~ Anthea POV ~
She had first developed a love for ants when she was just two years old. It started as all great love stories do, between enemies.
Anthea was playing in the park, wandering through the grassy fields and exploring the magical expanse of the world she had only recently been exposed to. She had started walking later than most but had found her stride rather fast. It was hot and sunny but it had rained the day before, so the ground was still a little soft and the rich scent of the earth wafted over her.
It was just one of the many complex and enticing smells that the park had to offer. Every flower smelled different! That was something she had discovered a few days ago, after smelling something other than a daffodil for the first time.
Her mum watched over her from a distance, as she always did. Though today she was distracted by not-mum. Not-mum was a woman who looked quite similar to her mum but wasn’t her. Anthea had a name for this person because they often visited home and seemed to have a good relationship with her mum.
Hot!
Anthea yelped and looked down to her foot, which was burning up. There was also a new sensation that she hadn’t experienced before, like something small pushing into her skin.
On her foot there was a little black creature. She had seen them a few times in the park, skittering about from place to place and sometimes carrying little pieces of grass or flower petals and once even some leftover food that a person had dropped.
“Bad creature!”
Shaking her foot viciously let her throw the attacker away, but it had left its mark. A little red bump that even now was still burning. Most children in Anthea’s position would perhaps have begun to cry or run for their parents. However, she was a little strange.
Her curiosity often outweighed her sense of danger and that held true in this instance. She could still see the little black creature where it had landed, shaking itself off and then starting to walk away from her as though nothing had happened. She decided to follow it.
She paid no heed to her surroundings as she went. Her full attention was trained on the creature as it wound its way through the forest of grass. Anthea wondered what it might be like to be that small. The park was huge even to her, with trees, grass, flowers and even a big lake that was home to the ducks. To the creature it must have been like an entire world.
Another identical creature joined the first and fell into line behind it as they marched through the park. The new arrival was carrying a small piece of leaf above its head. More and more joined the line as they travelled until Anthea had to begin hopping from one foot to another to avoid the streams of the polite six-legged creatures.
Eventually the many streams began to converge and in the distance she spotted their destination - a mound of dirt with a hole in the top. The creatures streamed in and out of the hole in an orderly fashion, carrying their payloads in and rushing back out empty handed.
Anthea stopped a small distance away, not wanting to disturb them as they went about their business. The naughty creature who had attacked her disappeared into the mound without so much as a goodbye. The burning had faded now though and she wasn’t that angry. It had allowed her to discover this wondrous place after all.
For the next three hours she observed the creatures as they continued their business. It was marvellous watching them work.
They were extremely organised, unlike many of the large people around her. Even when an incident occurred, such as one of the creatures dropping what they were carrying, it didn’t hinder the overall flow. They simply readjusted their course to avoid the offender.
On one occasion a group of the little black creatures dragged in another creature, a caterpillar, while it was still alive. Anthea felt sorry for the chubby green cutie but felt as though interfering in the natural course of things would be rude of her. So she watched as the ants dragged it into the hole.
Where are they taking everything? How far into the earth does that hole go?
So many questions ran through her mind while she observed in silence. This fascinating new discovery was quickly becoming an obsession.
“Oh thank goodness, there you are Anthea. I was petrified. I thought I’d lost you or some horrible person had taken you away. Don’t wander off like that again, dear,” her mum exclaimed, breaking the trance.
Anthea shot a last look at the creatures before taking her mum’s outstretched hand and flashing her a beaming grin. It had been a great day. She wanted to stay and watch the creatures for longer, but the loud rumbling of her tummy was a startling reminder that she hadn’t eaten since they left home after lunch. If there was one thing she loved more than the park, it was food.
Strange and wonderfully organised creatures, I will be back.
***
The piercing blue light of her computer flashed to black and Anthea sat back in her chair, yawning and stretching her arms to the ceiling. Her eyes hurt. Her brain hurt in fact, but she had finally done it. She looked over to her wall, where a floor to ceiling glass tank filled with dirt was housed. The inspiration for her finished project.
A myriad of tunnels ran through the dirt in a complex, winding maze that appeared to have no direction at a glance, but revealed more and more of the underlying pattern the longer you stared at it.
It was her first and greatest love. Anthea had first discovered the ordered beauty and miraculous efficiency of ants when she was still a toddler, but it had become the greatest obsession of her life in a matter of days. She had read every single book she could find about the little creatures, be it a story or a chunky scientific exposition.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
In fact, she had just finished her own scientific delve into the inner workings of ants and their sprawling colonies for her entomology degree. The course had been a little broad for her tastes.
While she had a passing appreciation for other insects and invertebrates, none of them truly excited her the way ants did. She hoped that when she began her doctorate that all the other distractions would fall to the wayside.
At the bottom of the tank, in a small cavern that had been excavated and meticulously reinforced by the worker ants, Anthea observed the queen in her domain.
The title held certain connotations, at least in respect to human societies, but the role of a queen in an ant colony was rather different. She was the most important of all the ants, because without her there would be no new ants to replace the valiant ants who fell in defence of the colony or in search of food. However, she held no actual power.
In a sense the queen was a prisoner to her colony. She had nothing to do but lay eggs and relax inside her little cavern. A life of comfort. They didn’t even need to do the birds and the bees more than once in their life.
An ant queen mated in the air right after she hatched and then would burrow into the ground to make her nest, where she would remain for life. It was so simple. Sometimes Anthea wished her life was that simple.
***
She got her wish, eventually. The tower incident had happened during her travels to the Amazon Rainforests, where she was studying exotic ant species and desperately hoping to discover some new ones to add to her expansive collection.
Her worst nightmares had awaited her in the first few floors of the tower, but she had always responded well to danger. In fact, her stoicism in the face of fear was the very reason she had discovered ants in the first place.
When she met Kayla and Evelyn, the surly southerner who was like the older sister she had never had and the stern looking yet gentle tank, Anthea’s hope was rekindled. Perhaps the tower wouldn’t be so bad. While the challenges could push her to the limits of her tolerance and stamina, there was no second guessing its intentions or having to dance around awkward social conventions the way she had been forced to in the world of academia.
It was the simple life she had always wanted. Except it was missing one thing to be perfect.
Ants.
Until now. Looking out across the once green hills beyond the walls of Haven, Anthea was the first to notice when the tide of ants arrived. The ordered march and clacking mandibles of the most beautiful creatures to exist were a sight she would never forget as long as she lived. And now, they were supersized.
She didn’t want to hurt them, but was cognizant enough to put the needs of the guild above her own desires. To start with. As soon as she saw that Evelyn and Anthony - incredible name - were handling the new invaders just fine, she turned to the closest ant and her lips curled upwards into a mischievous grin.
The ant had resisted her viciously at first, attempting to bite and scratch at her while she wrapped it in a tight bear hug and stroked its glossy carapace. It was beautiful.
Compound eyes were breathtaking when magnified to this scale. Hundreds of little sensory organs worked in concert to give the ant an exceptional field of view and when combined with the ultra sensitive antennae atop its head, Anthea could only guess at the kinds of things the little baby could experience.
She wondered, not for the first time and certainly not the last, how incredible it would be to live as an ant. Part of a greater whole that functioned like a well-oiled machine with a singular unified purpose.
Despite its ferocious resistance, Anthea continued to bathe the ant in love. Petting, baby talk, and kisses were just a few of the tools in her arsenal. After a few minutes of continued effort though, she began to despair. Would she have to put this one down just like she had done to the rest of the ants?
Anthea glanced to her left. Evelyn smashed her warhammer into one of the armoured moles and stomped another ant to death in quick succession. She winced at that, but was glad to see the woman holding out. It meant she didn’t need to give up just yet.
“Hey baby, it’s okay. I don’t want to hurt you. We can be friends. You and me.”
The ant halted its struggle briefly and glanced in her direction with something less than the vitriolic rage it had displayed until now.
OH? Don’t get too excited yet, Anthea. Keep it up.
She continued to talk with it while stroking its carapace, moving her hand up towards its head and gorgeous mandibles. They were terrifyingly beautiful and she made sure to keep her arm out of the danger zone, but she so wanted to touch them.
“So, do you think we could be friends? I’d give you a wonderful name and feed you yummy food. What do you say?”
Its head tilted to the left and its antennae quivered. Looking into the fractal eyes on either side of its head she tried to discern what was happening in the mind behind them, to little success.
Would you like to form a pact with [Unnamed Monster]?
Y/N
Warning: Forming a pact can lead to mind leeching and other unforeseen danger.
Oh my gosh, I did it. Or did I? Screw it, what’s the worst that can happen?
Pact has been formed with [Unnamed Monster], would you like to assign a name to your new bond?
“Yesyesyesyes, I did it! Hi there baby, how are you? What should I call you?”