.

“What are you doing?! Get up!” a guard called out to her mere seconds after laying down the pickaxe. She can’t say she’s surprised.

Celia looked at the guard, which was a tall ant with a reddish exoskeleton. This made her much angrier than if the guard was just a wasp, but she contained it.

“Please, wait. I just prepared this crystal to be extracted, and it’s large for a single person to have done so. I just need to rest a small bit, my arms are aching awfully.”

“...Ten seconds only, then you help haul this back to the storage, and then you keep mining. Don’t waste your breath trying to argue for more time.” The guard crossed her arms while still holding her spear and started counting to ten.

Ten seconds wasn’t nearly enough for her to be able to use her arms normally, but she expected the guard to force her to go back to work immediately when she heard the shout, so it was better than nothing.

After the guard finishes counting to ten, she shouts for another prisoner to come help Celia haul this to the storage, before looking at Celia again.

“Now, get up and wait for another prisoner.”

 

After repeating this all day with occasional allowed breaks which were pathetically small for the amount of effort this needed, most of said breaks just being eating breaks. She was escorted back to her cell, she could finally enjoy the sweet embrace of her shoddy bed and low quality sheets, until tomorrow, at least.

Part of her wishes she got very sick. Hoaxe doesn’t want her to die, mostly because she’s a former explorer and he was the one to dictate her sentence, so they would make sure she survives in the infirmary for as long as she needs to. She wouldn’t need to work, get better fed, get an actually decent bed…

But at the rate this is going, she thinks it won’t be that long until her body is unable to do this labour, maybe even just function properly, so there’s a chance she doesn’t need to get sick for that to happen.

Celia suddenly remembered the fact that she had no clue how Levi was doing or where he was, the guards refused to inform her, and she eventually gave up trying to ask. It’s still an occasional thought she has when she has any time to relax, but as hard as it was to admit, she was worn down enough to no longer be as worried about not knowing so. That didn’t mean she didn’t care about Levi, but…

He’s an explorer too, Hoaxe wouldn’t let him die, for all the wrong reasons, but at least she could be sure of that.

 

Before falling asleep, she thinks about the Queen, she remembers seeing her face unmasked for a moment one time, as a kid; She wasn’t supposed to have seen it, and she mostly forgot how the face was like with age, anyways. She only remembered the bright green eyes before the queen unmasked herself to the explorers after the first wasp attack.

And after she did it again publicly during her surrender.

It felt a bit weird to think about the fact she forms part of the first generation Elizant II birthed, but she doesn’t know why; Celia’s a young adult, and Elizant II hadn’t taken the throne that long ago, it wasn’t that weird.

Elizant II wasn’t the greatest queen by any means, but Celia still feels very sad about her fate. A Queen for eusocial bugs was a bond only eusocial bugs could understand, it wasn’t exactly motherly, but it also wasn’t only related to authority.

She feels very sleepy quite quickly, today was exhausting. She doesn’t know why she gets these random strings of thoughts while going to bed sometimes these days.

Chapter 5: The Honey Factory

Summary:

Hoaxe is having trouble with the decreasing efficiency of the Honey Factory under his rule, he can't quite understand why.

Chapter Text

Bianca, sitting in her room’s bed, looked at Hoaxe hovering over her with an unfriendly but almost unbothered look in her eyes. “And what am I supposed to do about that, exactly?”

The usurper looked at her with an irked expression on his face. “I demand you tell me how to fix this. Were you using your pheromones to make bees work better or something similar?”

He really believes that the only possible explanation is that? She honestly doesn’t know why she’s surprised. “What? No! I don’t mind control my people, they just like me, as hard as that concept is to grasp for you-”

“You shouldn’t mock the one holding you prisoner.” Hoaxe interrupted her, his tone getting angrier.

“...Listen, the reason the Honey Factory is doing worse under you is mainly because of two reasons: you made the worker conditions worse and you fired Beena for just suggesting to fix the first issue even if she was the most qualified to be the Overseer.”

“Beena should be happy I only fired her with how callously she questioned her Emperor’s decisions.”

Hearing him talk about one of her bees like that angered her deep inside; despite often preferring not to directly acknowledge it, she saw all her people as her daughters, in a way.

“I always wondered why do you still sometimes turn to me for advice, especially since you almost always end up disregarding it either way; I thought you had it all under control?” Bianca says, she even has a hint of irony in her voice and expression.

“It’s not because I believe you are a better ruler than me, fool. You just know more about bees and your hive, so it makes sense to demand information from you about it. I also do this with the other ex-queens, you’re not special.” Hoaxe replies. He is growing increasingly frustrated with this conversation.

“Couldn’t you say that about Beena with the factory too?”

“Stop mentioning Beena unless you want to irritate me enough to actually do something bad to her.”

“But I’m just answering your question! You asked me how to return the Honey Factory to full efficiency again, and I told you that rehiring Beena would be a good first step.”

Hoaxe’s bright green eyes frowned, his hovering body lowering slightly so she could see his face clearly.

“Your “advice” so far has been almost as useless as that of Elizant, though I will admit you’re not nearly as hateable as her; I will find my own way of fixing this issue, and you’ll stay stuck in your room laying bee eggs for my Empire.” He said with some cheer to his voice.

Bianca quickly went from slightly mocking to angry at the last part of his sentence. This fly assumed the motivations of eusocial royals were as shallow and selfish as his. “I lay eggs to ensure my people’s continuation, not because I fear what you would do if I didn’t. I can almost assure you the other royals you usurped think the same way.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Bianca. Goodbye.”

And so Hoaxe left and locked the door, leaving her all alone in her chambers turned cell. She couldn’t deny she still was glad to be here instead of in a cell or worse, get mostly the same food she did before, still have a some bee staff inside the chambers to take care of things and to talk to and overall have a similar quality of life; she knows Elizant and Vanessa weren’t nearly as lucky, and she has no clue what happened to the Termite Queen and King.

Having to interact with Hoaxe always tired her out, she couldn’t understand his thought process on repeatedly deciding to order her to say how to do something related to her colony in the right way and then completely ignoring her. It made her even more worried about what would happen to the Hive and its bees.

 

When Beena saw who had woken her up in the early morning, her annoyance shifted to terror; a wasp trooper stood in front of her open door.

“Miss Beena, you will be happy to know that His Majesty has decided to forgive your comments and rehire you as the Overseer of the Honey Factory.” The wasp soldier, to her immense surprise, said.

Her first thoughts were of excitement at the thought of being able to return to her real job and quit her awful new one that felt so degrading for someone with her studies; but… the faux kind tone the wasp had gave Beena a bad premonition.

“I would be happy to work as the Overseer again, but why did he decide to do so now?” Beena tried to choose her words carefully, she knew any Wasp Kingdom wasp would react zealously at even the smallest implication of Hoaxe not being perfect or of his will being resisted.

“I did not need to know the reason to tell this to you, so I was not informed of it. But it is irrelevant.” The trooper said with a colder voice, she hoped the wasp didn’t think she was questioning Hoaxe.

“So… when will I start the job?”

“You must go to the factory now to talk to the Emperor, in fact.”

What?! Talking to Hoaxe in person?!

“Ho- The Emperor wants to talk to me in person?” Beena said, voice confused and face bewildered. She had never been in the same room as Hoaxe and the mere thought sent chills through her exoskeleton, why would he want to do that just for the Honey Factory Overseer’s job?

“Yes; I’ll lead you, come.”

She walked out of her apartment. This early in the morning the vast majority of bees were asleep, it felt kind of jarring compared to how the Hive usually looked.

Following the wasp trooper through the Hive’s hub, Beena decided to ask her the reason of Hoaxe doing this so early. “Is there any particular reason he did this so early in the morning?”

“He wanted to discuss this with you before the Honey Factory’s job schedule started.”

That seemed a bit… suspicious, but she told herself that if Hoaxe wanted to sent her to jail or something like that, he wouldn’t pretend it was something else; he never had bothered to hide such things.

The bee and the wasp walked through the wooden bridge to the factory; seeing the early sunrise in Bugaria’s sky from so high above was beautiful, despite her tiredness from the lack of sleep and the bigger worries she had at this moment.

The wasp opened the metallic door to the Honey Factory with a keycard. And led Beena inside with a hint of impatience.

The factory’s entrance room was as bright as ever with the colossal crystal embedded in the ceiling, contrasting with the fact no worker or even guard was yet awake.

The wasp trooper continued leading her, now into the Overseer’s Office, the thought of that place brought back many memories to Beena, both good and bad.

When she turned her head towards its entrance, she saw something she never imagined she would with her own eyes.

Emperor Hoaxe, levitating in the center of the room, his green eyes looking at her with a slightly threatening aura. When she finally entered the office, the wasp left them alone.

“H-Hello, Your Majesty” Beena nervously uttered, she felt a bit disgusted at herself for calling him “Your Majesty”, but she had little choice.

“Beena, I will admit, no other bug seems to be even half as able for the position of Overseer as you are, they were all failures. So I will offer you a choice.” Hoaxe’s voice sounded almost indifferent, yet the fact he wanted to talk to her directly said otherwise. “You can either publicly apologise for questioning me, which will cause you to be forgiven and rehired… or you can go to jail for treason.”

So that's why this all was so strange, she knew something was off. She would have chosen the first option either way, but Hoaxe threatening her in person made her panic internally even more than his messages through guards or cards did, he could burn her to a crisp here and then if he wanted, after all. “I-I choose apologising and being rehired, of course!”

Hoaxe gave a content smile. “Wise choice, Overseer. We’ll prepare what you have to say soon. The apology will be today. I will be happy to have at least one competent person with power in this factory.”

“Thanks, Your Majesty.”

 

Malbee crossed her arms and grinned at Beena. “To be honest, I didn't expect you to return here. You had been braver than me, saying what got you fired to him… but I don't blame you for going back on it.”

Beena sighed and gave a small smile, she had missed small talks with Malbee; even though they still could hang out together outside work, it wasn't too frequently they could.

“Well, I didn't have much of a choice, really. But I know I would have given in even if he didn't threaten me, especially with how bad my salary was in that damn shop assistant job.”

“I’m sure everyone will be happy to have you back, the other overseers they tried to replace you with were all awful in several ways. I’m just sorry you had to humiliate yourself publicly that way saying what he wanted you to.”

Beena’s smile slightly faded. “...It could have been worse, I won’t complain.”

“Well, it's time I return to my own job; they will get suspicious if we stay too long in a place without cameras, too. See you, Beena.”

“You’re right, goodbye.” Beena said, before walking out the room along with Malbee and going back to her office. She had to check a few issues on the office computer today.

Chapter 6: Crackdown

Summary:

One of Hoaxe's main goals is clearing out Bugaria of all the scum and corruption the old kingdoms couldn't, and he happened to have good intel of what is arguably the biggest source of both.

Notes:

Likely the darkest chapter yet but I decided it was still tonally fit for the premise.

Chapter Text

Astotheles should have expected this. Having even thought about helping the wasps for their own gain in the past was the worst mistake they had made.

It happened barely a month and a half after Hoaxe took over; their hideout was raided, most bandits were captured or killed, and worst of all… they had been dumb enough to not see this coming when Hoaxe took over, they assumed he would mainly focus on other things and they would have at least a few more months to prepare.

Astotheles was captured, but he would soon join his lost bandits; the guards informed him in a few days he would be the first public execution held in the anthill in history, he guesses Hoaxe chose to execute him inside the anthill because dying in the capital of who he saw as his biggest enemies would be especially humiliating for him.

For a bandit, it would seem out of character for him to care about this to the average person, but he really hopes no ant kid watches it, no kid should have to carry such a memory.

This cell was damp and cramped, he was almost certain this wasn’t Rubber Prison too, considering the environment and the few other prisoners he had seen. Astotheles had no idea where he was.

His cellmate was a wasp from a foreign species that could only eat meat, and that combined with the fact he was considerably larger than him and seemed perpetually underfed didn’t give him any good feelings; though this wasp luckily seemed civilised. He had no clue of what his name or reason to be here were, but he hadn’t bothered to ask.

There was only one bed and the wasp was in this cell before the cricket, and since the latter was nowhere near strong enough to compete with him for it, he had to sleep and rest on the ground. What a pleasant way to pass the last days of his life.

In fact, he was laying on the dirty, damp ground that very moment, like always. Thinking about all this, how his bandits foolishly helped the wasps bring forth their own demise, how pointless his struggle had been.

He looked at his cellmate as an idea passed his mind; with a tired, almost indifferent voice, he spoke. “Hey, you, wasp… since these are my last days, can’t I at least get the bed until…?”

The carnivorous wasp looked at him with uncaring, bright red bleary eyes before saying in a soft voice. “No.”

Astotheles almost disliked that he couldn't blame him.

Maybe they don’t have the right to complain about this happening to them, they helped the Wasp King advance his plans, after all. They hurt so many innocents, all with the ideal of making a nation.

After their fall, he realised it was an impossible ideal.

Foolish end.

Vile methods.

 

The guards didn’t tell Astotheles how many days were left until his death was effectuated for all ants to see, it could be at any moment, every day he woke up fearing death. He was made to feel the same as how he once made his hostages feel.

He shouldn’t fear death, the quest he dedicated his entire life towards was over, all “his people” were shoved in jails or killed by the same king he once called an “strategic ally”.

It comes to his mind that his so hated Ant Queen also had lost everything like him, even if ant society still stood while bandit “society” didn’t. But he couldn’t feel pleasure at her downfall, what sense would that make in this situation? What would that say about him?

His people would no longer benefit from anything happening to her, nor anything that Hoaxe would do to her would be a just punishment for anything she did; knowing Hoaxe, Astotheles couldn’t tell himself that whatever it is he was doing to Elizant was deserved, as much as he hated her, he wasn’t vile enough to agree with Hoaxe.

“This place is so cold…”

Maybe if his bandits hadn’t delayed Team Snakemouth… none of this would have happened.

“I’m so hungry…”

Maybe if he hadn’t given the wasps info on the ants and bees… this wouldn’t have happened.

“Am I already…”

Maybe if he hadn’t led those who considered him their leader to become bandits in the first place, and just accepted the deal of being a non-independent village…

There was no good reason not to have accepted that, not when the alternative was...

He really was the cause of all his disgraces, the root of this all was his incompetence and petty desires, even when the option to make their own home legally was at hand; it wouldn’t have been what they were hoping for, but certainly better than all this happening.

And he dragged everyone who believed in his ideals down with him.

Hoaxe was taking a while to execute him compared to what he expected, maybe he wanted fear to eat away at his mind. It reminds him of how he treated his hostages in a way, he wanted them to feel dread building up in their mind.

 

A wasp soldier spoke loudly to the ants gathered there, they had varying expressions, but most of them were of shock.

“And let this be a demonstration to antkind of who’s truly the best ruler of your people, for it is the Emperor Hoaxe that freed Bugaria from the bandit pest, not the “Ant Queen”, nor her “explorers”. And now ant merchants will be able to travel the Lost Sands more worrylessly than they ever could under her reign.” The words “Ant Queen” and “explorers” the wasp said with a tone of pure spite, almost spitting out the words.

The wasp looked at Astotheles with excited large, black eyes. And staring right at the latter’s bright blue yet tired ones, asked. “Do you have anything to say to the ants you hate so much before you die?”

“I never said I hated all ants, only their… former leader and her enforcers; but I do have something to say, a question to you.”

The wasp looked cheerfully at him. “And what would that be?”

The bandit leader’s eyes became a bit more decided, he had wanted to ask this to a wasp trooper for all his stay in their prison. “Why are you so loyal to Hoaxe? What positive thing do you see in his rule compared to Vanessa? Or to any other royal Bugaria has?”

The wasp opens his mandibles to speak, but his face grows a bit hesitant as they slowly close without having said a word; the wasp’s originally happy demeanor suddenly becomes angry. “You have the nerve to insult our Emperor even when he is about to cause your end, scum?!”

Astotheles looked at him with an almost triumphant air. “You didn’t answer-”

The wasp pulled the lever while giving the cricket convict a malicious smile under his mandibles.

Some of the ants that still remained watching the scene gasped, Astotheles couldn’t tell if it was shock, horror, or something else.

He couldn’t breathe.

Not long after, his world went black.

 

 

“Good job, Ultimax.” Hoaxe merrily stated to the general who led the assault to the Bandit Hideout, quite pleased with his performance this time around. the bandits and most of the large black market hotspots had been all but eliminated in just a few months, the rise of his Empire will show Bugaria the true meaning of a stronger leader.

“It’s an honour, my Emperor; no disorder will be tolerated.” Ultimax replied back, his body in a kneeling position.

“You can go now, General. I’ll stay in my chambers for the day, if you must inform me of anything.”

“Understood, Your Highness.” Ultimax got up from his knees and left the throne room.

Entering his chambers, Hoaxe saw the familiar caterpillar crawling around, the one he took from that mantis fool who brought her to the Deadlands of all places. He had assumed Maki’s undoubtedly poor care was the cause of her metamorphosis remaining stuck in her larval phase, yet she still refused to become a moth under him. But at least she no longer was scared to death of him like at first.

He doesn’t know why, he usually doesn’t feel emotions that only would hold him down like empathy, but he has grown a bit of a fondness for this moth-to-be, and a stronger hatred for Maki for deciding to put a larva at risk bringing her there. Yet, despite allowing her to live in his house, he didn’t even have a name for her yet, as he refused to use the one Maki chose.

As he sees her staring at him confused, he thinks to himself that she can wait. Even if he, for reasons he doesn’t even know, does feel a desire to help her, he also has an Empire to rule.

Chapter 7: Apprehension

Notes:

The end approaches.

Chapter Text

“You are just an arrogant insufferable brat, in normal circumstances I wouldn’t consider you worth anything but being stuck in a cell for the rest of your life… but you are quite popular with your “kind” facade.” Hoaxe could sometimes be impulsive, but he didn't have such a simple mind; he easily realised there were better punishments for Mothiva than immediately sticking her in a cell to mine rocks for the rest of her life.

Mothiva and Zasp both looked at him, looking apprehensive, angry and scared. Remembering very well what Hoaxe said he would do to Team Maki, Team Celia and a few others. The tough act from when they were facing him with all those other pests just a few hours ago was completely gone. “W-what do you want?!”

“I’ll give you quite an easy choice, you can make propaganda for me and do whatever I ask you at any moment. And you and your wasp friend will be able to live on somewhat as usual, only with some penalties for having been explorers such as surveillance.”

Hoaxe continued, smile widening a little. “If you decline this, both of you will work as slaves in a prison until your bodies give out, and after that you will just spend what remains of your lives in your cells. You choose.”

Mothiva’s face glowered intensely. “I’m not an idiot, you don’t need to pretend there’s a choice in this.” Zasp seemed just as angry, but he decided not to interfere.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, Mothiva.” Hoaxe said while leaning close to her face, his voice more venomous than before.

 

Mothiva looked at her audience, the cheer in them quite reduced compared to what it used to be mere days ago, yet still present. They likely went to her concert as a form of escapism from this new reality...

“My adoring fans, I know the… great changes Bugaria is going through currently are causing much distress in our society, many of you included. But you musn’t let nostalgia cloud your view! Mine was, due to being part of the Explorer’s Association before its… rightful dissolution.”

She, for what she thinks is the first time of her life, felt bad about herself; she knew it was dumb this of all things is what made her feel so instead of having tried to beat up Team Snakemouth twice.

She saw how the expressions of her expectators became gradually more sullen, she could hear some whispers, yet not what they were saying.

“Our… the truth is our new Emperor only wants the best for Bugaria. He will do things the former queens never dared to!”

All Mothiva was saying was obvious propaganda, and, as good of an actor as she usually was, her voice made it evident she didn't believe anything coming out of her mouth.

She looks at Zasp, hidden just outside the multitude, giving a thumbs up. She of course was not surprised at this, yet seeing him doing that made the feeling of knowing what she was doing was wrong stronger.

But she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life as a slave. This was the only way.

Her voice became weaker and visibly less decided as she uttered the last thing she was told to say. “Long live the Emperor…” The weak tone she said it in made it almost seem like a joke.

Mothiva thought to herself she likely had lost all the fans that went to this concert, before she even started the concert proper. This was just so shameful, so… she felt wrong, she felt scared, Hoaxe could force her to do anything.

 

Zasp was admittedly shocked, he hadn’t expected Mothiva to feel wrong on a moral level, with how… confident she usually was. “Mothiva, I know this situation is awful, but you did the right thing. You saved both your life and mine doing this.”

Mothiva looked at him, her typical casual smile was replaced with a not devastated yet still dejected expression. “I know, Zasp. But… I thought we would just defeat the usurper and go home, I never thought this could happen. I never wanted that bee kid and her friends to die as irritating as they were. Or what happened to Team Maki that is also horrible even if I never liked them. It just feels dirty to say I support this.”

Zasp put an arm above her shoulders, trying to comfort her. “Mothiva, I agree with all of that, but you have no choice, you know that well. You don’t have to feel bad about something you have no control over.”

“But how else am I supposed to feel? I can’t feel good about defending all he’s doing to Bugaria publicly just because it saved our abdomens. It’s not just about how it will affect my reputation or what he will ask for next, even though I’m worried about those too; it’s that it just feels wrong to defend Hoaxe, I feel ashamed having to say those things day after day.”

A small part of Zasp was glad to know that Mothiva did have more sense of morality than she had shown before, but he brushed that part aside. He didn’t want Mothiva to feel bad. “I can assure you that you did more good than wrong to Bugaria, your music inspired many, and you can continue doing that thanks to just saying or doing whatever crap whenever that tyrant tells you to. It’s not ideal, but it would be worse for us and for all Bugaria if you refused and went to jail.”

Mothiva didn’t look completely convinced, but to Zasp’s relief she seemed somewhat more calm, she sighed and got up from her couch. “Thanks Zasp, you should go to your own home now, I’m gonna sleep.”

“See you, Mothiva.” Zasp also got up from her couch, and left her room.

It was so stupid that this of all things she did and deep down knew were wrong would be what left a sour taste in her mouth, just words, she had never before felt too bad for all the things she knew she should have felt bad for doing. But she couldn’t help it. And even if she avoided prison thanks to it, she knew Bugaria and her life would never be the same under Hoaxe’s reign, and that in almost every aspect it would be a change for the worse.

She just hoped he was satisfied with her poor attempts at propaganda and didn't escalate.

 

Mothiva's popularity was decreasing rather rapidly, she knew this would happen. People wouldn't possibly like that she defended Hoaxe several times.

And Hoaxe knew too.

“It seems you failed to do working propaganda. The main part of our deal for you not going to jail was that you did said propaganda…” Hoaxe stated, very noticeably happy, contrasting with the words coming out of his mouth. It gave Mothiva a scary premonition.

“Please, what do you want from me? It is impossible to do what you're asking me to, I…” Her eyes became noticeably more scared before she said what she was about to say. “I can't possibly make you look good.”

“Oh… daring, are you?” He gave Mothiva a quick smile. “Did you really think I would spare you and your friend? You were even more of a pest to me than the team with that blue ant, I would have never let you go, I just wanted you to ruin your own reputation before imprisoning you!”

“No…”

She thought that he just wanted to humiliate her, but that he was being honest about not imprisoning them.

Why did she believe him-

“Guards, you can escort this moth to her cell, send a few others to look for her wasp friend.”

A voice with a vespine accent quickly replied. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Mothiva tried to run, it was futile, a bunch of wasps along with a few bees and ants quickly pinned her down into the throne room’s floor.

She was a fool. And so was Zasp.

 

 

 

Hoaxe was pleasantly surprised when one of his chambers’ cleaner servants informed him; the caterpillar had become a pupa. He knew it was because of Maki that she didn't become one sooner, that was the only explanation of why she only did while under his care and away from Maki

Now, the only things left were her becoming a moth… and giving her a proper name, but that could wait.

He let medics care for her meanwhile, and possibly have them figure out the reason she took such a long time to become a moth, the larval stage shouldn't last more than 2 years at most for a moth species as far as he knew.

But, he suddenly realised something…

He didn't know what he would do with her when she did become a moth.

He didn’t want her to become like an adoptive daughter, he didn’t have time for bonds like that, and even if he did he wouldn’t want them.

Because he was everlasting, and only he could be now. He burned down the sapling.

Chapter 8: Last Gate

Notes:

Probably the most abstract chapter yet, as well as the longest.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“What do you mean I can't leave?!” This couldn't be happening to her, Layna just came to Bugaria for a familiar tradition, she needed to return home, she couldn't be trapped here forever, her parents are probably already worried!

“Leaving Bugaria is not permitted, under the order of Emperor Hoaxe. Sorry.” The termite worker said, his “sorry” sounding genuine. “You can leave the Dome with proper escort, however.”

She had accelerated her plans to leave Bugaria after all four kingdoms got taken over by the Wasp King, part of her thinks she should have expected this, a tyrant wouldn’t want his subjects to all escape him.

Layna felt herself starting to hyperventilate through her spiracles while she thought about the fact she couldn’t ever leave this tyrant’s realm, how she couldn’t ever see her parents again, how she wanted to go home, how they will think she died because they encouraged her to go here.

Her eyes were full of tears, she couldn’t think straight, Nero was looking at her confused, even worried.

She heard a weird sound followed by the voice of the doorman termite she was talking with before, she couldn't tell what he was saying but it didn't sound directed to her, though she heard no one else.

The termite stops for a moment before continuing to talk, Layna thinks that this time he was talking to her, but her mind was too clouded to pay him any attention. She couldn't possibly leave if all the main routes were intentionally blocked. Her life was over, all for a traditional coming of age rite her family wanted her to do…

 

Layna managed to afford a house in the Ant Kingdom by combining the funds she had brought with her with berries from random small jobs. If she was going to be forced to live here at least she didn't want to be homeless.

The house was small and kinda cramped, but good enough. Though it was kinda hard to afford food for both herself and Nero when fireflies are carnivorous and Hoaxe had increased taxes while simultaneously worsened some public services.

She wished she could eat anything but meat, only to be able to spend less money on food, but a firefly’s body simply isn't built for it; she would just puke it out if she tried.

At least the natural and friendly atmosphere of the Ant City hadn't been completely ruined even under Hoaxe, but… this isn't where she wanted to live still.

She wanted to go home, she wanted to see her parents.

Nero rested on his bed, she thinks to herself that she should rest too.

 

“Muze…” Continuing to hug her, Hawk tried to hide his own significant stress; it could wait, his priority was comforting his family.

He had asked the Professor for a small break, which she luckily accepted. He knew his wife needed comfort… though he also needed hers. The establishment of this regime, the worsening of living conditions, and, to his surprise, the death of Leif who was apparently a familiar of hers had stressed Muze out quite a bit.

“Sorry for acting like this, I shouldn't act like a crylarva when I’m an adult, it's just that… I don’t know what will happen, I’m scared…” Muze said, with a voice now more calm than some moments ago. Hawk wondered why had she even felt the necessity to apologise in a situation like this.

“I’m scared too, Muze, don’t feel bad for it. I’m thankful to be able to be by your side for a few days in times like these.”

“Tod has been feeling sad Leif died, even if he had only recently learned Leif was his uncle… at least he’s lucky to not understand everything going on, being a kid.” It was clear to Hawk through Muze’s voice tone that she was worried for Tod, he was too, how wouldn't they with a future that seemed so bleak?

“I always felt I have been absent too much in his life, but my work takes a lot of time, especially with Honeycomb’s health.” Hawk was kind of worried for the Professor and her age, not only because he did come to care about her after all this time working for her, but because if she died, he would go workless. And the current situation had placed higher stress on her…

“... Don't worry, Tod’s fine, and I’ll make sure it stays that way, but you having taken a few days off could be good for him.”

 

Tod was happy that Dad was staying longer at home, Grandpa was nice, but it simply wasn't the same.

As he played in the plaza, he was a bit sad the ant statue was no longer there, the city just felt sadder overall, and the guards were meaner and were no longer only ants.

They now also included a lot of other species, a lot of them were wasps, though. And the remaining ant guards had a weirder expression, more than serious like before it was just… bored? Sad? Tod didn't knew how to explain it.

His plan for today was playing with Ann in the plaza, like usual, but she said she didn't feel like it today… something about her big sister feeling bad. He was bored.

Tod didn't even fully understand what had happened, he knew the wasps had invaded them before and then left, but apparently now their king owned everything and everyone is sad? Without any new invasion? And… the explorers had… Team Snakemouth had…

Mom had told him not to think about it, he shouldn't disobey Mom.

 

Pinkish flora, hallowed aura, Hoaxe knew he was where he needed to be; with a voice unnaturally deep for him, he uttered a commanding cry. “I know you exist, I know you’re here, you didn't hide your existence well enough, reveal yourself if you don’t want your garden torched!”

He waited a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but he felt something… almost like a sense that didn't exist. “Flower, I can-”

One of the large pink-petalled flowers commenced to move without wind, rapidly spinning on its own in an unnatural, impossible manner; and as it ceased its motion, its fuzz was replaced with a face; it had pink eye-like organs and what seemed to be a mouth, and it was frowning intensely.

Hoaxe smiled.

“So… goddess Venus has revealed herself under my intimidation, even deities fold to my power.”

Venus scowled at him, disgust clear in her face. “Tell me what you want me for, monster.”

Hoaxe didn't seem to take her insult even the slightest bit seriously as he dared to laugh at her face, despite her status as a goddess. “I demand of you to swear loyalty to me, of course. As the Emperor of the Bugarian Empire, I am your sovereign too.”

Venus’s eyes for the smallest moment showed shock, which rapidly after shifted to offence. “You would insult a goddess like that? Trying to make me a tool? Do you have the slightest idea of how much I already do for Bugaria which unfortunately benefits you too?” Venus, in truth, was scared of him; with his power, he could easily destroy her, but she wouldn't mention that as she wasn't a fool.

“You, like everyone in Bugaria, will obey me or face the consequences.”

“You only desire to subjugate and possess, you may have taken control of Bugaria, but you have nothing, no aspirations other than power, no friends but instead subjects, no joy except exerting revenge you feel is earned.”

Hoaxe felt rage build up inside him with each word she spoke, was this talking plant acting as if she knew him?!

“Who are you to judge me?! You worthless plant!” He summoned a bit of fire into his hands. “I should destroy you for treason.”

Venus was for a moment shocked he would threaten a goddess like this, but she quickly corrected her thoughts; it was Hoaxe who she was in front of, she should expect nothing.

“Without me, the crops of Defiant Root wouldn't be nearly as bountiful, and without me, Bugaria would be significantly more exposed to outside invaders, as I upkeep the Crown of Thorns. Do you want to risk a famine or an invasion just to keep feeling you’re in absolute control?”

Hoaxe’s right arm slowly lowered, its flame disappearing as it did. “...You’re lucky you’re an asset to me.” Hoaxe then rose to the skies, leaving Golden Hills behind.

Venus was pleasantly surprised he hadn't been arrogant enough to assume she was lying or to keep threatening to destroy her afterwards, yet she couldn't fathom how arrogant he had to be to try intimidating a goddess into submission.

She hated that she had revealed herself to him, but she couldn't risk that psychopath actually going through on torching the Golden Hills, she just hopes he won't do anything with the knowledge she gave him.

A small part of her felt a pang of pity, not for Hoaxe, but for who he could have been had his mother not…

She guessed it didn't matter any longer.

 

Yin was scared, she felt her mind clearer, her new body felt… complete? It was nice, yet she still was afraid.

Where was Maki? Would the scary plant-man return? Would he give her Maki back?

These “doctors” had explained to her she was now a “moth”, like the blue ice man she saw a few times before, and explained to her the moth life cycle and how she was an anomaly for taking this long. Yin was a bit disappointed she couldn't use her new wings like the boomerang bee from before did.

Yet these doctors refused to answer her on where was Maki, or even Kina, even if she could be a bit… mean to Yin.

One of the doctors looked at her inquisitively. “It is curious she both understands and speaks mostly fluently Bugnish immediately after her metamorphosis, that combined with her abnormally mature body for a recent moth and her incredibly extended larval stage has some… implications.”

Another doctor responded happily. “This could be a great discovery about the development cycle of moths, maybe even awakened homometabolan bugs as a whole, we must request Hoaxe permission to further investigate her.”

Homometabolan? What did that mean? Yin didn't understand what they were talking about for the most part, but she knew it was about her and her “metamorphosis” into a moth, though they refused to use her name, like always.

“W-why you not… te-tell where Maki i-is?” Yin asked, as she did so many other times, always the same answer.

“We’re not authorized to tell you, we already talked about this.” And there it was.

 

Yin looked at the plant-man, for what she heard he is called Hoaxe and he was the ruler of the land… strange, she thought it was the big ant lady with the mask who ruled Bugaria.

“Hmm, well, I should give you a name now, teach you how to speak and… drop you into the Ant City, maybe? You’re an adult already, you can't go into an orphanage.”

Yin didn't know what orphanage meant, and she didn't particularly care, but she was a bit angry he refused to just call her Yin. “Name i-is Yin… already!”

Hoaxe frowned slightly, crossing his arms as he looked at her. “That's the name that mantis brute gave you. It's not a dignified name.”

What did “dignified” mean? It was just her name, it wasn't that complex… and why did he call Maki so many mean things?

“No… m-my name is Yin! And w-where is M-Maki?”

“Maki is where he deserves, in jail.” Hoaxe sounded proud of himself stating that.

What? How? Yin heard “jail” was a place where bad people were, and Maki wasn't bad… not even Kina was, despite everything.

Hoaxe's expression suddenly became… sadder? “Can’t you see who he is, moth? He carried you to the Deadlands while you were only a larva, he doesn't care about you, you were just his entertainment… just…” He abruptly stopped talking.

She didn't understand a lot of what Hoaxe was saying, nor what the Deadlands were, but she knew it was false Maki didn't care about her, her life improved a lot when he took her and he was kind to her. It made her sad that he said such things about Maki.

“No, f-false… you don't know Maki!”

Hoaxe looked at her with an unreadable face before speaking up again. “... Okay, you can call yourself Yin. You’ll just be taught some basic things you are clearly lacking and then you'll be a normal citizen of my Empire, understood?”

She nodded her head, if she remembered correctly, that's what people do when they understand things.

But she still wanted to see Maki.

 

Why was Hoaxe suddenly feeling so… empty?

Ultimax had died of old age, as it was bound to happen soon, the last few years he hadn't even worked as a general, he simply wasn't in the condition to do so.

He could be easily replaced, he was just a general, why was Hoaxe feeling bad for this?

He… it probably was nothing.

 

The Ant Princess was ecstatic, this was the moment for her to become the Colony’s new mother, and it happened to coincide with the 300th day of victory of God Hoaxe himself. Having mated with a drone the day before, she was finally ready to get her well deserved role.

Her wings shined at the sunlight of the stained glasses, their translucent constitution at her sides making them look so beautiful in her eyes. And the best thing is that she wouldn't need to lose them upon starting to lay eggs. The tradition of ripping out the wings upon mating with a drone was lost along with the ant monarchy.

The Princess was happy she wouldn't be a Queen, who needed a Queen when a god was their Emperor?

She put her knees in the ground as she saw Him approach, levitating, getting ready to give her the title.

Hoaxe spoke with a voice dull but commandeering. “Princess Honat, the old ant Mother has died and the time has come for you to commence laying eggs and continue the ant species inside the glorious Bugarian Empire, do you have anything to add?”

Princess Honat looked at him with eyes of pure joy, admiration, worship. “This has been said many times, but thank you, our Emperor, our God, for showing us ants, and all Bugaria indeed, the truth; we needed you, independent colonies are weaker, you fixed us all those years ago, freed us.”

Hoaxe smiled lightly. “Indeed, your duty begins now, glory to the Bugarian Empire.”

“Glory to the Bugarian Empire!” She repeated, in a voice much more enthusiastic than his, which all the ants of her colony standing in the Mother’s Room all repeated in unison, they had come to see this, after all.

Notes:

I guess this is it, it was fun to write this, thanks to all who decided to look into it.

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