"There you are, young prince."
"Geryon." Naga scowled.
"Please come quietly." The Starry Knight said with a hint of a sneer, "Your mother was quite worried about you. We don't want to make things difficult for your mom now do we?"
"My mom knows very well why I'm here and why I won't come back." Naga replied, "And if you do not leave us alone, I will make sure your life is a living hell once I take over as ruler."
"Young prince, you will only become ruler once Sirius dies." Geryon sneered, "And as busy as your mom is doing to make sure that happens, she doesn't have the guts to kill Sirius herself. That's why she's relying on the rebellion to do it for her. And in order for all that to happen, she needs you safe and sound back at home."
"I'm not returning until I can find a way to end all this without my dad dying!"
"Then what are you doing on the rebellion's side?! These people want to kill Sirius the most!"
"That's why I'm here to stop them!"
"You think they'll listen to you? They'd sooner kill you than listen to you!"
"Then why am I still alive?"
"My god, what sort of Stockholm syndrome is this?! Because you're their hostage right now! You're just a means to an end until they find some excuse to kill you!"
"I have not been treated as a hostage! If anything I found friends here!"
"Ki-ahem. Young master, you could've easily had friends back in Muldingirmus. It's your fault that you didn't have any after all these years."
"T-That's not true..." Naga's disposition faltered, thinking back to his time in Muldingirmus.
"You leave Naga alone you bullies!" Medeia shouted in defense of her friend.
"Kids, just leave Naga with us." Geryon sighed, "We don't want to fight you and there's no way you'll win."
"No way!" Pluteum shouted, "My dad taught me to always help my friends!"
"I don't give a shit about your nameless dad, kid." Geryon sighed, "Whatever. Men, be gentle with the brats."
The two men beside Geryon nodded and walked around the powerless Naga to apprehend Medeia and Pluteum.
"Roko, I need power." Aranea muttered.
And once the effect of Roko's magical manipulation took hold, Aranea jumped, aiming a kick at one of the Starry Knight's heads like she's done so many times before. Unfortunately, her attack seemed to have been anticipated as the man turned around and caught her leg narrowly before it could reach his head.
"So that's the freakish one they talked about." Geryon scowled, "Just hold her down, there's only one of her."
The knight nodded and moved to grab onto Aranea's body.
"You leave her alone!"
The Starry Knight cried out in pain as Pluteum bashed a mildly sharp rock he found into his shin, releasing Aranea and dropping to the ground in pain.
"Yeah! Get him Pluteum!" Medeia cheered from the side.
"Where'd he get that rock?!" The other Starry Knight cried out in surprise.
"I found it over there." Pluteum pointed over to the side of the room though all sides of the room did have some odd loose rocks scattered about.
"Just grab the rock from the kid." Geryon commanded, his tone growing tired, "Good god."
"Okay." the Starry Knight approached Pluteum cautiously, the small child raising the rock over his head in a threatening manner.
With his back turned, Aranea jumped into the air and kicked the man in the spine, making a worrying cracking sound and though the man cried out and writhed in agony, he did eventually get up without a problem.
"Oh thank god." the Starry Knight breathed a sigh of relief though he did seemed to be hunched over a lot more than usual.
"I-I'm good." His fellow knight slowly stood up, wincing like crazy but giving a thumbs up despite the limp in his leg after getting cracked by Pluteum's rock.
"Must you both be so incompetent that you can't even take care of some ki-" Geryon's reprimand was cut short when a sizable rock smashed into his groin, collapsing the man quickly to the ground.
Everyone turned to look at person who threw it. Medeia lifted another rock up from another pile with no hint of remorse in her eyes, "Leave." she said.
"Okay…" Geryon took deep steadying breaths as he stood back up again, "I'm done with this. Draw your swords."
"A-Are you sure boss?" his knights asked, leery about drawing weapons on kids.
"Stop underestimating these brats!" Geryon snapped, "We can't fail in delivering the prince home! Or else Sirius will have you and your families kicked out of Muldingirmus!"
Geryon's threat seemed to work as his subordinates drew her swords, however reluctantly.
"Stop it!" Naga shouted, trying to run in front in of the knights to protect his friends only for Geryon to grab him by the arm and pull him away.
"You stay here, young master!" Geryon shouted.
"Naga!" Pluteum charged at Geryon with his rock only for the two knights to cross their swords in front of him, effectively blocking him but not taking the easy opportunity to attack the child.
"Don't come any clos-" but the Starry Knight was already kicked in the head by Aranea, pushing him right into his ally and opening up the path for Pluteum.
"Thanks! Charge!" Pluteum cried, running right at Geryon.
Geryon sighed and swiftly drew his sword, making a very serious slash at Pluteum who barely managed to move his rock in front of him in time to block the slash, the Starry Knight's sword easily cleaving his weapon in two.
"Stay back." Geryon stated, voice devoid of sympathy, "I WILL cut you down."
Pluteum's bravery finally faltered as he held his cleanly cut rocks in his hands and he took a step back.
"Good boy." Geryon sneered, "And you." he pointed his sword at Aranea, stopping her from approaching as well, "Stay right where you are, you freak."
Aranea stopped but her eyes never lost her spark of defiance, glaring up at Geryon with a fierce determination at odds with her normally skittish nature.
"It's pretty obvious that you are the biggest threat here." Geryon said as his fellow knights picked themselves up and joined their boss, "But you're still a kid. No match for an adult. You stay right there and you'll stay safe. We'll just be leaving with the prince now."
"Don't worry about me!" Naga said but Aranea shook her head.
"I...I can still fight."
"What do you think you can do against adults?" Geryon sneered as his knights pointed their swords at her.
Aranea reached up, holding out her hand at the adults.
"Light."
A bright flash of light burst out of her hand, blinding the adults with its powerful brightness.
"Agh, what he hell?!" Geryon covered his eyes in pain, "Was that magic?!"
This was the opening that Aranea needed as she immediately jumped up at them, kicking the two nameless knights in the side of the head, rebounding off one to hit the other as they were launched off to the side where they cracked their heads on rocks and falling dead silent. Geryon had managed to mostly recover when he saw Aranea now leaping up at him and connecting with a tiny uppercut that knocked him away from Naga as he stumbled back.
"Get back." Aranea said, grabbing Naga by the hand and bringing him to the back of the room again.
"O-Okay…" Naga said, just as stunned as Pluteum and Medeia.
"Ugh." Geryon righted himself with the help of a nearby wall and glared at Aranea, "You...you know magic?"
Aranea just brought up her tiny fists up in defiance.
"You're not ordinary kid are you?" Geryon scowled, "A child that knows light magic? Who are you really?"
Aranea didn't answer though a bit of nervousness worked itself back into her movements.
"G-Good job Aranea!" Medeia called, "Just one left!
"Okay. That's it. No more mister nice guy." Geryon raised his blade towards Aranea, "I didn't want my subordinates to see me taking the lives of children but now that they're out of the picture, I've got nothing left to lose. I'm going to kill every last one of you. And if anybody asks what happened, you all just slipped and fell into the currents, never to be seen again."
Geryon's detailed threat shook the kids but not Aranea who glared back at him readily.
"Those eyes are really pissing me off."
"W-We'll fight too!" Pluteum said, regaining his courage but discarding his split rocks to look for another big rock to fight with.
"I got you covered, Aranea!" Medeia called, having collected a small pile of rocks to which to throw.
"I-I'll…" Naga looked around, trying to think of something to do.
"You stay here, Naga." Medeia said pointing to a spot next to her, "You're the one they want. We can't let you get hurt."
"I...okay…" Naga said, not quite satisfied with his role but with no idea how to join the fight, he reluctantly accepted his role.
Geryon was not weak in the least. He was no match for the likes of Momo or Varis. Even Roko could probably beat him in a fair fight. But he was strong enough to be a distinguished soldier and against a few kids he might as well be a dragon. If a single swipe of his sword connected, they were probably dead. And he was experienced enough to never truly leave any openings for any of them to take advantage of. All these kids could do was distract the dragon enough for him to never get a decent attack on any of them. That was it. They had no way to actually win. And that's why they never stood a chance.
"Take that!" Medeia threw a rock that was swiftly deflected by Geryon's blade.
"Haaaaa!" Pluteum tried charging at Geryon's legs with a new rock but a lazy kick forced Pluteum to use his rock as a shield instead, getting knocked over on the ground before having to retreat to recover himself.
These two kids were no threat. So Geryon kept his eyes on the only one who DID stand a chance at defeating him. Aranea did not move like a child. She was bouncing all over the place, leaping off walls to attack Geryon at odd angles. She kept herself well out of range of Geryon's sword and constantly lead him away from Pluteum and Medeia. As ineffective as that pair was, they were distracting enough that Geryon never really got the chance to corner Aranea. It was a stalemate that wasn't going to last for long.
Pluteum and Medeia were Aranea's weakness. Geryon could easily predict Aranea's movements if he went after those two. But he had to make it definitive. Make it so that there was no chance of escape. No chance for recovery. Should be easy enough against some kids.
"There." Geryon muttered as he threw Aranea off of him, pushing her not just far away from him but sending her down the corridor out of the room. Her movements were now limited.
"That's enough out of you!" Geryon shouted as the turned around to attack Pluteum and Medeia.
Aranea reacted quickly to his change in targets, lunging forward take advantage of the opening he left to try and redirect his attention back on her. If she had Roko's foresight, she wouldn't have fallen for this sort of obvious trap. Because the moment Aranea flew back through the corridor, Geryon spun around and slashed at Aranea. A pointed strike that would have taken her head if Aranea hadn't tried to veer away at the last second. So instead of losing her head, she just lost her legs.
Pluteum and Medeia cried out in horror as Aranea fell to the ground, her legs now cut off. She was still alive but it seemed impossible for her to fight anymore. Panic seized Aranea as she began drawing rapid and heavy breaths.
"Finally cut you down to size have I?" Geryon sneered, showing no remorse or regret to the harm he had caused a child. In fact, he even walked back up to Aranea and kicked her into the stomach, throwing her legless body against the wall before she collapsed collapsed back onto the ground clutching her stomach in pain.
"Now." Geryon sighed as the turned to Pluteum and Medeia and the Naga that was bravely hiding behind them, "Unless you want the same thing to happen to you, I suggest you hand over the young master."
"You..." Pluteum growled, tears welling up in his eyes in anger, "You monster!"
Pluteum charged at Geryon again but he was no match for the grown adult. Even with Medeia trying to provide support, it was no longer a fight. All that was going to happen now was for these two brave kids to wear down on Geryon's patience and once he finally snaps...who knows what was going to happen to them?
Aranea laid on her stomach on the ground. Watching her friends do their best to make some sort of defense but it might as well look like an adult playing with two very obnoxious kids. Aranea's tiny hands were balled into white fists, her body shivering as she tried to think of something to do. Anything to do. But...there was nothing. Her only option was to shout out to the voice in her head. The one person that she could always rely on ever since coming here. But she was too distraught to make proper sense of her situation.
"Roko!" her head screamed, "Pluteum, Medeia, Naga...everyone's going to die! Please help!"
While outside she simply seemed to be in despair, her mentality was in a screaming panic. Though she held back tears, she was practically blubbering and sobbing inside her head. A distress so strong that she couldn't even hear Roko's response very well. All she could make out was,
"What's going on? Where are you? What's the situation?"
Establishing questions that Aranea was too dismayed to properly answer. She just continued to beg and beg for help even as she watched Pluteum and Medeia resist towards their inevitable deaths. But it wasn't out of helplessness. She could do something. She could still fight. It would just force her to do something that scared her down to her very core. Though her body itched to do anything, the cold thin hand of fear gripped her heart so tightly that she sooner wished it would crush it completely so she could end the conflict. But there was no such easy way out. Instead her head tore itself in half trying to decide what to do.
All the while, Geryon's patience was ticking away. His face has gone from sneering confidence to disenchanted annoyance. Pluteum and Medeia had suffered a few scrapes and bruises from getting kicked around a bunch. Naga hadn't moved. Time was running out. Geryon was going to raise his blade for the last time soon. And the thought of that froze Aranea's mind. She needed more time. So time seemed to slow down for her. And an empty peace took over her mind. There was no longer any chance to argue anymore. If she hadn't done something by now that meant she didn't want to do anything right? It wasn't like she didn't want to do something she was just...too scared...that's fine right?
And yet there was a single voice echoing into her consciousness. One final voice of resistance. One that sounded familiar. Was this really what she wanted? Was the comfort of the nothing that she had as a slave worth sacrificing everything she had gained? Or has she gained so little that she still had nothing to lose? What does Pluteum, Medeia and Naga mean to her? Pluteum and Mediea were children of rebels, taught to fight til the very end for what they believe in which was exactly what they were doing now. Even Naga who had to learn to question his own belief found something worth standing in front of his own caste's people. Did you really learn nothing from them? Do you really have nothing that could equal their determination? Are they really going to die because of you?
The voice of resistance grew louder and more prominent in her head, pounding against her head from the inside. Geryon was looking down at the kids, fully over their futile resistance.
"This has gone on long enough." he said as he raised his sword.
At this point the overwhelming urge in Aranea's mind took over her fear and before she even knew it, she had jumped.
Geryon raised his sword up against the cowering children, fully intending on slaying the two sewer dwelling brats. But then someone suddenly grabbed onto his head from behind. Geryon immediately knew it was Aranea, somehow able to move after cutting off her legs. He wasn't sure how that happened but it quickly became a distant worry as he felt something slam onto his back and several sickle like objects slashing into him as they began to grab a hold on him.
"W-What's going on?!" Geryon shouted, trying to throw off Aranea but the girl and a tight grip over his head, even blocking out his eyes with her tiny hand. And as she held him down she began shouting,
"LIGHT!"
A bright flash of light burst out from Aranea's hands and right in front of Geryon's eyes. The knight cried out in pain as his eyeballs were seared from the exposure, quickly closing his eyes to little comfort.
"Light! Light!"
Aranea fired off her light spell again and again, hitting the adult man with point blank flashes of light. Even closing his eyes could not help as Geryon struggled to throw Aranea off, swinging his sword around randomly in vain. She wasn't dealing much physical damage but physiologically, the constant searing light was making him feel faint. His struggles became a weak wobble and his sword arm flopped back down weakly as he struggled to remain up. As the man began to fall, Aranea finally jumped off of him, throwing his body against a wall and cracking his head, finally knocking the despicable man down.
Aranea stood there for a few moments breathing heavily to calm herself down. Meanwhile, her friends could only stare in stunned silence. A shell of a body laid on the floor where Aranea had been knocked away. The Aranea right now was standing in front of them with eight thin and sharp legs, holding up a thorax that jutted out behind Aranea and connected to a head that was connected to the rest of Aranea's human body. A frightening spider head.
Aranea was a spider girl. A monster. An arachne.
Aranea's deep breaths slowly calmed her down enough to notice that none of her friends seemed to have recovered from the shock of her reveal. Anxiously, Aranea took a few steps towards them, a human hand reached out as she asked,
"Are...are you okay?"
"Y-Yea-" Naga began to respond, began to reach out to accept her hand when,
"AAAAAHHH! A SPIDER!"
A panicking Medeia scrambled away from Aranea and threw a rock towards her.
"Medeia!" Pluteum cried, a tempered sternness in his voice. But it was already too late.
Turning back to Aranea, the monster girl had taken a few steps back to avoid the rock, the attack landing harmlessly on the ground in front of her. But the despair it had induced was clear on the girl's face. No amount of deep breaths could calm her down and before Pluteum and Naga could say anything, Aranea ran out of the room, through the corridor and out into the sewer.
She knew it. She knew this would happen. The slaver was right. Human would never accept her. She should've kept her disguise. She should've ran away sooner. She should've...she should've…
Aranea didn't know where she was going. She just kept running, holding back choking tears as she kept turning randomly around corners, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and her former friends. She didn't know what she was going to do next, probably find some way out of the sewer and away from this city. Away from humans. She wanted to do so without seeing anyone else again. But that was too difficult an ask apparently.
Before long, Aranea felt the presence of someone in front of her, skidding to a sudden stop so quickly that her spider legs gave out, dropping her body rather roughly on the ground. Wincing a bit in pain, Aranea looked up to see who had appeared in front of her. And to no surprise, it was Roko. The young man looking down at Aranea with an unreadable expression like always.
"So you finally revealed yourself." Roko said, his stupid tone as unreadable as his stupid face.
Aranea didn't know what to say. She just looked down and nodded quietly. Roko knelt down and drew Aranea close in a gentle hug.
"I'm proud of you. Now it's my turn. I'll make sure no one rejects you."
Aranea didn't know what to make of Roko's words. Not sure what they meant or even if she really believed it. But his warm embrace was…
Aranea wrapped her arms and legs around Roko and began crying uncontrollably. Sobbing loudly until she soon fell asleep.