Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
…
To say that Hive City was unlike anywhere else on earth would be an understatement.
The sprawling, incredibly dense metropolis had about the same square footage of Tokyo, but due to extending high into the sky and deep beneath the earth it was actually considerably larger than any city ever devised by human hands.
Like pretty much everything Hive-related, the city was shaped like a hexagon, with dozens of smaller hexagons tightly packed inside of it, and there were more hexagons inside those hexagons, and so on, and so forth, creating an incredibly complex honeycomb pattern all the way down to the street level.
However, while the city layout was incredibly uniform, the contents of the various sectors were not. Architecture varied wildly, from skyscrapers almost resembling ones in human cities to clusters of mounds to towering spires of crystal and silk to structures resembling giant termite mounds to huge clusters of honeycomb and more, even wilder designs. The surfaces and colors of the buildings also were far from uniform, and magnificent patterns of light and matter were painted on the sides of many buildings to create complex pieces of art at scales that beggared the imagination.
The numerous hexagonal sectors and city blocks were also far from uniform in height and consistency. Many were at ground level, but others rose close to a mile in the sky, with buildings on top of them which rose even higher, and others were deep, deep pits going down, down, down into the depths of the Earth. Some of them had magma at the bottom. Others went even deeper.
(During construction, they'd accidentally dug too deep and burst into part of the Underground Empire Tube. They apologized profusely, repaired the damage, and wound up establishing a pretty sweet trade deal with the subterranean civilization.)
While most of the hexagons were covered in buildings, others were given over to nature. Parks, forests, deserts, jungles, and even artificial seas made up most of the content of these sectors, and while some of the flora and fauna was Earth-like, most of it was positively alien in nature, having been re-created from worlds all across the Hive Empire. Each of these biomes was covered in an artificial atmospheric field designed to mimic the planets they were based off of, allowing for the proliferation of life which would otherwise have been unable to sustain itself on Earth.
Hundreds of roads, rails, bridges, walkways, covered tunnels, and other paths of varying shapes and sizes connected the sectors and the buildings on them on multiple levels, creating a veritable maze of pathways weaving its way through every facet of the city. Even with a map, foreign visitors were completely unable to navigate the city, which was part of why tourism was so strictly relegated after the five dozenth time someone accidentally got separated from the group, went mad trying to find their way out, and probably would've starved to death if the incredibly friendly and welcoming natives hadn't taken pity on them.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason it was so easy for outsiders to get lost. The city was constantly growing and changing. Sectors (literally) rose and fell. Modular buildings rearranged themselves, tore themselves apart, swapped places, and came back together in new and strange configurations. Work crews and drones tore down structures and erected new ones in their place, or replaced them with more nature areas, or turned nature areas into urban sectors, or amalgams of both. Some buildings even turned out to be massive insects or groups of insects or drones, who abruptly scattered about the city in heed of an inaudible call. Roads and rails shifted without warning, with whoever was walking or riding on them immediately switching tracks without even a second thought. It was as if Hive City was a single massive, living, breathing organism, and all of its inhabitants were part of it, so in tune with it that they instinctively went along with the flow and always seemed to know where they were going even as the world around them was in flux.
They did, of course. Every member of the Hive was tuned into the Buzzing, which in layman's terms could be considered a hive mind but in practice was so much more. Imagine being able to access the Internet with your mind, to touch the minds of everyone else in the world, to see through their eyes, hear through their ears, smell and taste and touch everything they could smell and taste and touch. You could have a casual conversation with someone you'd never met light years away, and claim truthfully to know them as intimately as your spouse; unless of course they were your spouse. You could communicate with your ancestors or legendary heroes and queens from times long past, since the memory engrams of everyone who'd ever been a part of the Hive were preserved in the Buzzing for all time in a form of life after death. To be a part of the Hive was to be one who was many, a unique individual networked with every other unique individual, all of your minds capable of working together in unison to solve a complex problem while at the same time focusing on what you were eating, playing a game, hanging out with friends, sleeping, fornicating, and any of the other myriad small things that made up everyday life. To be part of the Hive was to be a cog in a vast, multicellular organism, while at the same time being unique and irreplaceable.
To be part of the Hive meant never being alone.
And speaking of the members of the Hive, they were just as much of a spectacle as the city they inhabited! Millions of them walked, climbed, flew, and dug their way about the city in seemingly constant motion, while millions more seemed content to hang out and let the world pass them by. While most of the citizens superficially resembled Earth insects with (rather attractive by human standards) humanoid bodies, others looked like no species which existed outside of an entomologist's wet dream. All of them were beautiful and unique in their own way, with even members of the same sub-species differing in color, size, shape, adornment, and even smell. Their carapaces and wings glittered in the light, and luminescent markings shown in the dark. They exuded exotic scents which tickled the nose and could trigger synesthesia in those who weren't used to it. Complex cybernetics were woven so deeply into their bodies it was almost impossible to tell where the organic part ended and the synthetic began. Even the largest and most inhuman insect moved with an unearthly grace and glowed with an inner light that made them seem beautiful on some level, and even the biggest entomophobes found themselves calm in their presence.
The soothing background hum that all of them seemed to emit, a manifestation of the Buzzing, probably helped.
Hive City was big. It was bright. It was overwhelming.
Nushi loved every second of it.
"I've watched every video, read every article, and listened to every testimonial about this place I could get my hands on," the young entomologist intoned as she constantly turned around and around in the hexagonal floating platform she and Coccinella were riding in on their way through the city, not wanting to miss even a second of the tableau around her. "None of them came even close to capturing just how amazing this place is. I've had dreams less vivid than this."
She frowned. "Wait, maybe I am dreaming. There's no way something this incredible could happen to me. Coccinella, pinch me!"
"I would not recommend it," the ladybug chirped. "Your flesh is weak in comparison to our chitin. I might accidentally take a limb off."
"You could reattach it," Nushi pointed out, not seeming too bothered by this concept. "I know Hive medical technology is capable of it."
"You would be in a considerable amount of pain."
"Yes, but I would also get an opportunity to see the inside of one of your hospitals, and get treated by your doctors," Nushi replied giddily. "So I'd say would be worth the momentary discomfort."
Coccinella chuckled. "You're truly enamored by us, aren't you?"
"An alien city on Japanese soil, populated by kind, helpful, beautiful insect people who genuinely want to help humanity? What's not to love?!" Nushi rambled, gasping in awe as what she initially mistook for a pyramid of stained-glass suddenly came apart in a swarm of several dozen gigantic glass-winged butterflies which flew overhead, the sunlight passing through their wings and bathing the sector in rainbows. "I wish I could bring dad here to see this. His people believed the only way they could coexist with humanity was to blend in with us, to pretend to be something they weren't. This city is living proof it doesn't have to be that way."
"Your father… He is a Worm, correct?" Coccinella asked.
Nushi nodded. "One of the ones from the Native faction. He killed and replaced my biological father when I was just a little girl… But my biological father was a monster, of the human variety, so nobody really minded." She smiled fondly. "He's the one who got me interested in entomology, and helped me get into University here in Japan. I owe a lot to him."
"Well, I see no reason we can't arrange for him to visit you here," Coccinella offered.
Nushi whirled around, eyes widening hopefully. "Really?!"
Coccinella nodded. "Seeing as how you will be staying here for the foreseeable future, it should be trivial to issue him a tourist visa."
Nushi rushed over, grabbed the startled ladybug, and stared right into her eyes. "I get to stay here? Really?! You're not messing with me, right?!"
"My mistress thought it would be easier for you and your teammates to move to Hive City so that you will be more easily able to deal with the coming threat," Coccinella assured her, tapping her on the nose. "All the paperwork is in order, and you've not only been provided with housing in the palace but have been successfully transferred to Hive U, where you can resume your studies."
Nushi's jaw dropped. "I get to live in the palace?! And go to university to study under some of the leading minds in the galaxy?!"
"That's right," Coccinella chirped. "And many of them are very interested to talk with you regarding your invention-"
She was cut off when Nushi squealed in delight and hugged her tightly. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you! This is… I mean… Oh gosh, I'm just so happy!"
"You do realize that you're going to have to risk your life on a very frequent basis to protect the city, and the entire planet, from destruction, right?" Coccinella reminded her, voice muffled by her breasts.
Nushi shrugged, unconcerned. "Worth it."
The platform continued to convey Nushi and Coccinella through the city, eventually bringing them to the central hexagon, which was completely occupied by the palace-ship Queen Apista and the Hive refugees had arrived in years ago, one of the few truly permanent buildings in the city, though it had been repaired and expanded upon since Arrival Day and was even bigger and grander than before. It was the literal and metaphorical heart of Hive City. All roads lead to it, and all power flowed from it. Drones and court officials and other members of the Hive were constantly flying to and from the vessel, hexagonal windows and ports periodically opening and closing all over its surface.
As the platform they were on drifted towards one such portal, Nushi started getting increasingly anxious.
"It's just occurred to me that I'm about to meet the Goddess-Queen of an entire species, someone I've idolized and practically worshiped since Arrival Day," the Chinese student realized slowly, voice filled with dread. "Someone I have had a massive crush on, commissioned all sorts of NSFW fanart of, even got a dakimakura-"
"That is rather a bit more than I need to know," Coccinella interjected quickly. "Or the Queen, for that matter."
Nushi cringed. "Right. Good point. Can never let her know, I'd die of embarrassment."
"She already does know," Coccinella told her.
Nushi went very still. "I'm sorry?"
"You told me, which was practically the same thing as telling her," Coccinella informed her. "We are all connected through the Buzzing, remember? Anything I know, so does she." She paused. "As does everyone else in this city, for that matter."
Nushi's eye twitched. For a moment, she very seriously considered jumping off the edge of the platform and falling to her death, certain it would be much less painful than meeting the Queen after learning this.
But no, someone would probably catch her. Then she would seem like not just a deviant, but a psychotic, and the thought of potentially lowering the Queen's esteem of her any further caused her mind to go blank and made her want to scream.
"I don't suppose telling you that she doesn't really mind would help at all?" Coccinella offered.
"It does, a little, thanks," Nushi said faintly.
They entered the port and found themselves in a hangar full of similar platforms, interlocking together honeycomb style and covering the walls, floor, and even ceiling. As they flew in, one of the platforms, occupied by a member of the Hive resembling a bee, rose from the floor to give them a place to park. Nushi smiled and waved in gratitude, and was mildly surprised when the bee bowed back.
"That seemed a bit much," Nushi muttered. "I was just thanking her for giving us a parking space."
"You are my Chosen, who shall lead the champions of the Hive in battle against our enemies," Coccinella reminded her. "There isn't a single member of the Hive who does not deeply respect you for the role you are destined to fulfill."
"Oh," Nushi murmured, nonplussed. "It's… Nice to be appreciated, I guess…"
As they landed, Nushi noticed there were two other vehicles in the hangar. One looked like a high-tech broom mixed with a hover bike, and the other… Was a large green maglev train with a face like a grasshopper's on the front?
"Have I seen that train before?" She wondered.
"Hey!"
Nushi turned from the train and discovered she was not alone in the hangar. Aside from more insects coming and going, there were four people standing near the exit, one of whom was waving to her. Each of them had a mechanical insect much like Coccinella on their shoulder, though of completely different species. She recognized an ant, a mantis, a grasshopper, and a butterfly.
"Hi!" She called back, hopping off the platform and walking over to the group. "I'm guessing that you guys were also chosen to be on this team?"
A rugged man in his late 20s wearing a JSDF uniform nodded. "That's right. And given that you have the red Divine Insect, I take it to mean you're to be our leader?"
"Um… Yeah, I guess so," Nushi mumbled, a little embarrassed. Coccinella had informed her that as the partner of the ladybug Divine Insect that meant she would be team leader. Nushi wasn't exactly certain she was qualified, but Coccinella had insisted she was the right woman for the job, and she didn't really want to argue with the mechanical bug older than her entire species. "I'm Nushi Cheng. University student, transferred from China to…well, here, now, and this cutie is Coccinella."
The soldier offered her his hand. He had a firm, reassuring grip. "Lieutenant first class Goro Aori, JSDF, and the proud soldier on my shoulder is Formic. I trust the judgment of the Divine Insects, and if they say you're our leader, I would be honored to serve under your command."
"As am I," the mechanical ant said formally. "Coccinella's champions have led us to victory uncounted times in the past, and I have every confidence you will do the same."
"Thanks," Nushi replied, blushing a little. "I will do my best to live up to your expectations."
"Mibojin," the second member of the group, a tall, mature, very beautiful woman dressed in a formal business suit with heels that you could probably stab a person to death with, said in greeting.
Nushi waited a moment. The older woman did not offer a hand or any further information. Nushi started getting anxious. Had she done something to offend her? Does she not like Chinese people? Was she irritated that she would have to take orders from a much younger girl?
Goro sighed. "Don't take it personally, she was like that with the rest of us too. I'm amazed we were even able to get that much out of her."
"She's a ninja," the mantis on the woman's shoulder said bluntly, much to everyone's surprise.
Mibojin shot her an irritated look. "Manti!" She hissed.
"I told you, secrets and lies have no place in the Hive," the mantis said sternly. "They will only erode trust and make it impossible to work together as a cohesive unit."
"Oh, cool!" The third person, a rather sexy girl dressed like a witch looking to be about Nushi's age (dammit, why were there so many pretty girls on this team?) Gushed excitedly. "What sorts of monsters do you fight?"
"The human kind," Mibojin replied coolly.
The witch's expression faltered at this.
Goro frowned. "You've killed people?"
"You are a soldier. So have you," Mibojin replied dispassionately.
Goro's expression darkened. "That's not the same thing."
"It's more similar than think," Mibojin retorted.
"Okay!" The witch yelled loudly before any sort of altercation could break out. She quickly thrust her hand out to Nushi. "Hi! I'm Heavenly Sage Ariel, magical performer extraordinaire, and this is my BBFFF Lepidoptera!"
Nushi blinked, struggling to interpret that. "BBBFF?"
"Best butterfly friend forever," the butterfly, Lepidoptera, explained.
Ariel gave Nushi a flirtatious wink, causing her to turn almost as red as Coccinella. "I happen to be a member of the prestigious Ozu family. I'm sure you've heard about me!"
"I haven't, actually," Nushi confessed, shaking the other girl's hand. She could swear she felt a spark of energy passing through her body on contact, but she chalked that up to her being very pretty and triggering an intense reaction in her pathetic lesbian heart.
"Oh," Ariel replied, face falling slightly. "Well… That's awkward. Guess you won't be wanting an autograph, then…"
The final member of the group, a hideous creature resembling a grasshopper, cleared his throat. "And I-"
"Oh, wow!" Nushi exclaimed, rushing over and examining him from every angle, much to his discomfort. "Here I was thinking that ALL of us were going to be humans! Good to see that one of us is a member of the Hive, that makes me feel a little less bad about cultural appropriation, even if that does sort of make you the token nonhuman."
"Actually, I'm three quarters Heavenly Saint," Ariel spoke up.
"And I'm not part of the Hive," the grasshopper man grunted, looking rather uncomfortable with the scrutiny with which Nushi was examining him.
Nushi frowned, tapping her chin and thought. "Oh… Yeah, that makes sense. All the grasshopper-style members of the Hive look much prettier than you… Err, no offense! So… Are you a Worm, then?"
"Actually-" he started.
"But no, that can't be right," she interjected, shaking her head. "You don't look very much like a Leptophyes Worm. Unless you're some sort of new mutation?"
"That's not-"
"Maybe a Amazon?" Nushi speculated herself. "But… No, if that were the case, you'd be trying to eat us. And you're much too green to be an Orphnoch, you don't have an Undead Buckle, lack enough stained-glass to be a Fangire… Well gosh, now I'm stumped…"
"I'm human," the grasshopper man interrupted. "Well. Used to be," he explained when everyone gave him disbelieving looks. "Name's Shin Kazamatsuri, also known as Kamen Rider Shin, and this is Caelifer."
"Hello," the robot grasshopper on his shoulder chirped.
Goro frowned. "A Kamen Rider? I thought we were going to become Super Sentai. Shouldn't someone else have been chosen?"
Shin shrugged. "Yeah, doesn't really make a lot of sense to me either, but my new friend here insists that I need to be a member of this team, so here I am."
"'Super Sentai' and 'Kamen Rider' are false dichotomies," Caelifer declared. "A hero is a hero, no matter their origin."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time a Rider was a Sentai, or vice versa," Ariel reflected. "There was the whole Gorider thing during the Chou Super Hero Taisen crossover event."
"Oh! I've heard of you!" Nushi realized with a gasp.
Ariel pouted. "She's heard of him, but not me?" She muttered.
"My kids are fans of your show, if that helps," Goro offered.
Ariel perked up. "It does, actually! Would they like an autograph?"
"They'd love one!" the soldier promised.
As Ariel cheerfully produced a headshot and started signing it, Nushi babbled to Shin, "I've always been fascinated by the process used to infuse so many of the Showa Riders with grasshopper DNA to turn them into Kamen Riders, and your case was an especially infamous one! I've always had a bit of a fantasy about doing something like that to myself. Bit of an entomology fan and all. I don't suppose there's anything you could tell me about your procedure?"
Shin glared at her. "It was horrifically painful, completely ruined my life, and I wouldn't recommend it."
Nushi cringed, realizing she had overstepped. "Right. Traumatic experience. Sorry."
"Now that we are all here," Coccinella spoke up, her voice rising to be heard by everyone. "It is time for us to meet with the Queen, so you may learn the truth about the danger threatening this world."
"What exactly is the threat?" Goro queried. "Formic has been oddly reticent about it."
"The Queen would tell the story better," he muttered apologetically.
Mibojin raised an eyebrow. "What was that about the need for transparency?"
Manti had the grace to look ashamed. "It is a source of great, personal pain. Our queen will make all things clear."
Ariel clapped her hands together. "Great! Let's go see her, then!"
Lepidoptera nodded, spreading her wings and rising into the air, as did Coccinella, Manti, and Caelifer. "Follow us, and we shall guide you to her."
The Divine Insects headed for the hangar exit, and the humans (well, mostly humans) followed.
"You're not going with them?" Goro asked Formic.
"I'm a soldier. My place is to follow, not lead," the ant said gruffly. "Also, do you see any wings on me?"
"Don't some ants have wings?" Goro wondered.
"They do," Nushi confirmed.
"Yeah, well, not me," Formic grunted.
They left the hangar, and entered the palace proper.
It was… Something else.
Much like the city outside, the palace interior was constantly shifting and changing, it was one thing to watch such a transformation from the outside, and another to be inside a building while it was reconfiguring itself. Walls switched places, ceilings rose and floors fell away, holes opened and closed at seemingly random intervals on every surface, and glittering drones and bee-like members of the Hive were constantly streaming in and out of these openings and flying through the constantly rearranging corridors, only pausing to bow in acknowledgment to the Divine Insects and their human companions.
The only thing consistent – and even that wasn't always a given – was that every surface was a beautiful gold and covered in honeycomb patterns, each hexagon radiating a warm, soft glow which couldn't help but put them at ease and ebbed some of the tension from the horrifying realization that if they took even a single wrong turn, they could possibly be lost in this ever-changing labyrinth forever.
(It wouldn't be that long, of course, someone would immediately find them and guide them back to the rest of the group, but it was still a worrying thought.)
The ever-present background hum of the Buzzing was louder than ever before, and grew louder still the further they went into the structure, and yet somehow it refrained from being grating on their ears. This, too, helped them feel at ease, and both Nushi and Shin found themselves humming along to it without realizing.
Of course, constantly transforming hallways weren't the only things they saw. They passed through quite a few rooms which, if not permanent, looked to at least be longer-lasting than the myriad corridors.
There were rooms filled with massive clusters of hexagonal crystals shimmering in every color on the spectrum, with members of the Hive humming at them, causing each crystal to resonate at a slightly different frequency to create a mellifluous symphony of light and sound which even Mibojin was moved by.
Rooms where drones, under the guidance of members of the Hive, converged to create three-dimensional sculptures and constructs which seemed to defy the laws of physics.
Rooms where absolutely adorable larvae were gestating in honeycomb cubbyholes lining the towering walls, with gentle caretakers tending to happy, frolicking, and ridiculously cute grubs who seemed all too happy to play with new visitors.
Rooms where honey flowed like water, colossal golden machines defying imagination puttered away, elderly insects meditated in beautiful indoor Zen gardens and forests, glittering winged insects engaged in magnificent aerial dances, or soldiers drilled for battle. All these wonders and more were contained within the palace walls.
And then, at last, they came to the throne room at the beating heart of the palace. Here, the background hum was at its strongest, almost sounding like music.
Like every other room in the ship, it was gold and covered in honeycomb patterns, and yet it managed to be the grandest of them all. Golden statues made from interlocking drones depicting absolutely gorgeous bee-like insects who could only be previous queens rose from a lake of honey that seemed to take up most of the floor, more honey pouring from large pots held by the Queens and flowing through channels in the wall to other areas of the palace. Smaller statues of various different members of the Hive of all known subspecies, and even some unknown, were placed in several of the hexagonal cells on the walls, golden light shining on them as they, too, poured honey into the lake.
The largest source of light in the room was a huge spherical golden honeycomb crystal floating close to the ceiling, surrounded by rings of constantly swarming drones. Unlike the other structures in the room, honey poured into it rather than out, spouts of the golden liquid flowing in gravity-defying streams from various spots around the room, seeming to fuel its radiant luminescence.
Several hexagonal islands of varying sizes dotted the lake, each holding a statue or crystal or mechanism. The islands drifted about the lake, occasionally bumping into each other and combining to form larger islands, or sinking, with new ones rising up elsewhere to replace them.
The largest island took up the center of the room, connected to the entrance by a bridge made of hexagonal platforms which abruptly rose from the honey to assemble itself before their eyes. Six golden statues bearing a resemblance to an armored humanoid ladybug, ant, mantis, grasshopper, butterfly, and bee stood on the edges of the island, with the bee, the largest, placed at the back. Holographic displays resembling stained-glass windows depicting these six insects, or insects resembling them, engaged in heroic feats floated around the island, interspersed with other images of past queens.
At the base of the bee statue was a raised dais upon which sat a grand golden throne carved to resemble every subspecies of the Hive joined in unity. Before the dais, taking up the center of the island, was a hexagonal pool of especially pure honey glowing almost as brightly as the orb floating overhead. Partially submerged in this pool was a golden crystal with what looked like a damaged bee-themed Divine Insect inside, constantly bathed in streams of honey flowing down channels from the six statues to fill the pool.
There were two insects on that island. One was a bee-like member of the Hive, looking very young. (Not that that necessarily meant anything, members of the Hive lived a very, very long time, so it was fully possible that she was older than all of the humans combined.) She was a little chubby, clutched a stuffed animal resembling a bee, had a stubby crystal stinger, and a necklace and tiara made from Amber. From how she was trying to stand up straight, it was clear she was attempting to project an air of maturity, but the way her undersized, glittering wings flickered and her occasional glances at the other insect on the island belied her nervousness. She was absolutely adorable.
An excited Nushi immediately recognized her as Princess Philia, daughter and heir apparent to the Hive. She had rather quickly become an Internet darling due to her weekly vlogs showing what life in the palace was like as she shadowed her mother to learn more about what her future duties and responsibilities as Queen would be, when she wasn't hanging out with friends, playing games, and showing other fascinating aspects of Hive culture from a royal perspective, that is. Nushi had watched every single one of her videos over a dozen times, and had been so excited at the prospect of meeting the Queen she'd nearly forgotten that meant she'd meet her daughter too, something she mentally berated herself for. From her videos, it was already clear Philia felt she had a lot to live up to if she were to one day succeed her mother, one of the greatest queens in Hive history, and so deserved to be more than just an afterthought.
And the other insect…
The other insect was the princess's mother, Queen Apista.
Nushi's heart skipped a beat. Seated on her throne, the Queen of the Hive, looking exactly as she had when she first arrived on Earth, was even more beautiful in person, her poise and grace radiating a sensation of absolute authority tempered with the all-encompassing kindness of a loving mother. When she looked at them with her glittering dark compound eyes, without judgment or bias, they all knew, on an instinctual level, that no matter who they were, no matter what they had done, they would always be welcome here.
"…D… Damn…" Shin muttered, taken aback.
Mibojin pursed her lips, more rattled than she would like to admit.
Ariel whistled. "Geez, Arch Saint Magiel wishes she had this kind of presence!"
"This… Pressure…" Goro murmured, awestruck. "I can feel her… Power, her compassion all the way over here… Is she… A God?"
"While extraordinary long-lived, she is as mortal as you," Formic corrected him. "But… You're not wrong to feel that way. As far as the Hive is concerned, Queen Apista – nay, any Queen – is like unto a God for us."
"The Queen is the center of everything," Nushi whispered reverently, tears welling up. "The source of the Buzzing, the beating heart of their culture, the star their entire society revolves around… For the Hive, 'God' and 'Queen' might as well be the same thing; the word for both is the same in their language."
"How does that level of power not go to someone's head?" Mibojin wondered.
"Because of the Buzzing," Manti told her. "Just as she sees into all of our hearts, so to do we see into hers. Were there any hint of darkness in her soul, we would know it, and so would she, and so be forced to act to fix it upon being confronted with her own shortcomings. She is the bright star around which we all revolve, yes… But just as we are nothing without her, she is nothing without us, for our love is the source of her strength. We believe the Queen is good and kind and wise, and so she becomes good and kind and wise so that she will remain deserving of our faith."
Goro shook his head. "I can think of quite a few human leaders who could stand to be a bit more like that."
A laugh filled the air, causing their hearts to flutter and the background hum to ebb and flow with each syllable. "You flatter me as always, Manti. I've always seen myself as a servant of my people, nothing more," the Queen spoke, her voice sounding as clear as if she were whispering right into their ears, instead of seated several meters away. "Come, all of you. We have much to discuss."
And what could they do but obey? They crossed the bridge and stood at the edge of the pool with the crystal on the opposite side from the throne. The Divine Insects landed on the ground before them and bowed elegantly to their mistress. "My lady, before you stand our chosen, the new champions of the Five. I hope they pass your approval?"
Apista laughed again, and Nushi felt weak in the knees as a sensation of nearly divine joy flooded through her body as she gazed upon the Royal insect. Gaim, she was even more gorgeous up close. "If they did not, they would not be here, would they?"
Ariel seemed to be the first to recover from the shock of being in the Queen's presence and gracefully curtsied. Following her lead, the others bowed, a little more stiffly and clumsily. "Your Majesty, it is an honor to be in your presence."
"Please, the honor is mine," Apista assured her. "Especially since my daughter Philia loves your shows."
Startled, Ariel glanced at the young princess. "You do?!"
The small bee blushed and looked away. "They're… Really pretty. I've always wanted to see a show in person."
"Well, seeing as how I'm booked to stay here for the foreseeable future, how would you like it if I gave you a private performance sometime?" Ariel offered. "Just you and me. And your mom, if she wants."
Philia gasped, antenna standing up. "Really?!"
Ariel laughed brightly. "But of course! Anything for a fan. Autograph?"
With a snap of her fingers, she conjured up a headshot, causing the young princess's eyes to widen in wonder. "Yes, please!"
Motivated by… Something (she liked to believe it was courage, but was self-aware enough to know it could've just been jealousy), Nushi cried, "Actually, I wouldn't mind getting your autograph, princess. I love your vlog. I follow it religiously!"
Philia gasped in surprise, turning away from Ariel, who was still signing her autograph. "You do?!"
Nushi nodded eagerly. "I've been obsessed with the Hive ever since you landed. Your posts have helped give enthusiasts like myself a glimpse at what the Hive is like at the upper echelons and helped humanize you and your mother." She paused, then glanced to the others. "Is that the right term, given that she's not human?"
They shrugged.
"Oh, wow," Philia whispered as Ariel handed her the headshot, awestruck. "I don't think I've ever met a human who's a fan of my vlog before…" A flicker of sadness crossed her face. "I haven't met many humans, actually. I… Don't get out of the palace much…"
Queen Apista frowned, regret in her eyes. "Honey…"
"I don't blame you, mom!" Philia was quick to assure her. "I… I understand why, it's just… There's a big new world out there, and a part of me wouldn't mind seeing it with my own eyes rather than everyone else's."
Turning back to Nushi, she said, "Anyway, you wanted an autograph? Let's see…"
She patted herself down with three of her hands, her fourth still holding her doll. "Don't think I have anything on me… Oh!"
Reaching up, she grabbed one of her antenna, ripped it off, and handed it to Nushi. "Here you go!"
The jaws of the humans dropped, though while four of them were from shock, Nushi's was from disbelief. "Oh my gosh… I'm actually holding a piece of Hive royalty. Do you guys know what this means?!"
"That a princess just mutilated herself because you said you were a fan of hers?" Asked a horrified Shin.
"Not even I would do that!" Ariel exclaimed. She considered for a moment. "Well. Probably not."
"No scientist on Earth has managed to get a piece of Hive royalty!" Nushi squealed ecstatically. "Do you have any idea the sorts of things I could learn from this?!" Alarmed, she glanced up at the princess. "Are… Are you really sure I can have this?"
Philia nodded. "Yeah, Coccinella and my mom trust you, I'm sure it's fine." She paused, then glanced at the Queen. "Right, mom?"
Apista nodded, though she looked slightly wary. "So long as she does not misplace it. As royalty, our DNA is very powerful, and could do terrible things in the wrong hands."
"I swear to protect it with my life!" Nushi declared.
"Pardon me, but… Didn't you… Need that?" Asked a disturbed Mibojin.
Philia gave her a confused look. "What? Oh, right, mammal. You wouldn't know."
She scooped up a clawful of honey from the pool, sipped it up, then stuck the equivalent of a thumb in her mouth and blew.
With a rather anticlimactic pop, a new antenna sprouted to replace the old one.
"The Hive royalty have crazy regenerative powers," Nushi explained to her astonished teammates. "Part of what makes them almost – but not quite – immortal. Just need a little miracle honey, and they can heal from just about anything."
"… Yes. Almost anything…" The queen murmured, glancing down at her chest. Philia shot her a guilty look, and the Divine Insects fidgeted uncomfortably. This was not lost on the humans, who wondered what that was about.
Apista cleared her throat, rose from her throne, clasped her hands, and bowed to her guests. "First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you for agreeing to volunteer for this task. Since time immemorial, when the Hive has been threatened by those who seek to destroy us, the Divine Insects who have guided and protected our civilization for eons have chosen champions to defend us in our hour of need, and it would seem that you are the next individuals to take up that heroic mantle. You will become the latest members of an exclusive siblinghood and a noble legacy, and I am certain you will more than live up to the honor which has been bestowed upon you."
She hesitated, and then flashed them an apologetic look. "Second… I'm sorry that you've been forced into this."
"What you mean?" Goro asked in puzzlement, brow furrowed.
"When I dispatched the Divine Insects to choose new champions, I assumed they would select members of the Hive, as they always have in the past," Apista explained. "Never once did it occur to me that they would fly beyond our borders and seek out humans."
"We were surprised as well," Coccinella admitted. "But our selection software has never failed us. These are most certainly the ones."
"I do not doubt that for a moment," Apista assured her. "However, I had hoped not to drag humans into this conflict. It is bad enough that we had to get this planet involved by choosing it to be our refuge, I had hoped that we could end this war without forcing the humans to take part in it as well. This is our struggle, and our hosts shouldn't have to suffer because of us."
"With all due respect, ma'am, I would've gotten involved anyway," Goro informed her. "The JSDF would've been mobilized in the event of a full-scale invasion. I know we wouldn't exactly have done as well as a team of color-coded or masked heroes, but… We would've tried our best."
"My clan would not have sat idly by either," Mibojin stated. "While usually we fight human monsters, that doesn't mean we would ignore something like this."
"My whole family's fought the forces of evil for years," Ariel proudly proclaimed. "While usually we only focus on magical threats, we would've done what we could to help!"
Shin sighed wearily. "If things really got bad enough, I'd probably have come out of retirement to do SOMETHING. Can't let my son and friends deal with something like this on their own, right?"
Nushi bit her lip, feeling a bit self-conscious. "I… Don't really know what I would've done," she confessed. "I'm not a soldier or a ninja or a magician or a Kamen Rider. But…" She glanced up at the Queen. "Now that I'm here… If there is any way for me to help, I can't just stand idly by and do nothing."
"Wow…" Philia whispered, awestruck.
The Queen blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly. "Yes… You truly are the ones. You would do your predecessors proud." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm only sorry I will not be able to fight alongside you, as I did your forebears. That option… Is no longer on the table for me."
"What do you mean?" Ariel asked in concern.
"And does it have something to do with the clearly broken Divine Insect in the pool?" Mibojin intuited.
All the insects in the room looked rather downcast at this. "It… Does," the Queen admitted. She glanced down at her chest, winced…
And unfolded her secondary set of arms.
Nushi squeaked and quickly covered her eyes, Goro and Shin flushed and glanced away, Mibojin was completely impassive, and Ariel tried not to look too eager…
And then the witch gasped. "Heavenly Saints!"
"Is that a gasp of astonishment that she's got really nice breasts, or something more serious?" Shin asked, still refusing to look.
"The latter," Mibojin confirmed.
Against their better judgment, Goro and Shin turned back to look at the queen, and Nushi reluctantly lowered her hands to see…
Well. She DID have really nice breasts.
She also had a horrific mass of scar tissue taking up a good portion of her chest.
They stared, horrified.
"I thought Hive royalty had crazy regenerative powers," Shin said finally.
"We do," the Queen said glumly. "Even with the miracle honey, this is as far as I've recovered so far."
"What… What could DO this?" Nushi whispered, aghast. "Damage you so badly it's overcome your natural healing factor?"
The Queen closed her eyes, looking very solemn. "The same one who drove us from our home. The same one who killed your predecessors and nearly destroyed my own Divine Insect, Anthoph.
"My sister."