The Razor's Edge [[Feitan x Reader]]

43: The Queen's Nest

   Feitan left before I woke up the next morning.

   In my sleepy haze I realized that I was missing the weight of his body wrapped around mine, but when I turned and reached for him, my fingers only grazed over cold, empty sheets.

   I sat up, scanning the room as if I might find some clue as to where he'd gone, but of course there was nothing, so I hopped out of bed and got dressed.

   I hadn't realized how early it was, and the harsh morning sun overwhelmed my eyes as soon as I stepped out of the room. I tried to block the rays with my arm, but they were too intense.

   "Finally up."

   I turned to see Fei sitting in one of the plastic lawn chairs that accompanied each room, as if anyone really stopped at the town's low-rate hotel to take in the views. He was reading, but closed his book when he saw me.

   "Thought I'd have to wake you up. Troupe wants to leave soon."

   I was about to ask him what he was doing sitting outside, but my attention was quickly stolen by Phinks, who stepped out of the room next to us dressed head-to-toe in Ancient Egyptian-style clothing.

   "Morning," he nodded to us.

   "For fucks sake," Feitan muttered under his breath.

   "Phinks. . . what the hell are you wearing?"

   Feitan glared at me for asking, like my question might be mistaken as interest and only encourage him more.

   It did.

   Phinks smiled proudly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "Well, if you must know, this is my Egyptian garb. I'm known back in Meteor City for my distinct style, so I try to keep up appearances every time I go back."

   "Do you have some sort of Egyptian heritage?"

   Feitan rolled his eyes and stood up. "Can we get moving? Going to be late by the time we get to the city."

*****

   The walk to Meteor City was long. Though the town we'd spent the night in seemed all but abandoned, the landscape managed to become even more sparse the further we traveled until nothing but desert surrounded us.

   Finally, as the afternoon drew near, Meteor City began to materialize on the horizon. The troupe members had told me stories about it, but they couldn't have prepared me for what I saw. It was a city that was never meant to exist, built on the waste of the world by people who were deemed unwanted by the rest of society. It was lawless, wild, and in complete disarray. I couldn't help but wonder if the ants had really done any noticeable damage.

   When we got into the city, we decided to split up. Machi and Nobunaga decided to go to the church to check on the preacher and ask what he knew about local children being abducted. The rest of us decided to look for information about the ants. The spiders wouldn't sit by and let their home be destroyed. They wouldn't let the ants take over without a fight.

   There were a few men who had recognized the troupe members. They filled us in on the situation and showed us what the ants were doing to the people of Meteor City—turning them into monsters. It seemed that they had tried every weapon available to them and had had no success. Phinks assured them that we'd get rid of the queen by the end of the day.

   The nest was every bit as horrific as you'd expect from super-powered human-size ants. Still, we walked in through what was essentially the front door. We weren't greeted with an ambush or any sort of fight, so we decided to split up. Phinks presented a challenge: the one to kill the queen would be the acting leader of the troupe. The others seemed pretty excited and all peeled off in different directions.