Chapter 17
"I can't believe she's teaching you of all people to be a royal guard member. You should be proud of your promotion Hippotsu. Even though you don't deserve it. You weren't born royal, remember? Neferpitou would have never even acknowledged your presence if Meruem were still alive. Besides her medical skills far exceed yours so you're basically useless."
Hippotsu and his captor were in the underground floor that was previously used by secretary Bizeff in order to engage in illegal activities. The person who captured him was a female chameleon chimera ant. She had long frilly red hair and a face that resembled Meleoron's a bit. "If I'm not mistaken Neferpitou has no knowledge of this place. So I guess I don't have to worry about her finding us here. It would be bad if she did of course, her physical strength is still a danger to us who weren't born in the royal family you know." As she kept talking to Hippotsu she sneered at him in contempt.
"What's the meaning of this Chamelia? Didn't you leave the nest with Bihorn? And why did you kidnap me?" Asked Hippotsu.
"Ugh! Geez, you ask like, alot of questions." Her response signified her nonchalant or uncaring attitude.
"Well? You can at least give me some answers! Well, it doesn't matter. My queen will find out that I'm missing and she'll take care of you."
"Helloooo~ did you not hear what I just said? She doesn't know about this place! Only a select few even found out about it during the raid, and even if she did, would she really care enough to save you? Some fatass doctor who's not even that good at his job, ESPECIALLY since he turned into an ant?" Her taunts were followed by a chuckle.
"It doesn't matter what happens to me, the fact that you have snuck in here and are threatening the safety of our queen is the problem, you will be SEVERELY PUNISHED for this!" declared Hippotsu.
"Yeesh, as stuck up as always. Regardless, I suggest you get comfortable. We're going to be waiting for QUITE a while~." She promised.
Hippotsu stared at the ground, frustrated because he was bound by a thick pair of handcuffs that were probably used by the secretary at one point and taped to a chair. All he needed was some answers but Chamelia refused to give him any.
Elsewhere
"It's not a problem, you can just hijack a plane heading over to NGL. Simple, am I right?" Said the bird chimera ant
"That'sssss eassssy for you to sssay! You have wingsss! Doing all of that work will be annoying. I wish I had wingsss." Said the cobra chimera ant
"I do admit, they are rather convenient. When I'm in the air, i'm reminded of the days I'm at my old man's workshop. I remember him taking me for a ride on his light plane. Hell, I do remember always having dreams where I could actually fly. Becoming a chimera ant is probably one of the best things to ever happen to me." Said the bird chimera ant
"You often reminissssce about your childhood. I find it irritating. Essspecially sssince I can't remember my past." The cobra complained
"You only remember your life as a chimera ant?" Asked the bird
"Yesss. I believe I told you thisss before. I only remember ever being in ssservice to the queen." The cobra chimera ant was one of the few soldier ants who have't had their memories return when they were human. "Thisss isss all I know. It alwaysss bothers me when you talk about your passst, when I can't even remember mine."
The bird chimera ant pondered for a minute placing his avian-like index finger under his chin. There was something bothering him about the way his cobra friend complained. "Could you stop doing that?" He asked in a stern tone.
"Sssstop doing what?" The reptile sneered knowing exactly what was bugging him.
They stared at each other for several seconds.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, Neferpitou was pacing back and forth in one of the renovated halls. She had an idea of who to ask but not "Why didn't I think of this before? I could probe the soldier ants for the whereabouts of the missing squadron leaders. If I remember correctly, one of them was a nen exorcist. This 'Zazan' person should be able to pinpoint their location and help me get my nen back! If a nen exorcist can remove nen they should be able to return it as well...right?"
She had a plan, however she needed to stay within the palace and continue building the ant kingdom. With her newfound responsibility Pitou noticed more and more just how difficult so called simple tasks can be thanks to her new position. "Wait a second! Nyow I got it! I'll have someone else get them for me! I could probably send a squad of soldier ants along with Jagren to find them.
Neferpitou knew that a nen exorcist existed within the ranks of the soldier ants. "If I remember correctly. Zazan was the one who would often taunt the other squadron leaders. Wasn't another in her squad? Ugh damn it! Why did I run out like that? I should of stayed in the room so I could ask Jagren and Hippotsu, oh that's right. Inuka must be crying in her room right nyow. Seriously, what is up with her and being so sensitive? Whatever, I'll deal with it later."
Pitou returned to her room to see Jagren still asleep and Hippotsu gone. "Wh-What the hell? THIS PLACE IS A MESS! and Hippotsu's already gone? I was out for like five minutes!" Pitou sighed "I should wake Jagren up and tell him to clean all of this. He is quick on his feet after all so it should be no problem for him." She thought "Hey Jagren. Bedtime's over, I need you to clean my quarters nyow." Pitou commanded. Jagren didn't respond.
Pitou tried several different things to wake him up but yielded no results. She tried clapping really loud then she even tried screaming in his cat-like ears, she even tried picking him up and throwing him across the room albeit gently since a super powered throw from Pitou would indeed kill him. She tried to wake him up several times but nothing was working. Once she realized this that her efforts were in vain she heard Jagren utter something in his sleep "Pantsu..." the ensuing nosebleed occured shortly after he said that.
Pitou tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what he just said. "Pant...sooo? Oh! Is that another word for panties?" Suddenly as soon as she asked herself that Jagren shot up!
"AH! P-p-panties?! Where?!" He woke up frantically hoping to quench his perverse thirst. "Oh Pitou-sama. What happened? Where am I? OMIGOSH! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean fall asleep in your room again! PLEASE FORGIVE YOUR MAJESTY!" He started to freak out.
Pitou was speechless.
"Um...Pitou-sama? What's going on here? Is the party over? Oh, I didn't get a chance to show you my nen ability." He said.
Jagren's hyper active nature exhausting for her to deal with, but being the queen, she decided to put up with it.
"Hey Jagren is it alright if I ask you something about your squadron leader?" Pitou asked.
"Um... s-sure your majesty. What do you want to know about Leol?" He said with a slight blush.
While Pitou and Jagren were conversing the two chimera ants who were plotting against Neferpitou continue to plant the seeds to enact their revenge.
"I got a call from Chamelia. She claims to have been successful in hiding the hippo guy."
"I sssstill don't undersssstand why you decccided to make a preemptive strike this early on. We ssstill haven't obtained our trump card yet!"
"Relax. It's better to do things this way. I decided that it would best to make her despair in the most intense way possible. One by one, she'll lose everything. I thought you would understand. Every plan of hers needs to fail, and any hope of her nen returning must be snuffed out." The bird chimera ant's pupils shrunk intensely. "How dare she come back to life? How could I forgive them after they abandoned the queen?"
"I underssstand alright. Underssstand that you are very unreasssonable...although, I do have my fair share of troublesss asss well thanksss to her." lamented the Cobra.
"I will never forgive her." He clenched his fist. "Still, how could a heartless bitch like Neferpitou cheat death? Perhaps -he- will give us the answers we seek." The birdman declared.
"Perhapsss he will" The Cobra agreed
"I Thought I told you to stop doing that."
"Ssstop doing what?"
They stared at each other for several seconds.
End of chapter
Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be available Wednesday February 20th, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Have a good weekend!