Chapter Text
In the deep Miasma of her Thorne World, the Witch Queen moved in the black Pyramid with caution, but swiftly. The Witch Queen Savathun, who infiltrated into a house of the Darkness’s disciple and her competitor, Rhulk, moved forward disenchanting his trap spells to probe the secret of the Darkness.
“…Does it have to be like this?” Her ghost Immaru asked, worried. “And what if the disciple of the Darkness finds me, the lightbearer?”
“Don’t worry like that, just trust me, my dear,” Savathun said to her ghost, easily breaking another spell. “He can’t find us because the house is too large for him. He just randomly expanded his house after I put him under house arrest. And, even if we get uncovered, I make all excuses, so you only need to hide as usual.”
“But then what if something happens to you-”
“Immaru,” Savathun said with a quiet smile to comfort him, “I will protect you no matter what, so no need to worry.”
“Ehem…” Knowing that there is no other way to convince her, Immaru had no choice but to follow his queen’s decision.
After passing countless rooms and a long black corridor, the two finally arrived at a large room filled with mysterious objects. It was where Rhulk has been gathering his collection. Just like an art gallery, there were all kinds of paintings and decorations on the wall, some mysterious jars and boxes that no one can tell what’s inside on the shelves, and even bone fragments of a giant unknown creature displayed in the middle. It was indeed a treasure house with the secrets of the Witness and the Darkness.
“I assume this is your first time visiting here?” The Hive queen said to her ghost, looking around the room in wonder. “Just don’t touch anything to leave no trace. I will start to search this now, so I ask you to watch outside.”
“Understood.”
While the queen was looking all over the room, Immaru, who was curious for mysterious stuff in the room, did his best not to be distracted and look inside, but…he couldn’t do about his eyes kept drawn to it. There were useless odds and ends scattered around the queen: an opaque jar with unknown subsistence, bone fragments and gems, a cylinder with a soft blue light, and sort of….
Without any valid progress, the queen had a small sigh. Immaru wanted to ask a question or cheer her up, but could not make a voice and just watched her. Wait, it seems like something below slightly moved…?
“…?” As he looked carefully, the cylinder emitting a blue light was shaking a little.
“Um, m-my queen?” Immaru whispered, but Savathun was not aware of his voice and kept searching a drawer. And at this short moment, the blue cylinder was already trembling violently. Detecting an unusual sense of danger, Immaru shouted to his queen right away, “Watch out, my queen!”
“…?!” Savathun finally headed up and turned to Immaru, but a ray of light was already bursting from a trembling blue cylinder. Immaru rushed to her to protect her with his power of light, but instead Savathun pushed him away. Immaru was bumped into the wall and fell on the floor, and a blinding light filled the whole room.
“Ugh…m-my queen? Are you alright?” After a strange light disappeared, Immaru looked for his queen after recovering his sense. However, the queen was nowhere to be seen, but instead her armor in the middle of room. Strange, he was still able to feel her nearby…
Hold on, didn’t the armor just move little bit…?
“…M-my queen?” The armor keeps restlessly moving. Something is coming out from the inside!
With a small hand, a cute face of Hive baby stuck her head out from the armor. Those shining green eyes and a familiar face, it was Savathun the Witch Queen.
“…Someone please tell me this is the real.”
Immaru immediately started to figure out this worst situation: right now, they are in the middle of Rhulk’s living space, the disciple of the Darkness – the one who really hates his queen, it would be a matter of time for him to find out, despite of huge space. The worst fact is that his queen Savathun somehow became a baby – no idea if she will ever come back later – and what’s even worse was that Immaru himself must protect this baby queen from the disciple.
The most urgent matter for now was hiding his queen safely where they can avoid the disciple’s eyes. Immaru first spoke to the baby queen, who still knows nothing and wonders around while sucking her finger, “My queen, it’s me, Immaru! Do you recognize me?”
The Hive baby just stared at a small ghost and spoke his name in joy, “Imma-u!” Then, she suddenly grabbed the ghost and carried him to her mouth.
“W-wait! I’m not edible! That’s a no-no! That’s a no-no!” Immaru was startled and stepped back from a baby’s grip. Even those human guardians just squeeze and pop up a ghost, not swallowing or filleting it alive!
“My queen, this is not the time for this… You must hide yourself to a safe place. Are you able to follow me?” Immaru tried to keep talking to her, but the Hive baby who would not understand his words, started at the ghost in amuse and soon stretched and grabbed him with her cute hand. Before Immaru even tried to talk back in confusion, the baby shook the ghost like a baby rattle in excitement. “M-my queen I meant- Hrrrrrr-” The baby had fun and clapped her hands with a laugh.
“Damn, I’m dying of dizziness…” Immaru, after barely regaining his mind, suddenly got an idea and started to emit a small amount of light. “My queen, do you like me, eh? Wanna catch me again, right? Then come follow me!” With that, the baby queen, covered in long sleeves, took off with her fluttering small wings to catch a ghost, and Immaru started to lure her out to elsewhere.
After bringing the baby queen into a nearby storage room, Immaru finally sighed alone to figure out what just happened: For touching what seriously? How long she has to be like this? Is she staying like this for eternity? How are they supposed to get out of this place without her spell?
“Savathun, I know you snuck into my house again! Get the hell out here, now!” Suddenly a shout was heard from far away. It was Rhulk, the host of this pyramid and the disciple of the Darkness. “Uh…I don’t know why you took your clothes off? Don’t tell me this is s-something I’m thinking…?” Shoot! He must have found the queen’s armor left in a big room. “Ha- clever hiding spell for such height, huh?” His footstep and irritated voice were getting closer. They must stay quiet no matter what at this moment.
“My queen, he’s nearby. We really must stay quiet. Shh-” Immaru whispered to a Hive baby. But the baby got bored in a storage room without a single toy and answered loudly instead, assuming it as a kind of another play. “Woongh!” And then she grabbed Immaru again and shook like a baby rattle. “N-No you shouldn’t- Hrrrrr-!”
While wandering outside, Rhulk heard a strange sound and opened a storage door. “…Is someone brushing their teeth or something? This is no fun, stop right now!” Already reached the end of his patience, Rhulk leant back at the behind of a box in a corner. There was a Hive toddler shaking some kind of green ball with a sound. “What in the darkness is this…?”
“Hurrrgh… You dare to touch my queen…then I…I will… hrrr-” A ghost who just got out from a baby’s hand, got staggered and then fell to the floor.
“What the hell, that flat ball thing can actually talk?” Rhulk picked up and scoped that ghost out, who couldn’t even struggle against him. Immaru wanted to strike a counter-attack to protect his queen, but he couldn’t even keep himself steady nor answer to Rhulk’s question. The baby’s grip was so strong that it felt like he just walked out of a spinning laundry machine.
“Please…you can do anything against me… but not her…” Finally, Immaru barely spoke in Rhulk’s hand. Not only his head felt dizzy, but also his heart – not sure if a ghost has a heart though – was pounding like crazy. He must protect his queen no matter what, but now things are unsure as the disciple of the Darkness found him, who was a ghost and a lightbearer… “…Wait a minute, is this…?”
“Nya-nya!” Rhulk suddenly felt something very small and moist on his leg. Wanting to say something, the baby poked his leg with her finger several times. As Rhulk looked down, the baby stretched out her two hands as if asking to give her a “toy” at his hand. By the way this child…her face and body colour look familiar…
“…Savathun?” Rhulk said after scanning through a child. “Someone please tell me this is a joke.”
“No, it’s true…” The ghost barely said in his hand. “Hey, I was wondering, who the heck are you by the way?” Rhulk asked to the ghost. “Huh, no way, are you…?”
“Ughh… I am Queen Savathun’s ghost and the first ghost of the Hive, Immaru…” Immaru said after regaining himself again.
“Ah, I knew it, the mighty great Immaru, huh? Haven’t seen you for real until now, yet you look still nothing-” But before Rhulk was able to finish his sentence, Immaru thrusted himself, urgently asking.
“That’s not the problem, the queen suddenly turned into a baby! We must find a way to revert her back, please!”
“What? Are you asking ME for help? Why should I?”
“Hell, I don’t know, because you must’ve known it instead!”
“Ha! Now I see it. You two tried to infiltrate my house and pry the secret of Darkness again?” Rhulk argued abruptly. “I know we are both disciples of the Witness, but this still violates my sovereignty!”
“But at least I tried to convince her not to do so!”
While the disciple of Darkness and the ghost were bickering over each other, the baby queen got bored soon and flew to the room next door.
“Hey, w-where are you going!” Rhulk, in confusion, chased the baby queen and the ghost Immaru followed them to protect her. Savathun, who went to the big room full of wonders, started to root objects again in excitement.
“Nooo! that’s an expensive one!” Shocked, Rhulk hurriedly ran and started to gather objects on the floor. “Hey you there, green ball! Go sit her down!” Rhulk shouted to Immaru.
Immaru immediately rushed to Savathun, but she avoided the ghost bursting out laugh, assuming to play tag. “No my queen, you shouldn’t avoid me!” Various different objects rustled down as she flew.
“I meant to sit her down, not to play with her!” Rhulk shouted in frustration.
“I’M TRYING!” Immaru replied, repressing his anger.
“Then you should stand still instead of getting around so that she should do so!”
“…Oh” Finally realizing, Immaru stopped in mid-air, and then the baby Hive turned around and went to him, wondering about sudden silence. With this opportunity, Rhulk reached out and took up the baby in his arm. The baby rather seemed to like it without hesitation.
“Phew…alright, let’s sit down and discuss about this for now, okay?” He said while placing the baby in a seat.
“So, what you are telling me is that…Savathun took out some stuff from this drawer, and one of them suddenly shined and then she became like this?” Unable to understand well, Rhulk asked again after hearing Immaru’s explanation.
“Yes, from that unknown blue cylinder! What kind of trickery did you use?”
“…Wait a minute, this is my rejuvenation spray! Why is this…you even dug up for this?” Rhulk sighed, “and you used a whole around already. Damn, what a waste!”
“…A rejuvenation spray?” Immaru asked, feeling dumbfounded.
“That’s right, this is the secret of this beautiful look! All thanks to this Darkness technology for everlasting youthful-looking for centuries! You lightbearers can’t do this, eh?” Rhulk proudly said as he regained his composure. “Anyway, it seems like she mislaid it on the floor and it worked by itself. Like shaking it little bit. Okay, I actually modified its effect tiny bit to look younger as I could, but…seems like this happens if someone else uses it.”
“Ahem, W-well then…since we just found the cause now, do you know how to turn her back?”
“Well…this effect lasts for about a day at least. Whether we want or not, we should wait until tomorrow and see how it goes… You can’t even go out from here without Savathun’s expert spells, anyway.”
“No way…you’re telling me that we need to stay with you here for all day long?!” Immaru lost his temper. “It’s obvious that you will definitely do something to my queen with this chance!”
“Excuse me, I can’t do that so easily anyway because of the Witness!” Rhulk argued back. “What if he finds about you the lightbearer? You must rather worried about yourself instead, aren’t you?”
“…!” Suddenly Immaru was afraid, “You...are you going to inform him about me?”
"…But if I really do that, it will also inform the fact that Savathun became a baby, too. And then I’ll be the one being scolded.” Rhulk sighed and turned to Savathun. “By the way, does she…recognize me? Hey Sav, do you remember me? It’s me, your most-hated, Rhulk!”
“Rhu-ru” Baby Savathun only mimicked his name while staring at him with her bright eyes. Fortunately, the baby assumed him as another friend instead of hating him. “Rhu-ru!”
“Huh, that’s interesting, she doesn’t hate me. Anyway, guess I don’t have a choice but to spend the whole day like this, damn…can’t believe I must spend my golden weekend babysitting” Rhulk mourned for himself.
“By the way…just realized that we have another problem.” Immaru cautiously said.
“What is it now?”
“How do we feed her and bring other necessities for her?”
“Oh wait, I forgot that…!” What does a baby eat and how do they poop? “Uh…I don’t have any experience of babysitting…”
“Then we can’t do something about it with things in this house for now?”
“What, you think I already have some baby foods or diapers?! I got whole bunch of others instead that are too dangerous for a baby” Rhulk got upset and plunked himself down, but then raised his head again with some idea. “Ha…guess we don’t have a choice, it’s time to use that.”
“What is it?”
“Ahem,” Rhulk cleared his throat. “Ever heard of it? Bouncier than the Cabals, stretches better than the Taken, and even unshapable with the Hive magic - behold, the ‘do whatever ya want’ kit! Such astonishing matter that the user can change its shape, form and use whatever they want. (Usually it’s used for a massacre, but the situation is quite urgent right now, so.) It’s in the Witness’ fleet storage now, and if I order a delivery to my house, then we can get everything we need – baby clothes, foods, you name it. You lightbearers can’t do this either, eh?” Rhulk proudly told with a rubbing smile.
“So? We still have a nice life with other abilities anyway!” Sulky Immaru grumbled.
“Hmm! Yeah, I knew that” Rhulk gave the ghost a pathetic look with a snort. “Anyway, but then I need to go through a remote delivery order. Can you just stay quiet while I do that? It will be a big troublesome if the Witness finds this out.”
“…Not like, telling him instead?” Immaru suspiciously asked.
“Of course, you still don’t trust me… Listen, the Witness doesn’t like both of us fighting each other. So even if the one disadvantage the other, we only get his warning and scold. Do you get it now? It’s no good for me either to tell him about this.”
“Then why don’t you go to that pyramid fleet directly and take it secretly?”
“Wish I could do that, but I can’t. I can’t go out of this house without the Witness’ order.”
“And why is that?”
“Because your great majesty ‘detained’ me not to go out of this house. I bet you already heard of this from her?” Rhulk told with a displeased look toward Immaru before leaving his seat.