Where should I start?
I suppose I should start at my birth. I was born in the Holy Nest, without a father, without a mother, only kin... the entire Insectoid Nest was kin, although there weren’t many of us left.
Everyone said that the Holy Nest was dead, many levels had been abandoned, and generation after generation of Holy Nest Insectoids waited for the return of their masters, but there were no masters, not even the kin of masters appeared any longer.
We were nothing but unneeded autonomous machines.
The elder always said that, until one day he never woke up and was carried away by everyone to the decomposition pool.
Holy Nest Insectoids, grow here, return here.
Originally, I should have been the same, but having seen the books in the Holy Nest, my young self became curious about the world outside. It must be a world as beautiful as the Holy Nest.
With that thought, with the help of a friend, I escaped from the Holy Nest through a ventilation duct. I wanted to take my friend with me, but he refused with a smile and shake of his head.
"You can’t hear the song I sing," he said.
"Why? You always said I sang so well."
Though perplexed, once I left the Holy Nest, I never thought of returning. The world was so beautiful; the sky was no longer just soil and metal, the air not as murky as in the Holy Nest. I wanted to witness this world, to see the places our masters once lived.
At this point, the little insect paused, and Malin shook his head, "You’ve been disappointed before, haven’t you?"
he said, then continued his monologue.
Human cities are so dirty, adults’ hearts so ugly, chasing their own young so annoying. Could these humans really be the same as our masters, all humans? They are nothing like the ones in the books.
But whatever the case, they are sights unseen in the Holy Nest.
After seventeen years outside, I met a human child, different from the other young ones. He didn’t think of using a net to catch me but just sat there, motionless, silent.
Even when I flew past him, landing in front of him, he continued his silence.
He sat there for a day and a night. I stole food from a nearby human store for him. This time, he reacted, running as fast as he could while loudly telling the pursuing baker that he didn’t steal the bread... We ran so fast, that baker couldn’t catch us.
After he had eaten the bread, I heard his story.
"Dad died, killed by Chaos; Mom died, also killed by Chaos; and my sister and grandpa, as well as grandma and brother."
"The whole family, only I survived, hiding in a well."
"Chaos is really a bad egg. Having lived in this world for seventeen years, I’ve seen worse, entire cities of humans facing death for a few people’s selfish desires... Humans are indeed a strange species."
Wandering with this child, although not as free as before, following him always presented an unexpected side of the world’s people to me.
The baker who chased him actually did it on purpose, never intending to catch up.
The scoundrel who forced him to wash clothes every day always deliberately left a few coins in the pockets.
The police officer who arrested him for theft and other crimes was actually only doing so when he was desperately hungry, so he could have jail food and at least not starve to death.
Everyone lives in their own way, be it him or everyone else.
After several years of wandering, one day, he came back and didn’t go to the baker’s but sat down.
"I’m going to join the army."
"What’s an army? Can you eat it?"
I was very curious and followed him into the barracks, only then discovering that there were still some in this world willing to battle Chaos.
On the first day of training, he didn’t last long before he couldn’t run anymore, and the old man and the big guy discussed whether to send him away.
I wanted to help him and so... eventually chose him as my master.
We children of the Holy Nest, from the moment we were created, are meant for this moment, except the others waited for their masters, while I, now, have chosen mine.
The next day, he finished the training, did very well, the old man and the big guy both said so.
How wonderful it was to aid him, making me realize that helping a human, and seeing him happy, was such a joyful thing.
From that day on, his fate changed, and so did mine; we went to the North, defeated many many Chaoses, slain and beheaded them.
The elder of the Holy Nest always said that humans are each other’s steps to happiness.
I didn’t understand before, but coming here, I now get it; Chaos is also human, otherwise how could they become the steps for his advancement.
It’s just that Chaos are the bad guys, and beating the bad guys means you’re the good guys.
It was the most carefree time, the happiest days; I always sang for him, and he always smiled looking into the distance.
If only days like these could continue forever, how nice that would be.
But the elder also said, the longer the happiness, the more the misfortune to come. That time, he encountered a very large Chaos, tough to beat, to help him, I was seriously wounded, and his leg was injured.