A/N: I wanted to contribute something to the "Ant Bully" category, because it's severely lacking. Not much to this story, but I thought it right to talk about Lucas and the colony further down the road. I like to think that he visited the descendants of his ant friends again.
Thrive
Many things had changed in Lucas's life ever since his encounter with the ants.
He'd grown older, for instance. His friendship with Zoc, Hova, and the others never diminished, but it was a sad fact that ants didn't possess the longevity that humans did. Not even wizards as talented as Zoc could change that, and he wouldn't have wanted to. None of them would. Lucas knew it...had always known it, but on the day Hova sought him out to tell him the sad news, it still came as a painful surprise.
Lucas had visited the ants on numerous occasions since befriending them, but the visits were few and far between, as a rule. Mostly, they occurred whenever his parents weren't home, which made his lengthy disappearances easier to hide. His older sister ignored him as much as she could anyway, and his grandmother's arbitrary hobbies kept her occupied to the point where she never noticed that he'd been gone. This suited him just fine.
Zoc would make one of his concoctions for the sole purpose of having Lucas shrink down to their size for a visit, and the visits of course never lasted for more than a good handful of hours. It'd been easier for Zoc to create the shrinking potion ever since he'd kept a record of his first attempt, otherwise Lucas may have felt guilty for asking the hard-working ant to go through all the trouble just for the sake of a few hours visit among friends.
Zoc would have done it for him, though, even if Lucas would never ask for it.
Hova, on the other hand, would have insisted on a visit from Lucas, so it wasn't as if Zoc had much of a choice even if he had complained about the work involved. But he didn't. He'd made friends with Lucas in spite of a very rocky start, and had considered the human a friend ever since.
That day, though...when Hova had hailed him as he was outside, ready to approach the anthill with some of their favorite "sweet rocks"...
Lucas knew that Zoc had been getting more feeble in his old age (it was still strange to think of Zoc as "old" when it felt like so little time had passed), but nothing could have prepared him for the news of the wizard's passing.
Hova, of course, had been heartbroken...but in spite of it all, there remained, still, a solemn acceptance that was so very ant-like. They were strong, enduring creatures, ants. They had an uncanny ability to push forward in spite of all the obstacles, a strange way of enduring the hardships that befell them, including those carried within. Lucas may have received the news with more difficulty even than Hova did.
He would always remember that day. He'd turned away from the anthill so as not to overwhelm his friends with splashing tears.
Time carried on.
Lucas and his family ended up moving to another part of the state, in which he was forced to leave his miniscule friends - but not without saying goodbye.
Hova, Fugax, and Kreela were on their last leg, so to speak. They were very old (for ants), and Lucas had said a very heartfelt goodbye to them, knowing he'd probably never get another chance. Fugax, in spite of his age, still possessed the same sprightly, mischievous persona he had in his youth. Kreela, who came supporting him as best she could in her own weakness, had waved goodbye to her human friend.
"I'm gonna miss you, Peanut," she said, affectionately using his first nickname. "Almost as much as those sweet rocks." They'd shared a laugh.
Hova had tried not to become emotional during Lucas's last farewell. He wished he could have lifted her up on his finger to get one last look at his dear friend, but she was simply too old to endure it.
"Bye, Hova…" he'd said in a voice that sounded different to his ears.
Hova had given him something before he departed, though. She'd beckoned him down to the ground so he could see at their level. The size difference made the interaction almost ridiculous, but then they had had a lot of practice communicating in this way.
Slowly, she ambled up to him. "Zoc wanted you to have this," she said, holding out her hands.
Taking the cue, he slowly stretched out a finger toward her, in which she placed the tiniest phial imaginabe. It was a miracle he'd been able to see it, much less keep it safe. He knew it was a final batch of the shrinking potion, but he wondered, now that he was moving, when he would ever use it. There would be no point in shrinking himself to visit other anthills.
Even so, Lucas had managed to store it in a larger phial for safekeeping. It was almost too small to see, even in the larger phial, and throughout the rest of his days, he often checked to make sure it was still there, a tiny yellow orb spinning this way and that in the large glass container. It didn't really matter to him if he ever ended up using it. He considered it a final gift from Zoc, and that was good enough for him.
He was still young when he moved away.
The years went by, but he never forgot his friends.
He knew that Hova, Fugax, and Kreela had to have left this world by now. Ants didn't live very long compared to humans.
Months turned into years, which turned into many more years.
Lucas was married now with a family.
He never told them about the ants, of course, but by some miracle, his career led him back to his hometown. He and his family had moved several houses down from his old one - a fact which they found amusing, but he had other reasons for wanting to be home after all this time.
His neighborhood wasn't the same, of course. New faces, new houses, and new people made it merely a shadow of what it had once been...but it was still the welcoming, cheerful place he remembered as a youth.
It was many weeks after they'd moved in when he ventured over to his childhood home.
He didn't dare to hope that the anthill would still be there, but by some miracle, it was. He'd knelt down by it for only a moment (after all, the home he used to live in wasn't his anymore), and saw a few ants crawling in and out.
That was all he needed.
Many days later, he'd found an opportunity to slip out without alarming his family and made his way to the anthill. He'd timed his visit at night, as obviously taking Zoc's concoction would be impossible to do during the day with prying eyes about.
But take it he did.
Lucas had half-expected it to fail (he wasn't even sure if the potion had an expiration date, he'd kept it for years and years), but to his delight, and subtle alarm, the shrinking process had begun. He found himself sinking at a frightening pace, until the sensation finally stopped and the world was now a hundred times bigger than it was. Blades of grass towered over his head, cutting across the pale moon. Pebbles were now boulders, and the ants…
...The ants…They would be asleep right now, wouldn't they? How could he approach them unawares?
He didn't have to wait long for the answer. To his surprise, a large group of ants began trailing out of the anthill. He supposed they must have woken up at the sound of his transformation.
Many of them had looks of fear and wonder on their faces as they slowly approached him, making sure to keep a certain distance from this strange new creature. It seemed a long time that they kept trailing out of their underground domicile, and Lucas was at a loss for words; he simply stared back at them.
At long last, the crowd parted to reveal a young female ant, followed by several attendees. It had been so long since Lucas had been exposed to the ant culture, he'd forgotten how formal they could be when greeting a new arrival.
He opened his mouth to speak. "H-hi…" He realized now how little he had actually planned this. How, exactly, should he explain his being here, not to mention his size? On top of that, what on earth did he come for? His old friends were all gone - no one here would know who he was.
In the midst of his confusion, he noted the gentle, benign look on the female ant's face. She approached him slowly, with hands folded, instantly reminding him of Hova. Or was it Zoc…? Because her eyes…
"Greetings, Lucas," she said.
His eyes went wide. "You...you know who I am?"
She nodded. "Oh yes...you see, we've been waiting for you for some time." She placed a hand upon her chest. "I'm Zinia, descendent of Zoc and Hova."
The human's eyes lit up. "You're...you're Zoc and Hova's great grandchild?"
She chuckled, and nodded. "Yes, although with a few more 'greats' added. The story of the human who became an ant and helped the colony from the dreaded cloud breather has been passed down for many generations." She stepped closer to him, eyes filled with silent wonder. "I was told that Zoc and Hova believed with all their heart that you would return to us again someday. The rest of us believed, too."
Lucas was amazed to hear this, and joy began to fill his heart. "I'm...honored...It's been so long since I'd been to the colony, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if it was still going to be here." He sighed, trying not to feel too overwhelmed. "Zoc, and Hova...Fugax and Kreela...I miss them…"
Zinia regarded him silently, in something of a marvel herself that this human had actually known her ancestors. She tentatively reached out a hand to him. "Please...will you tell us about them?"
Lucas nodded.
Against all odds, he had finally returned to the ant colony. And although the ants he had known as a child were no longer there, he had the honor of meeting their descendant. It was true that many things changed, but then, some things didn't.
Meeting Zinia, the descendant of his friends, brought overwhelming hope to Lucas.
He knew the colony would thrive on for this generation...and for many to come.