(?????)

“Oh... my head... What happened?” Zeko tried to stand but was unable to move, he even tried to move his hands but found that his arms were completely bound to chains. He opened his eyes and found that he was in a large stone room, arms connected to wall mounted chains that were wound tight. He looked and saw that his ankles were locked in place with a chain and a black ball for each limb. “What the hell?” He tugged at the metal but it didn’t give way, he looked around closer at the room and saw that he was on a sole pillar elevated above what he heard was water and the room itself didn’t look like it was properly built but was instead carved by sharp objects. “Where am I? And where the hell are those bugs?!” Zeko exclaimed as his arms charged with lightning but it didn’t go past the cuffs of his chains. “What the hell?” Zeko tried to send another shock through the chains but it stopped at the cuffs again.

“I’m as lost as you brat. I didn’t see how we got here and I don’t know what type of seal is on these chains but your chakra isn’t working on them.” Zeko heard as he looked around the area and saw a wooden door across from him and the pillar he was on move some as chains rattled faintly. The door opened as a taller changeling walked in with chains in its claws

“Well then it seems that I have the liberty of tormenting you child...” It’s voice was feminine with a raspy tone and a hissing like a snake. “Now I’m kind enough to warn you that none of this needs to happen and you can willingly give us the key to your powers so that we may remove them and then you won’t be injured... or you can be stubborn and this can go my way.” Zeko as a response spat at the changeling’s eye, temporarily stopping her. “My way it is then.” She threw the end of the chains at Zeko and they lashed around his neck, almost instantly they began to shock the boy to the point where he screamed in pain.

“This hurts! I’m not as tough as I should be anymore, shit shit shit!” He thought as he moved about wildly, trying to escape the agony of the electrifying chains but it was useless as the pain went on for minutes and what felt like hours.

When it was done the changeling released the chains and walked closer to Zeko before grabbing his head and tilting it up to her. “Are you feeling more cooperative now? Or will this have to resume later?” Zeko breathed heavily as his eyes changed to the shock of his tormenter. “What-“ She didn’t finish her sentence fast enough before she was sent flying out the very door she came in. Zeko resumed his breathing as his eyes turned normal again and he dropped his head to calm down and recover from the shock... literally.

(Meanwhile)

“I know what happened my Queen! His eyes were different than what they were and then something pushed me out of the cell! It was like some magic I’ve never seen exists in him!” The changeling exclaimed as she stood in the center of a large circular room with a jagged throne holding a much taller, more regal changeling who sat with a larval changeling in her lap.

“Well this certainly seems like an issue that I’ll have to personally oversee from this point forward...” Her voice sounded like more than one being lived in one body but they spoke with perfect synchronization. “You are dismissed for now, the next interrogation will be overseen by myself rather than a praetorian.” With a wave of her hand her subordinate turned and walked away into a hallway while the queen was left to pet her child. But she didn’t notice a smaller figure in an adjacent hall listening in on the conversation.

(Holding cell)

“So my Rinnegan still work despite whatever seal these chains have, so it really just limits hand seals. So the question now is when is the best time for me to break out? I’m not strong enough to fight head on right now unless...”

“I wouldn’t bother unless you plan to fight whoever did this to you, I’d say you have one transformation with this body before you won’t be able to fight so I’d use it wisely.” Zeko heard as he contemplated using the sand demon chakra but instead of heckling or judgement he was given a good bit of advice from his inner self.

The door moved slightly and Zeko steeled his mind for whatever would walk through but he was surprised when a child walked in, barely coming up to his chest from what he saw as it cautiously walked closer to him.

“H-Hello?” It squeaked with a quivering tone.

“Well it’s a girl that’s obvious.”

She shook in place as she reached behind herself. “Um here.” She pulled out what looked like a maggot. “It’s called a honey larva, they’re really tasty.” Zeko eyed the squirming creature before levitating it towards him to the surprise of the small child.

“Might as well.” He took a bite that left a yellowish fluid dripping from the remaining half of the larva before he ate the rest. “That’s the best bug I’ve ever eaten! It was sweet and sour but I can tell it was packed with protein!” He thought as he licked his lips free of any sweet ichor that remained on his face.

“How did you make it float? You don’t have a horn?” Zeko broke from his foodgasm as he heard his guest question him.

“That’s not something I can tell you since I don’t know who’s listening... how’d you even get to this room?”

“I-I can go wherever I want since-“

“Of course it’s like that.” Zeko said to himself

“I’m going to be the next Queen. Once our Queen can’t lay eggs anymore I become the next Queen. Queen Gena sounds nice to me... but I don’t think that the hive wants me to lead them.” Gena looked down towards the rushing water around them as the door opened again and revealed a new interrogator and the Queen herself.

“Ah I see you wanted to witness the birth of a new hive yourself Gena?” The Queen asked as Gena looked at Zeko then back to the Queen and nodding. “Well allow me to explain, you see this... creature holds a power that we’ve been unable to measure using Equestrian magic but we have found that his power could be used to revive the ancient one.” She stopped herself once she realized she’d walked directly in front of her captive. “So have you decided to give me what I need?” She leaned closer to him but all he did was vibrate his eyes and shift them to their swirled state.

“You want them so bad then take them bitch!” Gena cowered at Zeko’s yelling whereas the queen and her interrogator recoiled for a moment before she thrust her claws at his face, aiming for his eyes but a barrier stopped her from getting them.

“What?!” She would’ve been sent flying but her interrogator threw himself in the way, his chest cracked and he got sent into the canal below. “You- It seems that you need some discipline.” She pulled a sword with green flames that had etchings in a different language on the blade. She pointed the blade tip at him and one of the marks phased off and hovered to Zeko’s cheek where it burned itself into his flesh.

“AAAAH! DAMN IT!” He screamed and thrashed at the pain before he passed out. Gena hesitated to move closer but her queen chuckled to her surprise.

“He’s harmless now Gena, he’ll be much more cooperative very shortly. Keep an eye on him until he comes to.” She turned and left the room while Gena stared at Zeko’s cheek as the fire on it flickered and moved in his flesh.

“Zeko! Find your father and run!” A figure with red hair called as it fought off three shinobi with shifting sand formations. Zeko ran away as fast as he could away from the conflict. He looked around with one of his eyes having more sight than the other and saw a figure slam another into the dirt ferociously. The figure had dark skin and white hair and wore a blue vest with tan pants and no shirt.

“Zeko!” He called and ran towards the boy in question before picking him up and holding him close. “Where’s your mother?”

“I don’t know... I ran for so long.” Zeko looked at his small hand then the sky and the sun and figured he ran for hours until he’d actually found his father. “She was fighting with her sand and she told me find you. Is she ok?”

Zeko’s dad looked at the direction his son came from and smirked before he spoke. “If she is then good, if not then whoever she was with better have died. Let’s go!” He sprinted with electricity coating his body, nearly turning him into a bolt of lightning as they dashed towards their crimson haired matron. After their short lived explosion of speed they slowed up when they came across a field of sand with multiple figures on the ground and three standing over one of them. The next few minutes were all a blur to Zeko but before he zoned out he noticed that the figure on the ground had crimson hair.

When he came to he was being hugged by his father and he had a red coat of chakra around him that started to fizzle out and dissipate. He began to shake and cry once he realized two things; the first being the blood on his hands and the second being the image of his mother’s corpse that was burned into his mind

Two boys stood behind a young man with auburn spiked hair, in front of them was a small army of fighters with various blades and blunt weapons, all of whom looked like a mix of fighting aged men and women and even some who looked as if they were adept fighters. “Damn, they really want you huh Zeko?” The young man said as he glanced back at the white haired boy.

“Big bro I’ll help you, my art isn’t much yet but I’ll-“ The other child tried to step up but his brother put a hand up to dismiss his actions.

He stepped forward towards the force in front of him right as what seemed to be a samurai chuckled. “Really? All for one of the Desert dwellers? We lost good people to them!” He drew his blade with an expression of personal anger but the auburn haired man only started to laugh as he reached into his pocket.

“Nouka, Zeko... run as fast as you can and get as far away as possible! If you two don’t get away then it’ll have been a stupid plan!” His younger brother tried to object but Zeko quickly grabbed his arm and started to run which made someone from the mass throw a knife but a flick of the Auburn haired man’s wrist made it explode without a trace. “I might be strong, but I can’t beat all of you alone and nobody’s around to support me.”

“So you’re just going to stall for time until we catch those kids? Well Okuyo, I guess you’ll die a hero.” The samurai said as he started to advance but Okuyo pulled a black blob from his pocket and quickly put it into his mouth and swallowed. “Huh?!”

“There’s something I learned from that kid Zeko, and it’s that I look out for my brother...” His skin started to fade in color while dark lines formed in place of it and started to move towards his abdomen which was now visible as his shirt had fallen off. “But that’s not all, I’ll look out for anyone who looks out for my brother. And Zeko did just that, so that means I’d do everything for him that I’d do for Nouka... that even means I’d give my life for him!” The samurai started to understand and raised a hand to rally the people to his back.

“Retreat! Full retreat!” The command was echoed and the army started to run away but Okuyo only smiled and shut his eyes.

“Nouka... I hope that your art gets even better than this, and Zeko... Take care of him for me...” The samurai remained and charged with his blade ready to attack even as his enemy stood there and continued to stand as he was ran through by the weapon.

“No jutsu if you die!” He twisted the blade to further injure Okuyo but he just kept his calm appearance.

“I’ll show you what beauty is... what art is. Art isn’t just creation... art, is destruction...” There was a flash and a pillar of light right where the two stood. And floating there right as it happened was a crow with a Rinnegan in its right eye and the one who saw and heard what happened looked on in horror as he watched a person he idolized and treated like the big brother he’d always wanted perish.

“O-Okuyo?” Zeko’s voice wavered as he said the name but nothing responded as his external vision was caught in the pillar and it went white. “Look!” He pointed over the wing of the clay bird they rode on and saw the pillar grow in size until it reached its limit

“Looks like a whole kilometer got taken out, you think Okuyo will be ok?” Nouka asked as Zeko looked at the sky and saw a large blazing green symbol but as he stared at it he started to see strange and warping visions of-

“ZEKO!”

Young Zeko was on a lake with black spirals on it and he noticed something in the distance from him. “Who are you? Where am I?!” He summoned a shadow clone and started to form a Rasengan in his left hand as the figure started to run towards him. “Rasengan!” The ball of swirling air was thrust at the figure who... caught it immediately and sucked it away. “Huh?” Zeko looked at the figure and saw that it wasn’t much taller than himself

He chuckled after absorbing the attack but Zeko only grit his teeth and jumped back and inhaled. “Oh one of those?” He said as Zeko shot a series of fireballs at him but each one was quickly deflected.

“W-Who are you? How’d you get past my moves?” Zeko stepped back right as the figure chuckled at his question but it wasn’t an evil nor ominous action... it was light hearted and mirthful

“Well it’s not too hard when you’ve used them dozens of times, especially when I know exactly how you like to use them.” He stepped forward and revealed that his hair was short and spiky but the most noticeable quality was it being stark white and his eyes matching the water beneath them. “Oh and it helps to be you.” Young Zeko looked like his brain shut down entirely but some water to his face brought him out of it

“You’re- YOU- You are me. This shouldn’t be possible, you can’t just go back in time and meet me so how are we- We both can’t be here! The natural balance of-“ Adult Zeko grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly

He looked around the water and back to his younger self. “I didn’t travel anywhere, and you didn’t either. I’m here to help the both of us.” The water under them turned a murky red right before a crimson pillar burst from it forcing the two to jump back. “And it looks like that’s our problem.”

The pillar started to collapse and a red hand reached out from the water and revealed a chakra coated humanoid that resembled Zeko in his transformed state but had no sand armor and was a blazing red with hollow black eyes. It growled as it stood up to look at its enemies and released a roar that made the water around it rise and fall violently. “What is that?” Young Zeko asked as the monster burst at them with breakneck speed but it was intercepted by adult Zeko who now had lightning armor around him.

“Don’t know but I’m still gonna kill it.” It tried claw him but he caught its wrist and went for a punch but it’s other claw grasped his hand. Zeko grunted and had a simple idea but he was mimicked as they headbutt each other violently. “Great minds think alike don’t they?” They struggled in place until Zeko grit his teeth and dropped his armor but almost instantly gained a red cloak of chakra

“What the- But I can’t-“

“Not yet you can’t.” Zeko pulled his hand back right as the beast opened its mouth, and he sent it flying with a strike to the side of its head. “But you’ll learn when you’re older. And I know what you’re thinking but enjoy it while you can cause he won’t always be around, he’s not that bad when you get to know him.” The two leapt aside to dodge a beam that nearly tore them apart and saw the beast forming a tailed beast ball in front of its maw but to their surprise it swallowed it and sank partly into the water.

Young Zeko pulled out a ball covered in spikes and paper with seals on them and flung it at the rapidly expanding beast. “Little but packs a punch!” The ball made contact and immediately exploded in the face of the creature but as soon as the smoke cleared the two different aged ninja could see that it was unharmed and was now opening its mouth.

“Move!” They both parted once the purple beam left their enemies’ mouth and nearly hit them both. The beam traveled into the distance and left a trail of smoke and water vapor in its wake while two shinobi looked at the damage left to the air alone and both realized that they had to avoid any more at all costs. Before they could make a move the beast decided to charge at the younger of the two and delivered a bite to his torso and held on tight. “Shit, I’m coming young me!” Zeko’s hand coated in lightning as he burst forward and drove his hand straight into the beast’s eye but it’s massive jaws didn’t let go of its prey even as young Zeko embedded his foot into its other eye.

“He won’t let go! Let. Me. Go!” Each word was lead by a punch to the face but the beast held firm as it grappled with adult Zeko who pulled a leg back and kicked across its face, knocking his younger self from its mouth.

The creature growled and caught them both in its expanding claws and started to crush them but the two were equally quick thinkers and left sand in its grasp that clung to it. “Follow my lead!” Adult Zeko ran up and started an assault on the monster, he kicked it in the face and started delivering ferocious punches to its torso. Immediately he dodged a claw swipe and was joined by his younger self in striking the beast as hard as they could before it swung its tail and nearly snapped the two in half but they ducked under it and kicked it in the back and repeated their assault with even more force even as it looked at them and snarled before it grew even larger, now more than double the two in size then rolled to try and crush them.

“Watch out!” Young Zeko said as he started to move back but his adult self vaulted upwards and stomped their foe back onto the surface of the water. Young Zeko grabbed the beast’s tail and pulled it back allowing Adult Zeko to drop his heel right on its head. The two looked at the unmoving creature, checking for the slightest movement. “I think we got it...”

Adult Zeko raised a hand and looked closer at the downed enemy and saw its cloak of chakra sizzle against what he assumed was skin underneath but his examination was stopped by the massive claw that sent him flying and his younger self was ferociously rammed like a bull. “Should’ve known, but I think this is the finale...” Adult Zeko groaned as he sprung up to catch his younger self.

Young Zeko was dazed from the hit to the point where even his eyes were spiraling... without his visual prowess but rather dizziness. “What makes you say that.”

The two looked at their enemy and saw that the beast was low to the water, ready to pounce. The creature had its eyes locked on the both of them and planned to kill them both with its next rush and they knew that in their minds. “So we’re all using our everything here I think you know what to do.” Young Zeko fully recovered and held his right hand in front of himself and started forming his rasengan but he was surprised when his adult self reached out and helped. “Gonna need something better than that...”

“What’s that supposed to-“ He stopped once the ball of air turned as black as night and spun faster. “Wha- How the?!”

“It’s already a contradiction so don’t think about it, let’s go!” The beast burst forward and the two shinobi sprinted ahead to meet it. The water, which was calm most of the skirmish, was parting with the movement of the two opposing sides. Once they met the shinobi pushed their arms out to the head of the monster.

“Onyx Rasengan!” Adult Zeko flung his younger self back once the attack connected and he, along with the beast were caught in a small explosion. Zeko skid back along the water while the beast was sent flying and splashed into the lake.

“Heh, the risk of that one doesn’t match the reward usually. The two types of chakra needed don’t match and make the jutsu unstable.” He said as he walked to the figure in the water but he stopped once he saw what it was and he looked around and saw that he was alone. “What the hell? That’s impossible...” His younger self was still partly releasing the crimson armor as he floated in the rippled water. Zeko started to realize what this fight meant and once he did his body healed and his own chakra cloak grew brighter.

“So I was right... The reason I had to fight that with younger me was just because I kept limiting myself.” As he spoke the younger version of himself started to fade into orbs along with the red chakra. “My own trauma was keeping me weaker, I never could fully access that chakra because of what happened to my mom but now all bets are off and I guess I’ve got an infestation to take care of...

“You think the Queen would care if I had one bite?” A changeling asked as he looked at Zeko’s unconscious form, his partner a few steps away with an axe in hand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, she’s been happy these last few days with him here, just pour the stuff down his throat and let’s go.” He responded but his hungry partner had a starved look in his eyes as he opened his mouth next to Zeko’s hand. “Bad idea.” He was ignored as his friend bit down on the human’s hand but his eyes changed from hungry to panicked once he felt the burning pain in his mouth.

That pain quickly spread to his neck once a hand caught it and slammed him into the ground, breaking the chains in the process and pinning the changeling into solid stone. “Damn. Never managed to burn someone with it... I feel so refreshed without these chains on me.” Zeko said as he pulled and broke the rest of the chains then tore the clasps on his ankles off as the other changeling started to back away.

“S-Stay back, the Q-Queen still has you in her grip!” Zeko’s cheek burned but nowhere near as bad as it did initially. The changeling swung the axe but only cut Zeko’s wrist cuff, the metal hit the floor at the same time as the changeling was embedded into the wall next to the door.

“I should find Gena before I do anything else, and if I remember anything that I’d heard... she can go anywhere so shit.” Zeko said to himself as he walked up to the changeling and kicked him fully through the wall then walked through the hole.

“What the- He’s free! Alert-“ Before the sentence was finished a neck was broken and two others remained. They raised their swords and ran at Zeko believing that they would be enough to stop him, their hope was shattered once their necks were sliced and they dropped like flies.

Zeko looked at his bloody hand and remembered is childhood, but this time he smiled. “Lesson learned, nothing to cry about when it’s something that deserves it. At this point I’m wondering if I’m moving too fast for them to see.” The shinobi thought as he started down a stone passage that quickly started to become coated with a hard dark yellow and black substance. He felt the walls and noted that it was like the chitin from an insect and started to walk faster, every few moments a random changeling would come from a hole in the wall as he walked by it but they were short work for him and either had their neck snapped or slashed.

The hallway started to widen and grow taller and at one point in the wall... it glowed? Zeko walked to it and looked through the door sized hole and saw a large chamber carved from stone with the same chitinous residue lining the floor but the most interesting part of the chamber was the mass of of yellowish-green orbs amassed in a pile with some bulging in grotesque movements. Zeko listened to the few changelings visible among the orbs that seemed to be tending to them. “Yeah that’s what I heard, the next batch will be even stronger since the new Queen will have the powers of that prisoner.”

Another one of them picked up a warbling orb and bit it, tearing a part of the top off. “This one had some trouble getting out, won’t be very strong when it’s older.” From the orb came a larval changeling, with a yellow ichor pouring out after it.

“They’re eggs!” The changelings looked at Zeko who realized he said that louder than he should’ve. “Oops.” He jumped down and picked up one of the eggs. “So these are eggs? I’m betting the queen laid them. Be a real shame if this hive got-“ He crushed it between his hands and let the fluid drip down. “Purged...”

They drew their weapons and looked at Zeko with snarls. “Didn’t I already catch you when you first got here?” That threw Zeko for a loop, his concept of time was actually quite warped and that let him realize that he had no clue how long he’d been in the nest but that didn’t matter as much as making sure that the queen wouldn’t bounce back from him being her prisoner. “You think just cause you’re red now you’re not still stuck like that?” He charged with a battleaxe held high and swung it downwards but it hit the floor with his clawed hands still being attached to its hilt. Before he could even scream Zeko’s hand was in his chest.

“Now that I’m closer I do remember you, can’t believe you had me on the run even for a minute...” The shinobi looked to his sides and saw the others charging their horns to a blazing yellow color.

Two beams were fired that immediately swallowed the two where they met and left a large scar on the floor along with small, scattered yellow flames. “I think we got-“ He was interrupted when he was grabbed from behind and slammed into the ground but it wasn’t over, Zeko then grabbed the changeling by the legs and threw him at his relative with enough force to send the two across the room. He then jumped onto one of the curved walls of the chamber and looked at the mass of eggs beneath him and then slowly formed the horse seal.

“Time for some extermination. This one might hurt me too though, Fire style: Majestic destroyer flame!” Zeko opened his mouth let a literal sea of fire free into the chamber, but his destruction didn’t stop there as the opposing wall of the chamber quickly crumbled and fell revealing a cavern on the other side that also started to fill with the overwhelming fire, the entire chamber started to crumble from the heat and Zeko quickly stopped the attack and left through the same hole he went in through... as he coughed smoke from his mouth. “Knew it-“ He coughed more but stopped once he sensed a familiar presence.

He started to run down the corridor, taking two lefts then a hard right... into a mob of changelings that were quickly torn through like wet paper. At the end of the hallway there was a wooden door that was more ornate in craft than the ones that he’d passed this far and the presence of a certain future Queen was behind it. Zeko was about to open the door but it opened and he stepped back but the same proto-Queen was there with a fearful look on her face, and it only grew when she saw the yellowish fluid dripping from his nails.

“Is that from- It is...”

Zeko held his hand out and gave Gena a choice. “I think you could do much better with your own hive than what they had here, you have the option to come with me and escape what’s going to happen here.”

Gena looked at the outstretched hand and shook her head in denial at the proposition. “I’m sorry but this is my hive, I can’t abandon them.” Zeko slowly drew his hand back to his body and turned away.

“Well nobody can say I didn’t give you a chance.” She blinked and he spun and quickly cut her head off before she could open her eyes. “And nobody can say I didn’t give you mercy.” Zeko started running again to find the main bug...

Atop a jagged throne carved from dark stone sat the feral changeling queen, but her expression was one of expectance and preparation as if she knew a storm was brewing. She’d managed to snap out of her thinking when she heard a knock on the doors to her throne room followed by another one and then finished with a changeling going through the door entirely. The entire door quickly came down afterwards and standing where it was was a furiously glowing red figure. “So royal centipede... you ready for me to cut your head off?”

His foe was eerily calm at the implied proclamation of her death, as if she’d either prepared for the event or didn’t believe it could happen based on her opponent’s current size. “If you believe you can then try. You’ve massacred half of my hive and destroyed most of my eggs, I fear I won’t be able to help my sister in the future. I digress but I’m sure you know by now that killing me will-“ An arm encased in crimson energy broke the jagged throne but the target wasn’t present in the rubble. “Now that’s just unsporting of you, announcing your name is customary in a duel to the death.” Her blade flickered with a green, causing the marking on Zeko’s face to glow a deep green.

He winced at the burning feeling but he steeled himself against the pain and made his chakra cloak glow brighter with anger. “I am gonna tear your heart out.” His eyes began to shake as his sclera turned black and his pupils changed to yellow stars. His coating of chakra sprouted a tail and ears that had the same crimson color. “And when I’m done I’ll tear this bug nest down!” He burst forward at near blinding speed, shedding his tattered black shirt and revealing that his torso was rapidly peeling and regenerating skin. Zeko tried to speak again but it only came out as incomprehensible growls and guttural roars that only showed the fury of the preteen. The chitinous queen dodged the small figure that was now deeply rooted in the ceiling.

“Oh I hope you don’t hurt yourself before I manage to take your powers for myself, it’d be a shame if you wound up-“ A forearm connected with the green blade, energies colliding and making a sound like cracking glass, before the queen could respond to the attack Zeko grabbed the blade and swung his shin into his foe’s side. The crunching sound preceding the double heeled kick into her stomach but the assault was cut short by a burst of yellow magic striking Zeko in the chest and sending him back to the ground. Coughing and clutching her side, Queen Nymph’s horn blazed with her mana as she waited for her foe to leap at her again it only shock was on her face...

“-Engan.” Three of Zeko were there, the one in the middle held two rasengan the size of a body. He threw them as the to on his side turned to smoke, along with himself. The second one passed and crashed into a wall while the first puffed and revealed Zeko who dodged the oncoming slash and tackled the Queen through the remainder of the wall leading to them both falling into the aquifer surrounding the subterranean castle of chitin. Zeko recovered and quickly kicked the blade and quickly kicked the blade from his enemy who blasted him in the face with her magic and flew into the air as the preteen was blinded from the sudden flash.

Queen Nymph levitated her blade back to her and looked at her crumbling castle and sneered as she looked at her quarry who lost his cloak and was on his knees, panting with one hand covering his eyes. “It looks like it’s time for you to pay what you owe and I suppose if I bring you back to Culina we can find a way to extract your power.” She stood above him with her blade held high, green flames shifting in the dim light of the cavern. “But I don’t think you need your legs for that!” She swung the sword down and made a clean slice... into the ground. Before she could start to question her accuracy she felt a heavy pressure in her eyes and pain swelled in her chest right as the Zeko in front of her turned to sand.

I told you in your throne room what I’d do to you.” A deeper voice stated, prompting the Queen to turn and gasp at Zeko who was once again eighteen but an equally pressing matter to Queen Nymph was the pain she felt from attempting to gasp in shock. “Having trouble catching your breath? I’m the one who got thrown into a wall. And your huffs and puffs are pretty useless without this.” He held his left hand out and what he had in it immediately made the changeling queen shuffle towards him. In Zeko’s hand was a greenish red heart, coated in ichorous blood and was ever so faintly beating. Queen Nymph dropped her now rusted, dull sword and continued to trudge towards the organ in front of her, not noticing the blood dripping down her back. “T-That’s... Give it b- to-“ Her words were weak and no longer taunted but begged and pleaded as she began to slow down, pain she never knew existed flared in her body and her eyes began to bleed.

“You want it back?” Zeko questioned and the only response was a weak nod, barely noticeable to the average pair of eyes. Zeko shrugged and took a step forward with an arm outstretched... and smiled as he crushed the heart in his hand and tossed it to Nymph knocking her to the ground. “Had to subtract a fee for what you owe me. Debt can’t get overdue.” Zeko said as he stood over the fallen queen, her eyes without color and her body going still. “Now to deal with a bigger problem, can’t let the pests come back stronger.” Zeko clasped his hands together then changed them to the tiger seal. “Wind style: Air bullet!” Zeko blew a massive cone of air that collided with the roof of the cavern. Almost immediately the cavern started to collapse and within seconds the castle was crumbled with rubble still falling until light started to peer in. “Looks like my window, don’t go anywhere ok?” Nymph laid there as rubble fell onto her body while Zeko leapt from rock to rock as platforms until he reached the surface and took one last look into the resting place of the feral changeling queen. The sunlight beamed on Zeko’s face and he walked twelve steps before he fell to the ground and laid his face onto the grass.

“Wow... freedom feels good...”

Author's Notes:

Wow... just wow... all this time it felt like years... BCT... AIT... but now I can get back to what I loved... and finish strong. This is something I’m truly proud of; 6K words. Like, comment, and ask any questions you have of me in the comments or through PM see you next time