Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The throne room somehow felt oddly cozy. Maybe that was because Zasp knew every bug gathered here today, even the guard ant near the tall doors of the throne room. Or perhaps the feeling of comfort came from nostalgia. About two moons have passed since the Wasp King was defeated, but Queen Elizant II has not given a single task to the Explorers’ Association or personally to Team Mothiva since then. Zasp suspected she continued working with Team Snakemouth; he noticed those three sometimes while he was on tours with Mothiva, but he never got an opportunity to talk to them.

Besides Zasp and Mothiva, all the leading teams of the Explorers’ Association were present in the throne room: Team Snakemouth, Team Celia and Team Maki. Maki's team seemed to have a new member, a small moth that looked somewhat familiar, but Zasp couldn't quite remember where he's seen her.

Apparently, Gen and Eri weren't invited. Maybe it's for the best.

Professor Neolith was standing against the wall between the stained glass windows. Team Snakemouth was huddled next to him. Kabbu was quietly talking to the professor; both of them looked relaxed, probably just discussing some routine stuff. Leif stood nearby and listened silently. It was difficult to recognize any emotion on his face, but Zasp saw a barely noticeable spark of interest in his cold gaze. And Vi seemed to participate in their conversation a bit, sometimes saying something that sounded rather irritated.

Zasp turned to Mothiva. She wasn't in a very good mood today. She had to cancel a concert today to come here, and now she was snapping at everyone who tried to talk to her.

Even now, as she was standing next to Zasp, the air around her almost crackled with her unhidden irritation. Zasp was trying not to look at her too often, so she wouldn't snap at him. He had enough of that earlier this morning.

“Teams,” Queen Elizant spoke, her voice ringing off walls. Then she paused, watched the gathered bugs in patient silence until everyone focused their attention on her. Then she continued. “It’s been a while since the Wasp King was defeated. I hope you all had time to get some rest.”

Zasp crossed his arms without realizing it. He would’ve liked to rest. After the Wasp King and the Everlasting Sapling events, Zasp and Mothiva went to Metal Island, but only for three days. Mothiva went there only for her tour; she gave a couple concerts and after that she immediately began planning a tour to the Hive.

Zasp hoped to get some rest and distract himself from missions and obligations during that time. He knew there was some card tournament on Metal Island, but then he learned he wasn’t allowed to play there, so that was disappointing. Other than the tournament, there was very little to occupy himself with: the island wasn't too big and the main part of it was the market, but Zasp couldn't find anything interesting there. On the last day of their stay on the island Zasp discovered a local sailor giving boat rides, but turned out the boat sank just a little earlier due to a water striders attack. That was disappointing as well.

It was a very short and underwhelming vacation. Really, he didn't complain about it that much, but a simple mention of his frustration made Mothiva annoyed with him. She suggested Zasp to stay on the Island, and he considered it briefly, but them pushed the idea away. How could he leave Mothva? Oh, and she knew he wouldn't do that, he wasn't expected to. So for the last couple of moons they've been traveling all over Bugaria again, giving concerts in different cities and kingdoms.

Zasp was tired. He just needs a vacation. Longer than three days. More interesting and distracting, than lying in bed all time.

“Professor Neolith and Team Slacker have conducted research, as a result of which we have drawn up a plan for the near future,” the queen said meanwhile. “The borders of Bugaria have expanded significantly since we established peace and trade with the kingdoms of Termites and Wasps and discovered a village of roaches in the Giant's Lair. Now we have opened new horizons for science, which is why I have gathered you here today.”

Zasp just sighed quietly. They would probably send the teams to explore some dangerous areas like Swamps or Deadlands. Mothiva will be angry and irritated again because she will have to cancel concerts.

Queen Elizant continued her speech, "We need to study the technologies of ancient roaches and explore the dangerous lands around Bugaria, so we can expand our cities safely. Professor Neolith, describe our new project, please.”

The queen stepped back and professor Neolith walked to the center of the throne room. He looked rather excited. Suspiciously excited. Zasp didn’t like it.

"Thank you, Your Majesty.” Neolith nodded to the queen, then turned to the teams. “Together with best strategists of the Ant Kingdom, we analyzed our system of organizing work in the Explorers’ Association and identified several points that should be changed. We have determined that each team has its own weaknesses and strengths.”

Zasp heard Vi snort at the last statement. Professor continued.

"For example, Team Celia has the main advantage of Levi's strength and Celia's shield,” Neolith continued. Levi and Celia exchanged glances and stood up proudly. "However, enemies can easily outwit them. You lack agility and speed.”

"Well, y’know, this shield may be sturdy, but it is quite heavy!" Celia said cheerfully and hit the shield with her fist. A loud buzzing sound echoed through the throne room.

Elizant stepped forward again and stood next to Neolith. "Team Celia has their own balance," she admitted. “But it isn’t absolutely perfect.”

“Therefore, one of the changes that we are going to add to the Explorers’ Association system is the number of participants in one team, which we are going to increase.” Neolith said. “But... so far this is a project in development, it requires additional research.”

“At least Team Maki and Team Snakemouth managed to prove that three members in a team seem to work well.” Elizant added.

“Yep!” Hearing the name of her team, Vi instantly perked up.

Kabbu shushed her, and Vi shushed back. But she fell silent then.

"...Anyway, it's still in development." Neolith continued. “Another project we planned is a system for supporting positive relationship between teams. You see..." Professor Neolith suddenly hesitated, glancing sideways at Zasp and Mothiva. Carefully choosing his words, he continued. “There was an incident in the Termite Kingdom that almost ruined our plan to establish peaceful relations with the termites... but in the end everything it worked out. However, in order to prevent such accidents from happening again, we need to prevent conflicts within the Association.”

Zasp didn't look at anyone in the room. Mothiva was really trying her best to hide her irritation.

If only Zasp had known that back then at the Colosseum, that the future of entire Bugaria depended on Team Snakemouth's performance, he wouldn’t have come on the Colosseum arena. He would’ve talked Mothiva out of it, he would’ve just gone somewhere far away from the Termite Kingdom.

They didn't know that Team Snakemouth was being tested by the rulers of the Termite Kingdom; that Ant Kingdom's success at defeating the Wasp King was at stake.

“How are you going to implement this?” Maki asked.

"We had a lot of ideas," the professor said, “but I think the best way would be to mix the teams.”

The throne room fell silent. Zasp looked up in surprise to make sure that the other teams were as unsure of the idea as he was. Zasp met Vi’s eyes, and she was glaring daggers at him. He shivered.

He didn't think mixing the teams was a good idea. At best it would go badly, at worst someone will get injured.

No one said anything, and the determined smile on Neolith's face faded into an uncertain one. He turned to the queen as if seeking support. She had already stepped forward and was going to say something, but was interrupted by Celia.

“Why, I would love to work with Team Maki!” She said.

“Or Team Snakemouth!" Levi added.

Vi huffed. “And what if you had to work with Mothiva?" she asked.

“Yeah, she’s right.” Leif nodded. “We don't think anything good will come of it.”

“Yeah,” Mothiva drawled mockingly, looking at Vi. “Not everyone would want to deal with some individuals here. What if you you got a weakling in your team?”

Vi clenched her fists and took a step towards her.

“A weakling!?” she exclaimed. “Your team gave up after two hits of my Beemerang in the Colosseum!! You have no right to call anyone here a weakling!!”

“Vi.” Leif put his hand on her shoulder. “Don't shout. You're in the throne room."

Zasp just watched in silence. He had already run out of energy to react to Vi and her provocations, even towards Mothiva, so he just hoped that Mothiva would somehow sort it out on her own.

"What a terrible behavior for an exploration team!" Mothiva said, taking a step towards Vi. Zasp wanted to stop her and say that it’s too much, that she shouldn’t spend her energy on the bee. But he remained silent for now. “I still can't imagine why such a young, immature child like you was allowed to join an exploration team.”

“I can't imagine why you’re still in the Explorers’ Association when your team is so weak!”

“Enough!”

Vi and Mothiva fell silent as soon as the queen raised her voice. Vi retreated closer to Kabbu and Leif. Mothiva stared at the bee for another second, but eventually turned around and walked back to Zasp’s side.

“That bee..." She muttered.

“Does anyone else have any thoughts on the professor’s project?” Elizant asked, giving everyone present a stern look.

Zasp stepped forward.

"I'd like to say something.” He spoke tentatively. “The idea makes sense in theory. But I don't think it will be easy to implement with established teams. Maybe it's better to try it out with new teams?”

"I admit, I share this suggestion." Maki began before Zasp could take a step back. “As you said yourself, Your Majesty, the teams already have their balance. But we don't know the members of the other teams that well and we won't be able to establish a proper balance with them.”

“Exactly!” Neolith said. “But as the latest events show us, we really need to establish that balance among already existing teams. I know it'll take time, but in the end I believe it will be worth it. You will be stronger when you get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses.”

"Oh, I know one of Mothiva’s weaknesses.” Vi began with an evil grin, but now it was Kabbu that put a hand on her shoulder, just like Leif did a few minutes before.

“Don’t start it again,” he said softly. Vi frowned, but obeyed.

"But Your Majesty, you can see it right now, our teams cannot work together." Maki said, pointing towards Team Snakemouth and Team Mothiva. VI and Mothiva seemed to frown even more at his gesture.

"Then you'll have to learn to work together,” the queen said, her voice cold and firm.

Zasp sighed heavily again. Well, apparently they really will have to work with some other team. It's going to be difficult if they’ll have to work with Team Snakemouth.

Neolith turned over some pages in his notebook.

"Well then, we have prepared various missions for this project,” he said. “I have divided them into several stages. The first stage is the most simple one, you will need to go on an exploration mission. We have already chosen future exploration teams based on... ah, relationship between the teams.

Well, that's it. Zasp and Mothiva will definitely have to go exploring with Team Snakemouth.

"The first team would be Celia, Yin and Kabbu, you're going to the Golden Path to explore–” Neolith began, but was interrupted by several voices at once.

“Yin?” Maki exclaimed, stepping forward in front of the moth teammate. Yin... wasn't that the name of the caterpillar Maki was taking care of for a while before the Wasp King was defeated? So she had already turned into a moth.

“How’s that, me? Without Levi?” Celia asked, a little confused.

"Are we... not going with our teammates?" Zasp asked, sounding even more confused. He thought Neolith just wanted to… merge teams? For some reason he didn’t even think that mixing teams actually meant, well, mixing.

And that was bad. That was horrible. He can't leave Mothiva. Even with the other teams. No. Nonononono.

"Uh, yes." Neolith replied, also losing confidence.

"This will allow you to get to know each other better," queen Elizant said. “For next several missions the teams will be mixed again. Objections are not accepted. This is an order.”

No.

“C-can I continue?” Neolith asked cautiously.

“Of course.” Elizant nodded.

“Uh, as I was saying... Celia, Yin and Kabbu are going to the Golden Path. The population of wild chompers has decreased significantly, so now this place is much safer. We need the three of you to clear this place of the remaining wild chompers. I believe this mission should be safe enough. If possible, catch them alive, they are requested by scientists from the Hive. Also you need to explore all the mapped caves of the Path and collect information about all kinds of danger. We are planning to expand the Golden Settlement. Any questions?”

“Gotcha, Neolith!” Celia replied, raising her shield.

“No questions, thank you, Neolith.” Kabbu nodded.

“When do they leave?” Maki asked.

"All missions start tomorrow.” The professor replied.

Kina poked her brother in the shoulder.

"Stop whining, Yin can take care of herself." She grumbled.

Maybe she could take care of herself, but Yin didn't look very adult to Zasp. But also she barely looked any younger than Vi. Yin seemed much more quiet than the bee though.

“The next team is Kina, Vi, and Mothiva." Neolith said.

“No!” Zasp and Mothiva exclaimed at the same time. Only Mothiva’s voice was irritated, and Zasp’s was rather scared.

“Is there any way to get onto the same team as Mothiva?” Zasp asked. He did his best ignoring Vi’s mocking smile.

“Can I join Celia's team? There’s at least no bees.” Mothiva said disgustedly.

“I don’t want to be on the same team with Mothiva.” Vi said. “I wouldn't even mind Zasp, really.”

"The t-teams have already been assigned." Neolith muttered nervously.

Of course, no one argued. Maybe partially because Elizant was starting to look more and more menacing and dangerous. Zasp was just trying to emotionally deal with the fact that he’ll have to leave Mothiva for this mission.

“Kina, Vi, and Mothiva, we would like you to explore the Metal Lake." Neolith continued. “We received a third report that the boat had been sunk by water striders. We need to decrease the number of citizens dying or getting injured on their vacations. If possible, exterminate the water striders and collect their eggs. We need them for one of our projects. For the trip, take the submarine, which is currently in use by Team Snakemouth.”

They have a submarine? Zasp was jealous. Maybe it's a good idea to bond with the other teams. With team Snakemouth at least. Maybe Kabbu would let him ride the submarine if they were friends.

“Any questions?” Meanwhile, Neolith asked.

“No questions!” Vi grabbed her boomerang energetically. “I’m ready to beat the crap out of those stupid water bugs!!”

“Good luck with that. I’m sure I’ll kill them all before you throw your silly toy.” Mothiva really couldn’t stop provoking the bee today, huh.

“Oh, we'll see about that." Vi grinned. She took the provocation for a challenge. Maybe that's for the best.

Kina sighed heavily as she looked at the two of them. "Being on the same team with Yin doesn’t seem as bad anymore."

"Next, Maki and Levi, we want you to explore the southern and eastern parts of the Swamps." Neolith continued. “You don’t have to fight the leafbugs, we just need to find out how many of them there are, and the place where they’re based. Moreover, the southeastern part of the Swamps is the safest at the moment, so the two of you will be enough for this job. But if something goes wrong, retreat immediately, we’ll send a bigger team.”

“Got it.” Maki nodded. “Going on a mission with Levi is an honor for me.”

"Yes, it's going to be a nice adventure!" Levi chuckled. It seems these two were the first team whose members were actually happy to travel together.

“The next team is Leif and Zasp.”

Zasp blinked. He only now realized that it was only him and the moth from Team Snakemouth left. He turned to Leif. He was staring at Zasp intently, and he wasn’t sure whether that was a neutral or threatening stare. In any case, Zasp didn’t really mind Leif’s company. Probably. Well, it's better than going on a mission with Vi, right?

"You're going on an exploration mission as well." Neolith continued. ”We'd like you to collect any information about roaches, their experiments, research and whatever you can find in Snakemouth Lab, such as books and any artifacts.”

Zasp never visited Snakemouth Den. They planned to go there when him and Mothiva joined the Association, but they were putting it off because of different reasons, and eventually Team Snakemouth went in there, returned alive and with the artifact. Zasp didn’t care much about the den, but still, it’ll be interesting to visit this place.

However, Leif looked worried.

“Elizant?” Leif said rather quietly. “Are you sure it's us who should go to the lab? We... have already been there.”

"That's why you should accompany Zasp there." Elizant nodded. “You know the place and its dangers, I trust you two will be able to finish the mission in no time.”

Leif exchanged glances with his teammates. Vi and Kabbu looked worried for some reason, too. Zasp wondered why they were so hesitant about the den. But it wasn't a good time to ask questions right now, or course.

"Either way, there's nothing dangerous left there, right?” The queen asked.

Leif was silent for a few seconds, but eventually nodded: “Yes. Yes, you're right.”

"If something goes wrong, you can return before the mission is completed." Neolith added. "However, I do think it will be fine. Leif knows the place, and Zasp has remarkable experience in battles. You two can handle it.”

“Of course.” Zasp nodded.

“Can we go now?” Mothiva asked with obvious irritation in her voice. “I need to prepare for tomorrow's mission.”

“Yes, the meeting’s over.” Queen Elizant replied.

Mothiva grabbed Zasp’s hand and pulled him out of the throne room. After leaving the castle, she stopped, looking really irritated. Zasp couldn't remember if he saw her in such state before.

“I can't believe it!” Mothiva exclaimed, crossing her arms. “I have to be on the same team with that annoying little bee! How could Neolith put us on the same team!”

“It’ll be okay.” Zasp tried to calm her down. “It's just one mission, right? It probably won’t take longer than a day.”

Vi jumped out of the throne room the moment after he said that, and Mothiva began clenching her fists again. Zasp sighed. These two will kill each other even before the mission starts.

"Hey, Mothiva, I have a cool idea!” Vi said, skipping towards them. “How about I break your legs with my Beemerang, so the queen will have to send you to the hospital, so you won’t have to go on a mission with me?”

Zasp winced at that, and Mothiva hissed with burning anger. It will never end.

“Which one of them do you think will return from the mission alive?”

Zasp jumped, startled. He didn't notice Leif standing next to him.

Why does this moth have to be so creepy?

“Where will we meet tomorrow?” Zasp asked, ignoring Leif’s question.

“Outside of the Association building.” He replied. “We hope you won't accidentally forget which team to join for tomorrow."

Zasp turned to him, trying to figure out if Leif was making fun of him. It was impossible to tell from his voice or facial expression.

"...If something happens to Mothiva because of the bee, she won't get out of it easily." Zasp said after a pause. Leif stared at him with the same unreadable expression.

"And if something happens to Vi because of Mothiva, Kabbu and us won't forgive it either." Leif echoed coldly.

“Alright then. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Zasp called out to Mothiva, before she and Vi injured each other, and headed towards the City Plaza. Mothiva huffed angrily all the way, but Zasp didn't have any strength left to calm her down.

Thoughts were spinning in his head. He will have to leave Mothiva with bugs from other teams, and he couldn’t stop worrying. He had never traveled without her before. He never let her travel without him either. And he’s going to leave her with Vi and Kina, the worst options possible. They both were the most chaotic bugs he’s ever known and both of them weren’t quite fond of Mothiva.

Oh, this won’t go well.

Soon Zasp and Mothiva returned to the inn. The innkeeper greeted them with a tired, bored look.

The inn was quite small, but one of the best in Bugaria in Zasp’s opinion. There weren't many tourists in the Ant Kingdom, so usually there were no other bugs sharing room with them. But Mothiva rarely gave concerts in the Ant Kingdom, so most of the time they had to stay in larger inns and hotels, where they always had neighbors.

Mothiva spent the rest of the day grumbling about the mission. Zasp only hoped that the results of these missions would prove to Neolith and the queen that this project was a bad idea. It’ll end soon, surely.

Frankly, Zasp wasn't really worried about his own mission with Leif. Most likely everything will go well, they just need to rummage around the corners of an old cave. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

***

In the morning, Zasp accompanied Mothiva to the pier. Kina and Vi were already there. Vi was annoying Kina, probably because the bee was bored, and the mantis was clearly losing patience. A submarine was parked near the shore. Oh, Zasp wanted to take a ride on it so much. He wouldn't even mind swapping places with Mothiva and going on a mission with Vi and Kina.

Zasp actually thought about it, but more like swapping places with Vi, so he can go with Mothiva. But he figured it would be risky, it was the queen’s order for him to go with Leif after all.

He made sure that Mothiva had brought a supply of food and a weapon with her just in case, even she grumbled that she would not need it all. She might even be right, but Zasp wanted to make sure she can defend herself if anything happens.

Ignoring Vi’s mocking, Zasp headed back to the Explorers’ Association building.

Leif was already there, standing next to the crystal, almost merging with its cold blue light. When Zasp noticed him, Leif was already looking at him with his emotionless eyes. Quickening his pace, Zasp approached the moth.

“...Hello." Zasp said after a moment's silence.

“Let's get going,” Leif said without greeting him. “Earlier we leave, earlier we’ll be home”

Zasp nodded and followed the moth. Leif obviously wasn't in the mood for talking today, so Zasp didn't even try to. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder, that he took in case they’ll have to collect and carry back any artifacts. On his belt he had a couple of daggers in case of any danger: he made sure tp sharpen them tonight. Zasp was fully prepared for this mission.

Soon they were near the den. For some reason, Leif stopped in front of the entrance, and Zasp stopped as well, right behind him.

He remembered that Leif, for some reason, didn’t really want to go to the Snakemouth Den, and Zasp was a little curious about why exactly he was so hesitant about this place, but he wasn’t going to ask. It was probably something personal, he thought, most likely Zasp wasn't supposed to know about it.

"...Have you ever been here before?" Leif asked suddenly.

"No.”

Leif nodded and stepped inside. Zasp hurried after him. It was rather light in the den. There were many holes in the ceiling, sunlight and fresh air were getting in through them freely. Bushes and grass patches grew on the muddy ground, they didn’t seem any less alive and green than the bushes outside. Even the dangers were not visible yet: Zasp noticed only a few wild bugs hiding in the shadows of the bushes, watching the travelers with hungry eyes.

They crossed a river and went into the next cave. The first thing that caught Zasp's eye was a huge hole in the ground, the bottom of which was lost somewhere in the darkness. Then he noticed tall stone gates in the wall opposite of the hole. They were slightly ajar, but bugs like him and Leif wouldn’t have any issue passing through them.

Zasp stopped at the edge of the dark abyss.

“Should we go in there?" he asked, pointing down.

 "Unfortunately, no." Leif replied evenly, also stopping at the edge.

 "’Unfortunately’"?

 "It's safer down there than in the lab.”

Zasp looked back at the gates. "Should I prepare my daggers?"

“Yeah.”

Leif turned around and walked towards the gate, and Zasp followed after him. Cold air was flowing through out of the darkness of the caverns ahead, and Zasp shivered.

“What exactly should I prepare for?” He asked, clutching the daggers in his hands as they crossed the gates.

It was eerily quiet here. The sounds of the river were barely audible, lines of pale blue light flickered on the walls. Maybe those lines were pipes with some blue liquid flowing through them, Zasp wasn't sure. He could see mold and fungi growing in the corners of the room, covering the rocky cave with pale sprouts and mushrooms. It was so much colder here, and the air was damp.

"You'll see.” Leif smirked for some reason, and it bothered Zasp.

After passing through what looked like a doorway, they entered the next cave. It was huge and overgrown with mushrooms.

Zasp noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and immediately drew his daggers, preparing to repel an attack, but…

It was just an ant. Probably someone from the city wandered in here? The ant was standing on the other side of the platform, very close to the edge, staring into the water. Was this ant admiring their reflection or something?

“Uh…” Zasp hummed in confusion. “Excuse me, are you…”

“Shhh!” Leif hissed, elbowing him in the side. “We better go.”

“What?” Zasp looked down at him indignantly. “It's dangerous for a citizen to be here, we should lead them outside.”

Leif raised his eyebrows in surprise and seemed about to say something, but then the ant turned around sharply, and Zasp froze, staring at them. A strange pale appendage poked out from the ant's forehead. The ant was hunched over, their arms hung limply down, and their legs seemed to barely hold the body. There were more similar small pale sprouts all over their body, that Zasp didn’t notice at first.

“What’s–” Zasp began, but Leif stepped forward. Cold air – much colder than the air in the cave – was surrounding the moth, and tiny flakes of snow were swirling around his hands. His eyes seemed to shine slightly with an icy light.

"We were asked to avoid fighting," said Leif.

"Is this... an enemy?" Zasp was completely confused, but Leif did not answer.

Despite the fact that the ant seemed to barely stand on their feet, they quickly got closer and were going to attack, but for some reason Zasp couldn’t move. Before the strange ant could attack, Leif tried to freeze it. The ant swiftly jumped back, dodging a wave of icy air. Then Leif, staring intently at the enemy, clenched his fists, and a big icicle appeared from the ground, piercing right through the ant’s chest. Their limbs finally went limp and hung lifeless.

 Leif sighed with relief and turned to Zasp.

“You could have helped.”

Zasp collected himself. He straightened up and gripped the daggers tighter.

“That was an enemy?” Zasp asked again and crossed his arms. “You could have warned me.”

“We expected your reaction to the local zombies to be entertaining, but we didn't think you'd take them for a citizen."

Zasp blinked.

“...Zombies?”

Leif nodded and stepped closer to the dead ant, still hanging from the slowly melting ice spike.

“Cordyceps is a fungus that can bring the dead back to life or sometimes possess living bugs.” He said. "There are a lot of other bugs in this lab, but they're all dead. These are not the inhabitants of the kingdom anymore.”

Zasp shivered, unconsciously taking a step back.

“You... really should have warned me.” Zasp muttered.

Leif smirked coldly. “Scared?”

“Not scared.” Zasp grimaced. “it's just… wrong to kill ants.”

“Was it wrong to kill wasps too?”

"...Let’s keep going.” Zasp turned his back to him and walked forward, deeper into the cave.

He would’ve left if he could. If he was alone, without Leif. He would’ve told the queen that he couldn’t defeat the enemies, or that there was nothing of value here. Zasp wasn't scared, he was terrified. He was attacked by a living dead bug. That’s why it felt wrong.

This place suddenly became so much creepier.

"We can understand you." Leif said, catching up with him. “But we don't need to engage in battle with them, we'll just take whatever notebooks and artifacts we can find, and then go home. Don’t worry too much about the cordyceps.”

Zasp muttered something in agreement, but didn’t put the daggers away.

They thoroughly searched every corner of this room. Leif found some notes written on old wrinkled leaves, while Zasp was trying to avoid the zombies. He was really surprised by Leif's calmness. The moth didn't even seem to mind the zombies at all, either avoiding them, or, when he was cornered, quickly throwing them into the water or piercing them with icicles. Maybe the magic was giving him so much confidence? Zasp only had his daggers.

Zasp wondered how Mothiva was doing. Her mission was definitely not this scary. Although, Zasp thought, if Mothiva was here right now, she wouldn't be afraid of the dead. She would probably say something like "they're already dead enough, why are you scared?" She would have accused Zasp of cowardice and called him a softie. Because it's Mothiva.

“What do you think would happen if Mothiva and Vi got along?”  Leif asked, as if reading his mind.

They had finished exploring this room and were now heading towards the opening leading to the next one.

“That... would be good, I think," Zasp said thoughtfully.

“You think?” Leif smiled faintly. “We think it would be horrible. The two of them would destroy Bugaria.”

Zasp let out a short laugh.

"You're right.” He agreed. “I'm so used to their constant quarrels.”

"So are we."

"They'll never get along." Zasp said. “Mothiva doesn’t have many friends. I guess it’s difficult to make friends when you’re as popular as she is.”

“She has you.”

"We've been through a lot together." Zasp shrugged. “We have been friends before she even learned to sing.”

"Dating a childhood friend." Leif nodded. 

Zasp turned his head to him in surprise. “Dating? No, we’re not dating. Absolutely not. We're friends.”

“Hmm." Leif muttered a little puzzled. "But it really looks like you do. Why are you always trying to stay by her side then? You were obviously very opposed to the fact that Mothiva was going on a mission without you.”

“We are friends, but I still care for her." Zasp replied, a little more coldly than he intended. "She might get hurt. You probably know she's not really made for battle.”

Leif smirked. “Yeah, we can tell, Vi beat her easily back at the Colosseum.”

Zasp looked at him, a little annoyed. The Colosseum incident is being brought up too often lately.

The next room had even more water than the previous one. The cave was flooded. On a small island ahead Zasp could already see a table with some documents and notebooks on it. Next to it, inside a huge broken capsule, a crystal shone with a cold light. They only need to cross the water somehow.

"We can get us across the water." Leif said, and chill air surrounded him again.

“Are you going to freeze the river?” asked the wasp. “I have wings.”

Leif looked at him curiously.

“You can lift us?" He asked.

Zasp nodded and, wrapping his arms around Leif's waist, suddenly jumped into the air, buzzing with his wings, and almost immediately landed onto the platform with the crystal. He always did that with Mothiva. Leif was much lighter than Mothiva though. Zasp put the moth on the ground.

He glanced back at him. “Not bad. Vi can't do that.” Leif walked over to the table, looking at the text on the old sheet. He took them and put them in his bag.

Meanwhile, Zasp looked around. A lot of water, but also he could see more entrances in the walls. This lab was really massive. And flooded. He will have to carry Leif across the gaps some more today.

This thought made him think that when he grabbed Leif, he felt bandages on his stomach. Has he still not healed that strange wound? Back then, in the desert, Zasp saved Leif purely by accident. He had heard from travelers passing through the sands about a huge scorpion hiding somewhere in the southern part of the Lost Sands. As soon as he realized that Team Snakemouth was heading towards that part, he flew there just in case, just to make sure they’re okay. As it turned out, he was almost too late.

Kabbu and Vi were very worried about Leif, and Zasp was just glad that he was on time. He had almost forgotten about the strange things that had appeared from his open wound. He didn't ask questions back then, it was none of his business.

Now that it was just the two of them, he kinda wanted to know. But he really doubted Leif would want to talk about it.

Meanwhile Leif had collected all the documents on the table and now looked around the cave. “We can go there first.” He pointed towards the entrance in the southern part of the cave. This passage was the only one connected to the island they were currently on. “But there's a bee there.”

Zasp looked more closely in that direction, and yes, a short figure was wandering near the edge of the platform. He didn't notice it in the dark at first.

Zasp shuddered. Unfortunately, Leif noticed it.

"It's okay, if you stay close, we can make a shield and it won't touch us." He said, putting his hand on Zasp's shoulder.

"I'm fine.” He looked away, shrugging the moth's hand off his shoulder. His fingers are cold. “Make the shield.”

Leif nodded and, spreading his arms to the sides, froze. A second later, ice walls began to form around them. They looked rather thin for something that would be called a shield, but the wasp wasn’t going to complain. Zasp stepped a bit closer to Leif, just in case.

"But we can't run with this shield.” The moth warned. “We have to focus so it doesn't break. We’ll go slowly.”

Zasp nodded. He tried not to look at the bee as they passed by it. Leif removed the shield as soon as they were far enough away from the bee.

"Maybe it's not even that bad that cordyceps brought them to life.” Leif said suddenly, looking away.

“Not bad? Zasp repeated in confusion.

“The scientists at this lab have been looking for ways to live forever." Leif explained. "We guess you can say they've succeeded. Those guys can keep the remnants of their minds and memories to some degree. The only question is whether cordyceps will allow you to keep these memories.”

Zasp looked at him, puzzled.

“What do you mean?” The wasp asked. “Can it depend on something?”

 "In this laboratory, yes.” Leif nodded. "They must have been trying to create an intelligent form of cordyceps. Perhaps they even succeeded at this as well: the local zombies can talk to each other in their own language, it’s a bit like the ancient language of roaches. But we don't think it's the... bugs that are talking. Cordyceps are talking. They are failed experiments, aggressive forms of cordyceps. Most likely, they are guarding their territory, so they attack strangers... living bugs.

Zasp nodded. He didn't answer, digesting the information.

“Okay, let's move on.”

“No, wait." Zasp stopped him. Leif turned to him and slightly tilted his head to the side. “How do you know all this?”

“We've already been here. We read these notes and documents. And the rest is our theories.”

Zasp nodded, still a bit puzzled. He looked around, realizing he got distracted with the conversation. The cave was really tall, its ceiling was high above, disappearing into the darkness, and a system of floating platforms led up somewhere.

Leif sighed. "Roaches were great scientists, but we don't understand why they needed to make these complex systems with platforms and switches. There was a small ruined office upstairs. When we were there with Vi and Kabbu, we only found a hologram there. But we suspect that there must be notebooks there.”

"I can get us up there.” Zasp said.

Leif perked up his antennae. He probably was glad to skip all the jumping on platforms part.

Zasp picked up Leif and immediately flew to a small ledge under the ceiling. He was about to land there when he saw another zombie beetle. For some reason, he couldn't. He couldn't just land in front of it and fight. So the only idea he had at the moment was to cling to the wall a little below the ledge, holding Leif with one hand across his waist and clinging onto the rocky wall with the other hand and legs. He was flapping his wings as hard as he could to make sure he wasn’t going to fall from here if his fingers slipped from the rock.

Leif gripped his shoulders.

“What–" he began, but Zasp hissed at him.

“A beetle. Up there.”

Leif nodded. He looked kind of nervous, which was fair, Zasp also didn’t want to hang above the abyss that much. "Then don't buzz like that.” The moth said. “It'll hear you. We can make a shield if we land.”

“Are you sure you'll make it in time?” Zasp asked, looking up doubtfully and calculating how many seconds it would take him to land safely.

“We have to make it." Leif replied. “We don’t like hanging out here.”

"I wouldn’t let you fall."

Before Leif could reply, he took off and landed on the platform. Quite fast and agile even for him.

The beetle immediately noticed them. It bent down, pointing its horn at the intruders, the cordyceps sprouts on its back were squirming violently. Leif began to form a shield, and Zasp stood behind him, watching the beetle intently. His hands he had unconsciously placed on Leif's shoulders, were shaking.

The zombie charged towards them, and Zasp realized that Leif would not have time to make a shield.

Drawing his daggers, he rushed towards the zombie beetle. It stopped and prepared for Zasp's attack, exposing its horn, but Zasp jumped behind it and stabbed the beetle in the back of its neck with both daggers. The beetle froze for a second. Zasp pulled out his daggers – his hands were still shaking – and took a step back. Through the tears in its chitin, he could see the same tangled sprouts of cordyceps.

He expected the beetle to fall, but it didn’t move. Zasp also stood there, behind it, confused, not sure what exactly he should do now. Is this thing dead? He stabbed it in the neck, it should be fatal, shouldn't it? Or how do zombies work? Zasp wasn’t sure. Leif, still standing at the edge of the ledge, also froze tensely. He stopped trying to form a shield, now he just stood there, and the moisture in the air was turning into snowflakes around his hands.

The beetle suddenly turned to Zasp and he almost yelped, but managed to hold it back. Some kind of hungry, creepy light flashed in the zombie's eyes. Zasp stepped back, but there wasn’t too much space between him and the wall. He tightened his grip on his daggers.

The zombie was about to make a dash in his direction, but then Zasp felt a cold breeze. Leif sent a wave of cold air at the beetle, and small icy crystals of frost covered the zombie's chitin. Leif managed to freeze him.

“Strike now!” The moth commanded.

Zasp lunged forward, slashing both daggers at the zombie's chest. The beetle fell, the fire in its eyes slowly disappeared, and Zasp exhaled with relief.

He pulled out his daggers and straightened up, looking at the fallen beetle with horror. Those pale sprouts were emerging from the wounds again: more and more…

“Come on.” Leif said abruptly. "There's nothing here, let's go."

Zasp couldn't take his eyes off the corpse. These fungus sprouts...

“Zasp. Let's go.”

...reminded of…

“Zasp.”

...oh.

“Zas–”

“Leif." Zasp interrupted, not looking at the moth. “Can I ask you a question?”

Leif was silent, and Zasp, still not looking at him, moved away from the corpse.

“No." Leif finally replied.

Zasp nodded. He understood.

He understood.

Looking around the office, Zasp really didn’t notice anything that could contain information or be an ancient artifact. A broken closet, a screen on the wall, shards on the floor, but no notes or books. He walked over to Leif and before the moth could take a step back from him, Zasp lifted him in the air and flew down, letting go of Leif when they landed.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”  Zasp muttered.

“Yes.” Leif nodded cautiously.

But Leif just stood there. So Zasp went ahead, thinking about everything that had happened.

Leif doesn't want to answer questions, Leif didn't want Zasp to see cordyceps, Leif knows a lot about this place. If Zasp remembered correctly, Vi and Kabbu found Leif here, in Snakemouth Den. The answer to his question was pretty much obvious.

Leif was walking behind him. Zasp didn’t look at him, but he could hear his steps close behind. He wanted to look at him, to confirm or contradict his thoughts.

Was this moth also a dead bug, like these bees, ants and beetles that were walking around the caves aimlessly?..

For some reason, Zasp didn’t feel like he was afraid of Leif, even though he knew that this moth was stronger than all these walking corpses possessed by cordyceps. He knew that Leif would easily defeat Zasp if he wanted. And, well, he did that already a couple of times before with his team.

So Zasp wasn’t afraid. He just felt a little... offended?

He blinked, realizing this. They weren't even friends, so he doesn’t even have the right to be offended. And Leif has every right to keep his secret.

They came out of the cave and before he realized what his surroundings were, Leif darted towards him, standing close, forming a shield. The bee threw needles in their direction, but they bounced off the ice.

“Come on,” Leif said softly, and Zasp walked slowly forward, following the moth, looking at the zombie bee that was still blindly trying to harm them.

Moving to the central platform, Zasp stopped near the crystal. Sighing heavily, he sat down, leaning his back against the cold surface of the rare stone. Zasp looked up at Leif, who just froze standing next to him. Finally, he didn't look so emotionless, now he just looked guilty.

“Do you want an omelet?” Zasp asked.

Leif nodded and sat down next to him, also leaning against the crystal. Zasp took an omelet out of his bag and broke it in two halves, handing one to Leif.

“What did you want to ask?” Leif sighed.

Zasp shrugged.

"I don't know,” he replied. “Maybe something like ‘what are you’ or ‘are you one of the zombies by any chance’. I know the answer.”

Leif nodded.

"We didn't want you to be afraid of us, so we wanted to avoid this subject as much as we could,” he said. Zasp didn’t say anything, chewing into his omelet.

The moth sat quietly for some time, then also took a bite of his omelet.

“This mission was going quite well and fun,” he continued after a long pause. “We enjoyed it. We kinda started getting along, we even thought that Neolith’s idea was not so bad. But we didn’t want to scare you.”

Zasp turned his head, meeting Leif’s eyes. “I'm not afraid of you. I just... didn't think about it.”

He looked at the omelet in his hands. He wasn't particularly hungry, especially after all the events.

"So did you die too?" he asked, maybe a bit too straight forward.

“Leif died.” Leif nodded. He paused, took another bite of the omelet, and then continued. "He was caught by a spider during a research mission a long time ago, during the reign of queen Elizant I. A cordyceps sprout - me - accidentally saved him. It was also a failed experiment, but it didn't become aggressive when it brought Leif back to life. We don’t really know why.”

Zasp nodded, processing Leif's words.

“I forgot what I was for a while.” Leif continued. “I even forgot that I'm not actually Leif. I only remembered about it... when Vi, Kabbu and us explored these places.”

Zasp nodded again, but did not answer, even though Leif sounded like he finished his speech. Zasp needed to think.

“But we're fine.” Leif added. “None of us mind it. Leif wouldn't regret coming back to life, even when our... when his family had long since passed away. Now we have Kabbu and Vi.”  Leif smiled softly.

Another pause.

"It all sounds... complicated.” Zasp said. He could hardly fit it all in his head. “How many people know about… this?”

“Vi, Kabbu.” Leif replied. “And now you.”

"You don't look dead at all, by the way." Zasp said. He felt the warmth of the moth’s body when he carried him over the gaps and rivers.

"Thanks, we make sure to remove rotting parts,” Leif said with a serious face. Zasp’s eyes widened, and the moth chuckled. “We’re just kidding, we aren’t rotting. We think maybe it’s because we're not dead anymore. Alive again. We’re just not exactly like everyone else.”

“Yeah, probably,” Zasp nodded. He finished his omelet and stood up. "Well... should we go back to the surface or continue exploring?"

He held out his hand, offering to help Leif up. Zasp didn't know exactly why he did it, although he suspected he wanted to feel the warmth of the moth’s hand again, to make sure that Leif was really alive.

…And not rotting and stuff.

The moth grabbed Zasp’s hand and stood up. His hand was warm.

"We should finish collecting materials for Neolith," he said.

Zasp nodded.

“Where do we go now?” he asked. Zasp counted about five entrances in the walls of this cave they hadn't visited yet.

"In that room over there, we remember some notes on the table." Leif said, pointing toward the entrance in the corner of the south wall.

Without warning, Zasp picked up Leif and carried him to a platform next to that entrance.

"We want to admit, your way of traveling saves a lot of time." Leif said when Zasp landed. “When we were here with our team, we had to freeze water all day.”

They entered the next room. It was also huge, a river flowed through it in a rapid stream, and on the other side there was a cell closed with a grating. Leif went to the table and took all the pages, notebooks and items into his bag.

“What's on the other side?” Zasp asked.

"There’s another beetle behind the bars, and some records as well, but they don't contain anything useful." Leif replied. "Just some bizarre letters and a lot of broken furniture. We think roaches experimented with cordyceps on living bugs. This is unnatural for both bugs and cordyceps.”

Zasp shivered. The scientists in this lab were crazy.

They spent a couple of hours exploring the rest of the caves. They collected everything they could find, and they did it surprisingly quickly. Zasp and Leif sat down next to the crystal again, looking through everything they had collected.

"There are even more records here than we found on our last trip here," Leif said, flipping through some notebook pages. “However, they only confirm our theories.”

"We can go back now, I think." Zasp said.

"Yeah.” Leif agreed. “It was a good mission. We are glad to be on the same team with you, Zasp.”

Zasp slightly smiled. "We should do this again sometime."

***

When Leif and Zasp took everything they collected to professor Neolith, he was delighted with the results of their mission. He thanked them and said that they’re free for the rest of the day. So Leif and Zasp returned to the Explorers’ Association building, waiting for Vi and Mothiva. Leif stopped by Fry's on his way to the outskirts and cooked a bunch of omelets. Zasp only raised his eyebrows when he saw him with an armful of omelets wrapped in a large leaf.

“You want some?” Leif handed Zasp one of the omelets. Zasp wasn't hungry, but he took it anyway.

“Thanks.”

They sat on the bottom step of the Association building, chewing on omelets in silence. Zasp thought that if Elizant wanted to make the Explorers’ Association better, she should have considered installing some benches around the building. That would be much more convenient and probably bond different teams as well: they'd at least have a place to relax and talk about missions, enemies, places, share some experience.

“So, who do you think will survive this mission, Vi or Mothiva?” Leif asked.

“Definitely Vi.” Zasp laughed shortly.

Leif nodded. “We agree.” He took a bite of the omelet. “Or Kina would drown them both. Oh, look.”

Zasp turned his head in the direction Leif was pointing: Vi and Kina were walking from the pier. Mothiva was nowhere to be seen. His heart skipped a beat.

"We were joking about who was going to survive, of course, but..." muttered Leif.

Zasp jumped up and rushed to Vi and Kina. They immediately noticed him, Vi waved her hand with an excited look on her face. They both seemed to be in a good mood.

“Where's Mothiva!?” Zasp exclaimed anxiously. His hands were starting to shake again.

Vi and Kina exchanged amused looks.

“We made a unanimous decision and drowned Mothiva!” Vi said, smiling widely.

Zasp stared at her blankly. Before he could gather his thoughts, he felt cold fingers on his forearm, and then a warm palm.

"Don't scare him like that, Vi." Leif said sternly. The bee giggled.

"She's fine, we dropped her off on Metal Island." Kina said. “Mothiva was getting on our nerves, and she asked to leave on the island.”

“Yeah, how could we say no to that?” Vi shrugged.

Zasp sighed in relief. He cast a grateful look at Leif, and the moth nodded in acknowledgement.

“Vi." Zasp said, looking strictly at her, barely able to contain his irritation.

...But he couldn't find any more words.

“Yeah, Zasp?” Vi smiled at him with an evil look.

"Anyways, Mothiva took some of the water strider eggs with her." Kina said with annoyance. "She said she'll scramble them."

“Okay, I'll go find her,” sighed Zasp. “I hope the eggs are at least tasty. Thanks for the omelet, Leif.”

Zasp went to the inn. Most likely, Mothiva has already returned. And he was right, at least that's what the innkeeper said. The ant also said that she had seen her leaving the inn not that long ago, and Zasp decided to check Fry's kitchen. And Mothiva was there, sitting at a table, looking bored. Zasp came over and sat on a chair on the opposite side of the table. 

“Oh, Zasp,” Mothiva said, brightening up a little. “You're finally back. How was the mission?”

"It was surprisingly nice to work with Leif." Zasp shrugged. “I met Vi, she said you got off on Metal Island.”

Motif crossed her arms with annoyance.

“These two are just the worst!” she said. “Vi is the worst, I can't stand her. I left whenever I had a chance. Also I took some eggs we had to collect from the water on this mission. That was not the nicest experience, and actually it was really boring.”

"Are you hurt?" Zasp asked, just in case.

“What? Zasp, of course not. You think some pathetic water bugs could hurt me? They had soft bodies, so that wasn’t an issue to get rid of them. They are persistent though. Anyways, it was the easiest mission in my life. Queen Elizant could have sent me alone to do it.”

Fry came up to their table. The bulky fly was holding two trays with so many plates that they were almost falling off. Zasp watched in horror as Fry put the trays on their table. How many eggs did Mothiva take with her? They won’t be able to finish so many eggs in a week.

“Ha-ha!” Exclaimed the fly, proudly looking down at his work. “Thank you for the fresh ingredients, young lady! Your dinner’s ready! Ahahahahaha!”

“Ohohoho, thanks!” Mothiva cooed.

When Fry left, she picked up a bit of the scrambled eggs from a plate using a fork. She lifted it up at the same level of her eyes and squinted suspiciously.

"I've never tried scrambled water strider eggs," she said doubtfully. And then she looked up at Zasp. “Don't you want to try it first, Zasp?”

He shook his head.

"I've already eaten some omelets today,” he said.

Mothiva huffed with annoyance.

"You could’ve waited for me before you had lunch,” she said. “Tomorrow there will be another meeting at the castle and, apparently, the next mission. You just have no idea, Zasp, how much I hate this! It’s impossible to work with some bugs from other teams! It’s horrible!” She put the piece of scrambled eggs in her mouth and chewed it. “Hmmm, it's delicious, by the way. I don't even want to know who I have to go on the next mission with! I hope I’ll never have to go with Vi or Kina again. They’re the worst explorers of this Association!”

“Mothiva, are we really going to eat all this?” Zasp asked cautiously. That was what worried him the most at the moment. “There’s a lot here.”

"Are you suggesting I throw them away?"  She frowned.

“No, but... they'll go bad by tomorrow.”

"Then eat them today.” Mothiva huffed.

“Okay,” sighed Zasp. “By the way... how about a little rest after all these missions? Two weeks of vacation?”

“No way, Zasp!” Mothiva looked indignant, starting the second plate. “I'm already missing so many concerts because of these stupid missions. My fans will forget me!”

“You are not so easy to forget!”

Zasp jumped when he heard Vi’s loud voice. She ran up to their table, followed by Leif and Kina. Vi noticed the plates with scrambled eggs and looked at them with interest.

“Woah, are these the water strider eggs?” she asked, looking at Mothiva. “Are they tasty? Can I try some?”

“This is just unbearable!” Mothiva slammed her hands on the table and got up from her chair. “I don't want to see any more bees today! Zasp!” She hissed at him. “Don't let them eat it! Take it to the inn!”

Stomping angrily, Mothiva went off in an unknown direction. Zasp sighed heavily. Mothiva was on the edge today. He had no doubt that Vi was the reason.

The bee sat down on Mothiva’s chair.

“Can I try it, Zasp?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slyly.

“Sure,” he shrugged. He looked up at Kina and Leif, both of them had stopped next to the table. “You can eat some too. Mothiva said they turned out tasty.”

“Thanks!” Vi said, immediately grabbing one of the plates.

“Huh, she took quite a lot of eggs, it seems." Kina muttered.

Leif sat down next to Zasp and took a plate. Zasp only raised his eyebrows slightly: this moth just ate several omelets, and now he's going to eat the eggs too?

"I don't think Mothiva will be excited to know that you shared your food with us." Leif admitted.

"The two of us can't eat this much alone anyway," Zasp shrugged. "They'll just go bad by tomorrow."

“Fair enough,” Leif nodded, stuffing a big piece of scrambled eggs in his mouth. “Can we have one more plate?”

Zasp let out a short laugh.

“Go ahead,” he replied. “How do you even fit so much food in you?…”

Leif leaned a bit closer and quietly said: "You always feel hungry after you die.”

“Are you going to joke about it now?”

"You see, neither VI nor Kabbu appreciate my jokes,” the moth shrugged.

“Since when did Leif and Zasp become so friendly to each other?” Vi said loudly, pointing at them.

Zasp avoided looking at the bee, insteead focusing on his plate. He thought that it's really unusual for him to be so… chatty. No wonder Vi noticed it. He should probably stop acting like this.

"How can you not get along with someone who offers free food?" Leif shrugged.

VI nodded in agreement. "If Mothiva were to buy me a dinner or sonething, I wouldn't have bullied her for five whole minutes.”

Leif smiled and looked to the side, his antennae tilting forward. "Oh, there's Maki," he said, watching Maki and Levi passing by. They probably didn’t notice the explorers, gathered at Fry’s.

“Maki!” standing up on her chair, Vi called out to him. The mantis stopped and turned his head in their direction. He told something to Levi and both of them headed to Fry’s.

Kina stood up from her chair and crossed her arms, staring at her brother.

“Maki!! What took you so long again!?”

“Hello, Kina.” Maki said calmly. “The mission took a while.”

"Huh, and I thought we were done pretty quickly!” Levi said, scratching his head in confusion.

They didn't look very good right now: Maki's armor was all stained with dirt, and Levi's cape was torn and wrinkled, leaves and thorns clung to it. But the beetle looked quite cheered up.

“Would you like a dish made of water strider eggs?” Zasp asked. After thinking about it, he came to the conclusion that it’s better to share the food, so he won’t have to carry too many plates back to the inn. Mothiva probably won’t be very happy about it if she finds out… but for some reason this wasn’t bothering Zasp too much at the moment.

“Oh!” Levi took a plate. “Thank you!”

But Maki looked at the wasp in surprise.

“Water strider eggs?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Vi nodded energetically. “We wanted to drown Mothiva, but then we just left her on Metal island. But she took some of the eggs we collected on this mission and cooked them!”

"Scandalous." Maki nodded, calm as always, and also took a plate. He looked closer, examining the dish. “How interesting, I've never tried anything like this.”

"It's surprisingly not bad.” Kina grumbled.

Almost a half of the whole Explorers' Association had gathered here, Zasp thought. And for some reason, Zasp liked it. No, he wasn’t the socializing type. Normally, he would’ve tried to stay away from the crowd, even if there were bugs he knew. Today it was different for some reason. He didn’t feel uncomfortable to be here, he also had no desire to leave as soon as possible. Next to him, Leif was already eating his third plate, probably thinking that Zasp didn't noticed.

Anyway, Zasp was a little worried about all these new feelings. Not too much at the moment though.

“Has Yin returned yet?” Maki asked meanwhile.

“No,” Leif replied.

“Hmm,” Maki muttered and didn’t continue talking.

"Nothing's going to happen to her," Kina rolled her eyes.

"She's a child, Kina,” Maki said sternly.

"Don't worry, buddy,” Levi put his hand on the mantis’ shoulder. "She’s with Kabbu and Celia, they are the two most reliable bugs I know!"

“Yep!” Vi nodded. “Kabbu won't let anyone get in trouble. Even if someone wants to get in trouble.”

Leif hummed and leaned closer to Zasp again. "Kabbu doesn’t let her use poison medals because it’s unhealthy. Though those are probably very effective.”

Zasp thought that he wouldn’t like to let Mothiva use those medals as well. Not like she’d listen to him.

Kabbu, Celia, and Yin returned about twenty minutes later. By the time they arrived, there weren't many plates of scrambled eggs left, but enough for the three of them. And Zasp knew that Leif had secretly eaten at least one more plate at this point.

Kabbu was very grateful to Zasp. The three of them returned to the Ant Kingdom "hungry like wild chompers", according to Celia. Maki finally calmed down: Yin was back and unharmed. Soon, team Maki left. After them Celia and Levi went seemingly to the underground tavern. Vi also eventually got bored and decided to go home. And now only Leif and Kabbu were at Fry’s with Zasp.

The green beetle told Zasp how to get to the spy card tournament on the Metal Island. Turns out, Leif had already won this tournament many times. Zasp was surprised. For some reason he had never thought that someone like Leif would play cards.

“Zasp.” Leif called quietly. “Can we eat the last plate?”

Among the empty plates, there was a last one with scrambled eggs, already cold and probably not as tasty anymore.

"You've already eaten, like, five plates," Zasp said with a short laugh.

“We ate six.” Leif corrected him.

Kabbu chuckled. "He eats all our supplies when we go on missions together."

“So can we have the last one?” Leif asked again, ignoring Kabbu’s comment.

“Of course,” Zasp nodded.

Leif immediately grabbed the plate.

“Why don't you eat, Zasp?” Kabbu asked.

"I ate omelets today," he shrugged.

Leif’s hand, that was about to stick a fork into the eggs, froze. He glanced at Zasp.

"You haven't eaten?"  Leif asked. He sounded surprised.

"Those omelets were enough for me." Zasp smiled slightly.

But Leif put his fork on the plate and pushed it towards Zasp. "It's really tasty, you should try it. We mean, when else are you going to have scrambled water strider eggs next time?" He stood up. “Thanks for dinner and a nice mission, Zasp.”

“I'm really not hungry–”

“No-no, it's only fair if you also try it for yourself!” Kabbu said, getting up from the table. “It's unusual to see you socialize like this, by the way. But we’re all very grateful for the dinner!”

“Oh." Zasp muttered and looked down at his plate. “Thanks.”

Kabbu and Leif said goodbye and went home. Zasp was left alone with a plate of cold eggs, thinking about his “socializing”. The eggs were still tasty though.

Mothiva had completely forgotten about the eggs she technically stole and then cooked. Zasp returned to the inn quite late, Mothiva was sitting on her bed and combing her fluff when he went up to their floor. She gave him an annoyed look.

“Thought you weren’t going to return today at all.” She grumbled.

"Sorry, I'm late.” Zasp said. He went to his bed and flopped onto it. He was so tired, he realized that only when he returned to the inn. It was a very long day. Now all he wanted is a long nice sleep, especially considering that there was going to be another mission discussed tomorrow.

Zasp curled up on his bed under a soft blanket, just to hear another complaint from Mothiva.

"Since when do you go to bed so early?" She grumbled again.

Zasp sighed and pulled the blanket over his head. She was right, he never went to bed early. The sun outside the window of their room was just setting, painting the walls with soft golden light.

"Mothiva, it was a very long day." He muttered into the pillow.

"Okay, okay." She said with annoyance in her voice. Zasp couldn’t see her, but he was sure she rolled her eyes. “I'll try not to make any noise then.”

“Thanks.” 

However, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time. He was really tired, but everything that happened today was swirling in his head and didn’t let him rest. He was also thinking about Leif.

Today Zasp learned that this weird magic wielding moth from their rival team was very much long dead, but still living. Zasp still didn't know how to react to this. He wasn't afraid of him though, and for some reason wasn’t too shocked? It didn’t change anything about Leif for Zasp. Probably Zasp just got used to him.

It just doesn’t make too much difference, thought Zasp. Why would it matter what this moth got beneath his chitin? He doesn't stop being the same Leif he saved in the Lost Sands. The same Leif who fought alongside him in the Deadlands. But he isn’t like those zombies from Snakemouth Den.

He has cold fingers and warm palms. His stomach is still bandaged tightly, his chitin feels so thin and fragile to the touch, covered with short fluff. Leif probably either doesn’t comb it, or combs it very rarely, because his fluff is a little tangled, not like Mothiva’s. Zasp probably could run his fingers through his fluff so it straightens a bit, and–

…Uh.

That’s some weird thoughts he’s having there. Zasp rolled on the other side and pulled the blanket over his head. Why is he even thinking about it?