Along Came A Spider

It was so cold. Her whole body felt like an ice cube and she’d long since stopped being able to feel her hands and feet. She’d done her best to use her magic to create a kind of silk like jacket but it just couldn’t cope with such extreme temperatures. It’d never been this cold back home and the maid briefly wondered if it was a sign that she should just turn around and go back but that thought was always countered by the fear and dread that she felt when she considered it. It’d taken all of her courage to flee Minstrel and her former life and if she went back now, she’d never have the mental strength to do it again. No doubt her punishment would be severe as well for leaving, not to mention what she’d done to her home while escaping. No, she’d never go back. This was her chance to finally live as an individual rather than just one of many of her former master’s dogsbodies. The look on his face when her magic had blossomed into life was still all she could see in her mind’s eye. For so long, he’d treated her and her fellow maids as mere eye candy and servants, looking down upon them as though they were nothing but in that moment, she saw pure fear within him. He’d never been superior to her at all. He was just a man, like any other.

Slowly moving forward, Charlotte would keep her eyes on the odd looking wolf that had been accompanying her since she’d started up the mountain. It never got too close to her but wasn’t hostile either, seeming to just be making sure that she didn’t get lost. The maid certainly appreciated that and although she’d been rather scared of it at first, she’d come to accept that it was trying to help. Right now, she could use all the friends she could get and so the red eyed young woman just did her best to try and keep up with it. Perhaps it was a sign that she was supposed to come here after all, a thought that gave her some comfort.

That being said, there was this sense of nervousness that was building inside her. What if she wasn’t good enough to be a Silver Wolf and sent away? What if she said something stupid and ended up making a fool of herself? What if there was a bounty on her head and they forced her back home? Charlotte was already shaking from the cold but with those questions buzzing around her head constantly as well, her shaking only increased. This could all go so badly wrong. Folding her arms around her, she did her best to try and shake off the nerves but they felt like an endless tide, bashing against her fragile psyche.

“Oops!” She suddenly shrieked, losing her balance in the snow and falling face first into the white and frigid layering. After a few moments of lying there stunned, her cheeks turned crimson with embarrassment, as well as from the cold, she’d desperately get back up to her feet again. She looked an absolute mess now, her once elegant maid’s dress now dripping wet. If her old maidly companions could see her now, they’d probably laugh her out of the castle.

The wolf patiently waited for her to start moving again before leading her up what turned out to be the last part of the journey. Finally, a building would come into view and Charlotte almost burst into tears of joy at the sight of it. She could feel the warmth as she approached and after a brief wave farewell to the wolf, who briefly howled in reply before seeming to disappear, the grateful maid entered the building. For the moment, at least, her nervousness was overtaken by her desire to simply get warm.

There was quite a homely feel to the place and as she stood in what seemed to be a hall of some kind, Charlotte would stand rather awkwardly in the middle of it all, a little unsure about just who she was supposed to talk to.

(699 Words)

Huh…

Yuvon had already written it down in one of his myriad notebooks, but the snowstorms raging about up here near the peak of the Phoenix Mountains wasn’t something random. Usually, the atmosphere was far calmer, like a quiet Christmas Eve, but there had been a clear pattern which he came to notice ever since he stepped foot into the guild hall of the esteemed guild of thesaurophiles, Silver Wolf… and that was the increase in the wind speed, snowing and wild of the storms during the arrival of every new member.

The question was; why was that even a thing? Yuvon had long ago confirmed that it must’ve been the case; every time a new person arrives, destined to join the guild’s ranks, it happened during a snowstorm. Every. Damn. Time. He wrote it all down, so it must’ve been true, right?! He was, like… 96% sure that it was the case. Maybe the Phoenix Mountains were sentient and just knew it deep inside when a traveler intended to join Silver Wolf, but why it would act like this was still beyond his knowledge…

He would have to figure out how to communicate with hidden, sentient entities within inanimate matter at some point. The mountains needed to let him know…!

BUT! He had to prepare for the guest! They were probably on their way right now… he held faith in the auric wolves’ capability to guide whoever was approaching them to the guild hall, so without further ado, he readied two cups of steaming, hot chocolate. Anyone who managed to make it this far deserved a break, after all.

And there they were… a confused, young maiden drenched in melting snow and probably shivering from the terrible cold from outside. Tsk tsk tsk, the snow was bullying her frail appearance, and Yuvon wouldn’t have any of that in the safe quarters of Silver Wolf’s hall. With a flick of his fingers, he summoned a small magic circle above his palm, orange and beaming with a pleasant glow before he launched it towards the maiden’s feet. It would duplicate as a second, identical magic circle rose upwards, before the two released waves of heat just warm enough to dry off the humidity from her unusual jacket and black-white dress underneath.

“Fear not, fear not, I come in peace,” he messaged her before approaching the silver-haired girl, noticing the details of her dress underneath which felt very familiar, “Most people come in grinded to the bones from the cold, so you need compensation for your troubles. Please, excuse the unforgiving weather for harassing your form – it’s a defense mechanism.” Despite wearing his signature golden mask, Yuvon’s smile still emitted warmth through the mask’s holes as he held out the second cup towards her.

“Maybe your inner self would crave for a cup of hot chocolate after a long walk? I brewed it myself, perfectly mimicking the work of our late Founder in honor of the guild you stand in as we talk…”

WC: 501

There was a moment where Charlotte actually thought he was attacking her and her eyes widened as the magical circle came flying towards her feet. She didn’t even have time to react and so all she could do was brace. Yet, there was no pain or burning sensation and instead she just felt a sense of warmth as she looked downwards. The chill left her, with her clothes drying out in what seemed to be mere moments. Her breathing became steady as she realised what he was actually doing and her cheeks briefly turned red again, chiding herself for thinking such a thing.

He was quite an intimidating looking person and she was a little lost for words for a moment or two but once he actually started speaking, her shoulders relaxed. His explanation about the weather outside made sense although she did briefly wonder about who’d want to attack a guild of mages. To fight a powerful bunch of mages was surely asking for a quick defeat, in the eyes of the maid anyway. Perhaps one day she’d have the strength to defend the guild from harm although the idea of fighting at all caused mixed feelings. Whenever she was involved in combat, there was always this weird feeling that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Her slayer senses instantly picked up on the glorious smell of hot chocolate and her eyes lit up with glee. “Please, Sir, I’d love a cup,” she finally said, her voice gentle and quiet, still a little nervous. Her Minstrel accent was strong, a fact that she hoped wouldn’t put her in bad stead. She honestly had no idea about her homeland's reputation outside its borders. All she’d heard was what her master said, which was that Minstrel was simply superior to all other countries. Somehow, Charlotte didn’t believe that. Not after growing up there.

She spent a second simply admiring the well decorated room, before returning her gaze to him and introducing herself, naturally performing a curtsy at the same time. “My name is Charlotte Chesterfield and I was hoping that maybe I could join the Silver Wolves.” The maid wished that she could sound more confident but she still felt as though she was standing on egg shells. “I admit that I’m still getting used to my magic and I don’t fully understand it yet but I’ll do my best to train and get stronger, if that’s what the guild needs me to do.”

She paused for a moment and then opened up a little more. “I’ve...only just come to Fiore and I admit that I don’t really know what I’m going to do. I left everything behind in order to come here and everything here seems new and strange to me. I feel...lost. I’ve spent my whole life working as a maid for a Minstrel noble and that’s all I know what to be. I heard that Silver Wolf likes to think of their members like they are all a part of a pack and I...I’d like to be a part of the pack too.”

(517 Words)
(1216 Charlotte's Total WC)

Aww, she gladly accepted his cup of hot chocolate like an exhausted track runner aiming for a fresh bottle of water. Yuvon was glad to be of service, but he immediately noticed her strong accent-

Oh, by Shezzar and his crazy antics, that accent brought back memories. Yuvon had spent a good amount of time here in Fiore, so his accent had honestly died down and he had adopted a more Fiorian way of speech, but once upon a time, he shared her voice. He, too, was a Minstrelian… and she must’ve been one too. There was no doubt. Yuvon could tell just from that one sentence of gratitude, and it brightened his face behind that mask of his. This ought to have been intriguing; first Remi, and now this silver beauty had reunited with their fellow Minstrelian in this guild hall. “W-Well, glad to see that you haven’t lost your tongue out there! Hahahahahahaaaaaa…!” he joyously laughed.

He immediately held his notebook out and opened a new page; he’d been trying to write some biographies of members in the guild, and she would happen to occupy his new page in it. The storm was right; she did want to join Silver Wolf, just like he predicted! “Oooh? What a delicate name you bear,” he complimented her, scribbling down her name as the top of the page, “Don’t mind me, I like to keep track of useful information among my fellow guildmates. Just a few keywords…” He wasn’t being entirely truthful; a full-body portrait of Charlotte in her present wear was no mere keyword, after all. However, in case if she were to get lost and outside help was necessary, then a proper portrayal of her embodied in something easily portable would prove useful.

Also, he liked drawing. One can’t help with his interests, after all.

She sounded like one who had just discovered her arcana and wanted to master it, a curious soul who wanted to see just how far she could push her magical gift. “Mhmm, mhm, you may not be able to sense it just yet, BUT-“ he spoke up all dramatically, “With my many years of profession with mana sensory and arcana detection, I can tell with certainty and authenticity backing me up that you possess quite the dormant prowess begging to burst out… but one cannot rush getting stronger; if you’re willing to take your time, then you will see.” He refrained from informing her of the back-tingling feeling that he got from the aura emitting from her; it felt very strange, like very, very small needles- no, the ends of threads poking your skin, almost tickling you all so slightly. He shrugged it away, not wanting to bombard her even more…

As of now, Yuvon held no qualms about letting her join the guild, but he was a humble Scholar; the authority of accepting new members befell the Betas and their Alpha, the illustrious Guild Mistress Leona Jarnefeldt. However, she would begin to dig into her journey before coming here, and Yuvon would intently listen to her experience.

She appeared to feel lost, having left her home and everything she used to own, everyone she used to know, to then become a foreigner and stranger among the million civilians of this country. Most foreigners would feel like that upon their first days here, but it came as a surprise to Yuvon that she used to be a maid… for a Minstrelian noble.

Even if it wasn’t aimed at her, the anger leaking through the holes of his mask was visible. ‘Minstrel’ and ‘noble’ were two innocent words that created such a sickening combination together, a combo that brought none but the most vomit-worthy memories back to Yuvon’s psyche from the very corners of his mind where he swore they would be locked away indefinitely. However, his seething anger was easily quenched in compassion from Charlotte’s simple wish of wanting to be part of their pack. She… she must’ve been very lonely…

His anger had made him a little sensitive to this change in emotion, in which he actually began sobbing. Tears streamed out of the mask’s eye holes, and without warning, he was next to her and rubbing his cheek against hers as his arms embraced her without pause. “Oooooooooooooh, oh dear, oh dear, you must’ve been through so much!!!” he cried, thinking that she must’ve been through her own ordeals akin to some of the trouble he faced as a member of Minstrelian nobility, “Toi aussi, ma sæur? Were you wronged by your master too? Knows the wickedness of nobility no bounds?!” There was no way that Yuvon would allow her to return empty-handed now; he would try his best to make sure that his fellow sister joined their ranks, if what he thought really was the case.

The worst kinds of scenarios that he could come up with included having been violated by her master in any way. She didn’t feel like the typical ‘high-up-their-own-asses’ Minstrelian, and perhaps Yuvon was overreacting – who knew, maybe she just became bored and wanted to explore Earthland – but something told him that she had been through her own fair share of trouble… there was just something on her face, her form and posture, the fact that a Minstrelian bothered climbing all the way up here to start anew, her quick craving for the cup of hot chocolate that felt more than just because of the storm outside, the fact that she stated to have left everything behind which, by the way, no stuck-up Minstrelian would ever even think of doing, and also the hidden cuteness behind her whole scene that beckoned him to embrace her. She felt like a person who needed a hug, in the end.

“I’m sure the Guild Mistress will accept your plead and let you join, ma sæur! You have nothing to worry about…!” he promised, once again revealing his Minstrelian language – just ‘cause he didn’t possess the same accent anymore didn’t mean that he had forgotten his mother’s tongue. He would never forget… but he would remember that his arms and chest were now holding onto the fine, silky threads of her jacket and kind of sticking onto it very strongly. As he pulled himself back, he noticed the threads hanging on and feared that he might’ve ruined her strange jacket. “… *sniff* I-I dare guess that I’ve… accidently gotten myself s-stuck on your textile…”

WC: 1074
Thread TWC: 2791

Charlotte wasn’t quite sure what to make of his desire to take down notes about her. It made sense, she supposed but just what was he going to do with the information? It gave her a few moments of worry but he didn’t seem to be a nasty man and so she just didn’t comment about it, letting him note down what he wished to. Still, she hoped that he wasn’t going to record anything too personal about her. It wouldn’t be proper, after all and over the years, she’d become rather obsessed with everything being prim and proper. Perhaps that obsession would be of benefit to Silver Wolf? She hoped so anyway.

His words regarding her desire to grow stronger brought a smile to her face. She’d half expected to have been talked down to because of her lack of knowledge and skill but much to her relief, he only gave her encouragement. It helped her to relax a little more and she nodded her head in response to his advice. She knew that it was going to be a long road but it was one that she desperately wanted to follow, not minding how long it took. There was so much that she had yet to see or do, both magically and in life and now that she finally had the chance to grow, the maid wanted to grasp it with both hands.

Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, the crimson eyed woman was starting to feel more comfortable but that feeling was rather swiftly knocked aside at his reaction to his story. He came towards her quickly and pulled her into an embrace, almost causing her to spill her drink. The man was shaking with tears and as he started to speak in the Minstrelian language, her eyes widened. It couldn’t have been the case that he just knew about her homelands way of life from second hand information, his reaction was far too raw for that. He knew first hand and as he held her, her eyes began to water too, as her own memories began to flood through her mind. All those years of humiliation, neglect and pain began to burst out of her and she started to shake. She couldn’t answer his questions at first, struggling to find the words, as well as keeping herself in one piece. He’d suffered as she had and she could feel the deep seated anger that fuelled his tears.

To hear that she'd more than likely be accepted into the guild was a massive relief to her but it was difficult to feel much of anything but the sadness that they shared at that moment. He’d eventually pull away although not without taking a few strands of silk along with him. Tearfully, she’d look down briefly at her self made jacket, before taking another sip of her drink to try and help steady herself.

“I’m...I’m sorry about that,” she shakily said, “This jacket was an attempt to shield myself from the cold. It’s made of spider’s webbing, one of the elements that I’m able to use. I’m the...the Arachnae Slayer or at least that’s what I think my magic is. When my powers first blossomed, I heard a voice inside my head, silky and confident, who encouraged me to stand up and defend myself…”

The girl fell silent for a short time, wondering if she should speak about her past any longer but in the end, she reasoned that if she was ever going to move on then she would have to. If she couldn’t talk about it with someone who’d experienced a torrid time in Minstrel as she had, then who could she talk to?

“My...master was wicked, yes,” Charlotte eventually admitted, “He treated all of us who worked for him horribly but he seemed to have a particular grudge against me. No matter what I did, it was never enough for him. If I cleaned a room from top to bottom, he’d simply come in and point out the smallest flaw and order me to reclean it. If he couldn’t find any problems, he’d throw a hot drink against the wall and then order me to redo the whole thing. When he brought his friends back to the castle for a ball or social occasion, I’d be given the most degrading task and sometimes he’d...he’d deliberately humiliate me in front of them just to make them laugh. I was nothing to him and he made sure that I knew that every day. Every time I heard a door slam, I’d jump a foot in the air out of fear, knowing that he was about to punish me for something, whether I’d done anything wrong or not. Fear was all I knew and it truly...ruled my life.”

Charlotte couldn’t say anymore then and buried her face in her cup, desperately drinking as much of the lovely liquid as she could, the tears still flowing.

(829 Words)
(2045 Charlotte's Total WC)
(3620 Total Thread WC)

He quickly noticed the anxiety rise in her the moment he expressed himself. Perhaps, it would’ve been for the better if he kept his words short and played clueless, if just to spare her feelings… but he also thought that relating to her could help. It was a gamble, really.

He’d gently stroke her silver-shiny hair in an attempt to calm her down while achieving some spicy new information about her jacket; it sure looked like the silky web from a spider, but to think that she made it was quite noteworthy! She stated to have gained control over the element of spiderweb, coupled to her title as the Arachnae Slayer. “A-Arachnae… wait, there’s a whole Magic dedicated to killing spiders?” was his weird question, indeed, as he pondered over the name and web, “… Hehe, you sure you didn’t intend that pun? Silky, am I right? Right? I’m sure I’m right…”

Upon hearing of her pathetic master, her wicked ex-lord, Yuvon made a mental checklist on all the terrible attributes a Minstrelian master could possess… yup, they were all ticked off and even more. What a sick fuck… even Yuvon’s father, the bane of his existence, had genuinely never spited Yuvon himself… at least not beyond letting this abominable body take root in this world in the first place via his unforgivable sin caused against the poor librarian’s mother. Yes, yes, Yuvon hated his father on behalf of his mother, and that was justified if you knew the whole story…

“… Fear no more, Charlotte,” he assured her after wiping his own tears and trying to fetch up a handkerchief for her to wipe her eyes with, “Today, no more sorrow or grief shall befall you! Our esteemed Guild Mistress or one of her Betas will be here soon, but while your recruitment is guaranteed, you still have a lot of baggage to sort out! And yet, I see that you have decided to keep your maid’s uniform with you, despite your tale… it’s been years since I saw that model.” If he remembered correctly, his uncle who was born out of wedlock – perhaps his best memory of an actual father figure in his childhood, given that he scorned his father like the pest from the moment he could talk – was aided in his household by a maid wearing an almost identical uniform. Since it was Minstrel, those dresses came in all different styles – some weren’t even the classical black-and-white, but he had eyes for detail, that masked fella…

“Perhaps… your maidly status gave you an inner strength to withstand the atrocities of your former master, no? Or was it due to a good relation with your colleagues? It’s seldom farfetched that maids get along with each other.”

WC: 459
TWC: 4079

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, outside the guild cafe-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with black bike shorts on underneath the skirt, Leona emerged from the guild cafe with a cup of coffee in her right hand. She was wanting a cup of coffee and decided to get one before she tried to figure out what personal project of hers she wanted to pursue. There was learning the language of Midi, there was looking for magical ingredients for a new weapon, there was studying for a GED test, and there was learning computer programming. There was a lot for Leona to do with her spare time, but she just could not muster the will to do any of those things.

The project Leona was most interested in pursuing was making a new weapon because she would almost always need a weapon, but there were a couple things preventing her from pursuing it.

First, she would need magical ingredients that were not exactly easy to come by. Second, she felt like it would be a waste of time to make a magic knife or sword when the time spent making them would be better spent on getting more modern weapons like a conventional handgun or a laser pistol. However, she could justify a new knife more than she could a new sword because in her experience a knife made a good backup weapon. A magic knife would make a very good backup weapon. She was hoping to make a magic knife with armor-piercing properties so that her backup weapon would pack more of a punch against armored opponents.

With her cup of coffee in her right hand, Leona started to make her way towards her personal room when she felt two magic signatures in the guild hall and decided to check them out. Since she had no idea of what she wanted to do yet, she would see what was going on and go from there.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall-

Leona walked towards the magic signatures and eventually found their sources. One of them was a silver-haired young woman in a black and white dress. The other was longtime guild member Yuvon Mu-Myu. Leona looked at them and noticed that Yuvon had two cups of hot chocolate, one for the stranger and one for himself. Leona did not need hot chocolate because she had coffee and in her opinion coffee was the best drink for cold weather.

The silver-haired stranger was obviously cold and miserable, but it was not just the cold weather that had her in a miserable mood. It was something else besides the cold, something that Leona did not know yet. Taking a sip from the cup and deciding that it was time to introduce herself, Leona walked towards them and spoke.

"Hi there. What's going on?" Leona asked the two people. That was not the best introduction she could have made, but Leona did not feel like standing on ceremony right now. There would be plenty of time to amaze the silver-haired stranger with her exalted titles later.

[Post Word Count: 512]
[Leona's Word Count: 512]

The maid flinched as his hand touched her head but as she came to realise that he was simply trying to comfort her, Charlotte relaxed a little and let him do so. It was becoming harder to speak and the tears weren’t stopping, her sadness coming to the surface, after having desperately tried to hold it in for so long. He seemed curious about her magic and she tried her best to answer, her voice still clearly shaky, “Not just any spider but the queen of spiders. When I...made my escape from my master’s mansion, I took on the form of the creature. It was the strangest feeling I’d ever felt before. For the first time in my life, he...was afraid of me. It was like I...I fed off his own fear and it made me stronger. My whole lower body turned to that of a massive black spider and my fear seemed to melt away. When I was in that form, I felt more confident but as soon as it faded, all of the fear came back and I ran for my life. It’s like I said before, I still don’t know all of the abilities that my magic possesses.”

He soon moved on to comment about her story and outfit, with the maid gratefully accepting the handkerchief when it was offered to her. By now, her eyes were completely red and blotchy, with the silver haired girl complete and utterly ashamed of herself for bursting into tears so easily. She’d spent so long trying to psyche herself up while walking up the mountain and yet her resolve had broken the moment she’d touched on her own past. His words were a comfort to her but her own self doubt was clouding things. How on Earthland would she ever be able to go out on a job or protect people if she was going to burst into tears at the first sign of trouble? “It’s all I have to wear,” she admitted bitterly, “We weren’t paid or given any casual clothing. He just said that having us wear this always made him feel better, His eyes were always wandering.” She shivered then and fell silent once more.

She wasn’t quite sure how to answer his last suggestion at first and had to think for a bit. “None of my colleagues were particularly friendly but that was because they were just as scared as I was but knew that if his focus was...on me then they’d be safe. They never tried to do anything to help me. The only reason I was able to get away was due to my form change. He was even more horrible than usual that night and something inside me just snapped. One moment, he was on top of me and the next....I was standing over him...my hands around his throat.”

Charlotte jumped a little as she heard another voice and turned to see a blonde haired woman approaching, offering both herself and the masked man a greeting. She was a beautiful lady and even though the spider slayer wasn’t an expert on sensing magical power, she couldn’t miss the powerful aura that was coming from the coffee drinking woman. The red eyed maid had never felt anything like it before and she shivered again, before bending her knees, curtseying. “I’m sorry if my crying disturbed you, Madam. I was telling my tale and couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears. I’ve...had a rough time and am feeling rather lost. I’d hoped to join the Silver Wolves but I’ve...not made a very good impression. My name is Charlotte Chesterfield.”

(605 Words)
(2605 Charlotte's WC)
(5196 TWC)

Hmhhhhhhhhhh!

That there was such a creature as a ‘Queen of Spiders’ raised his intrigue hundredfold. Maybe her miserable past invoked the empathy of an otherworldly being that granted her such a transformation as a means of self-defense! That would be very much akin to many Minstrelian folktales, as ironic as that would sound given the norm of Minstrelian high abusing their subordinates. Damn…

Gladly, she did take the handkerchief and lift a bit of her worries. It was saddening to hear that the maid dress was her only outfit now, but at least it still looked very good on her, right? … Maybe he shouldn’t say that, given her next words about her Master’s reasoning behind her having worn it. She had a lot of burdens, and it would inevitably affect her life and, moreso, her interactions with other people. Would she be able to overcome her past someday?

… Well, with the help of Yuvon, anything was possible! ANYTHING!!!

He couldn’t help but gulp in worry, getting to know more details about her last encounter with her previous Master. She… if not for her transformation, she would’ve been broken that time. Even Yuvon’s heart ached in pain at the mere imagination, but thankfully, the mistress Leona and her entry lifted his spirits. Ohhhhh, dear Charlotte was beside herself and excused her sobbing, but Yuvon wouldn’t have any of that excusing!!!

“L-Leona!” he almost cried out, clapping his hands as tears dropped out of his mask, “In the end, it is within your authority as the Alpha of Silver Wolf, but I know that you’re an exceptionally selfless patron, so may you heed my request? I strongly suggest that you let my Drapeau Soeur join our ranks… a-actually, Charlotte! If you can transform into your aforementioned state, then that would be most delightful…!” He would even grab Charlotte’s hands and hold them together like a hopeful father, both hoping to see her transformed state as well as letting Leona know just what Charlotte is capable of…

WC: 337
TWC: 5533

Leona looked at the silver-haired youth and listened to her apologize if the latter's crying had disturbed her. She then saw the youth bend her knees and curtsy. The blonde's face turned red from embarrassment. She did not expect shows of subservience whenever she entered the room.

"It's OK, Charlotte. You didn't disturb me at all. I was just getting some coffee. And you don't have to curtsy to me." Leona told the silver-haired youth. Leona was not doing anything important at the time. She was just thinking about whether she should commit the time and effort to finding magical ingredients with which to make a new knife, but that was not something that demanded her undivided attention. It was a personal project of hers that was an effort to actually do something related to the guild mission, but it could safely be set aside at any point.

Besides, Leona already had two knives that were perfectly serviceable. She did not need to hurry and make a new one right this instant. She needed to take her time and find exactly the right ingredients she needed to make the effect she wanted the new knife to have.

Leona recalled the explanation Charlotte had given for her behavior and was glad that she had not said anything other than a simple greeting and a simple question. Charlotte had explained that she had endured a difficult time and was feeling lost. She also stated to Leona her desire to join Silver Wolf.

Leona then turned to Yuvon, a longtime guild member who had been a member of Silver Wolf for even longer than Leona. He had implored her to let his "Drapeau Soeur" join Silver Wolf. Leona did not know what exactly a "Drapeau Soeur" was, but she was fairly sure that it had to do with Charlotte. The Wizard Saint did not see any reason why Charlotte could not join the guild.

"I don't have any problem with Charlotte joining Silver Wolf." Leona said to Yuvon directly and Charlotte indirectly. Moments later she recalled the masked mage asking the silver-haired youth if she could transform into her "aforementioned state." Leona was not sure what exactly that meant, but she was going to do her best to find out.

"Aforementioned state? What's Yuvon talking about?" Leona asked Charlotte in a non-confrontational manner.

[Post Word Count: 390]
[Leona's Word Count: 902]
[Total Word Count: 5,923]

As she listened to Yuvon and Leona talk to each other, it clicked in Charlotte’s mind as to just who the blonde woman was, resulting in her nerves returning in full force. The coffee drinking woman was the leader of Silver Wolf and despite how friendly she was acting, the spider slayer couldn’t help but feel slightly awed by her. Still, she took a few deep breaths and tried to collect herself, focusing on what the two guild members were saying to her. The maid’s confidence was in tatters by now and she did feel a little weak in the knees after crying so much.

Yet, a small window of sunlight seemed to burn through her unhappiness as Leona seemed to be happy with the maid joining the ranks of the guild and Charlotte felt a slight sense of relief at that. She had truly feared that she’d blown her chance, due to her embarrassing show of weakness and yet, that didn’t seem to have been the case at all. Perhaps she’d focused too much on the negatives, assuming that all guilds were based on strength alone. Maybe her desire of simply wanting to join because she wished to find a family was enough after all? For a moment or two, a smile crossed her maidly features.

Until Yuvon mentioned her using her powers in front of himself and the Alpha, as he had referred to Leona as. The smile faded and for a few moments, she felt rather reluctant to do as he asked but after dwelling on it, she decided that perhaps it would be for the best if she did. Better to face any scrutiny now then later and what could they say that her master hadn’t said before about her?

Before she did so, the silver haired girl turned to the guildmaster and meekly said, answering her question. “My slayer magic allows me to take on the form of the Arachnea herself, the queen of spiders and the source of my powers. It’s not a state that I’ve taken on often and I’m still not quite sure just what it's capable of but I hope that in time, I will. I’m still coming to terms with my magic and figuring out how it all works but I...I will take on the form now, if it will please you both.”

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte would attempt to tap into her powers, allowing them to come to the surface and fuse with her. A pitch black aura would burst from her, surrounding and seeming to embrace the meek mage, before enveloping her completely. Once that stage was reached, the aura began to expand in size, while inside it, Charlotte began to change form. The whole process would take about a minute or so but when it ended, the maid would certainly appear differently to Leona and Yuvon. From the waist up, she would appear to be the same but her lower body and legs had turned jet black and become spider-like in appearance, giving her the appearance of the creature of legend. She stood at between seven and eight feet and was able to look down on her hopefully future guildmates.

For a moment, she didn’t say anything, before asking in a rather anticlimactic way. “...So, what do you think?”

(554 Words)
(3159 Charlotte's WC)
(6477 TWC)

Oh, heavens bless his Mistress! Heavens bless thou, Leona!

Maybe Charlotte didn’t have to push herself to transform again right now – Leona had already decided to let Charlotte join their guild and become a fellow Wolf, a Gamma to be precise. Ohhh, what a merry event! He could only imagine the kinds of adventures he and the delicate country-sibling would share from this point on; everything was slowly rising up on the horizon of tomorrow…!

Oh, actually… yeah, Yuvon’s sharp sight spotted the change in the atmosphere. Maybe it was still a reluctant decision for Charlotte to transform in front of just anybody, but she surprisingly went on with it, triggering him to bring out his notebook and pen as he drew the form that Charlotte took, a form presumably inspired by the form of Arachnea herself.

He quickly noticed the long time taking her to transform… yes, she wasn’t used to it. With more experience in such a large-scale transformation spell, he would expect her to cut it down to a couple seconds. The more comfortable she got with her Magic, the easier it’d be to channel it through her own flesh and blood. It was all about adaptation and experience.

D-Damn, she was tall now. Her rear end, from abdomen to all the way down her legs, had transformed into the back body of a pitch-black arachnoid, rising her view above both of the other Wolves. Yuvon had to scratch some of the details in his drawing and exchange them with what he was seeing now, preferring authentic descriptions above all. “Well, don’t you look very intimidating now, my dear friend…?” he jokingly commented on the presentation, “So this must be Arachnea’s doing? A sort of defense-mechanism, perhaps… a bigger size does make most enemies rethink their actions.”

WC: 300
TWC: 6777

Leona calmly took another sip of coffee and listened to Charlotte tell her and Yuvon about her magic, which let her assume the form of "Arachnea" herself. Leona had never heard of this "Arachnea" before today, but Charlotte described her as both the "queen of spiders" and the origin of her powers. The silver-haired youth went on to explain that she did not assume that form very often and that she was not sure what capabilities it had but expressed the hope that one day she would learn more about the form. She then stated that she would assume the form in question for Yuvon and Leona.

Leona watched as a pitch-black aura emanated from Charlotte and engulfed her after first embracing her. The silver-haired youth was then shrouded in the aura while the Wizard Saint watched with more than a little concern. About a minute or so later Charlotte emerged from the aura as a changed mage.

Charlotte's upper half had not changed at all, but from the waist down she had changed dramatically. She now had eight legs and a large abdomen; both features were pitch-black. Leona was visibly surprised by how drastically Charlotte's appearance had changed in the space of a minute. In her new form the mage was a good two or three feet taller than Yuvon and Leona; in fact Charlotte literally looked down on both of them.

Speaking of Yuvon, when asked what he had thought of the transformation the masked mage had hypothesized that Charlotte's larger size was a type of defense mechanism. According to him, the size increase was meant to intimidate potential adversaries and make them reconsider attacking Charlotte. While Leona was not certain about the truth behind her guildmate's hypothesis, it certainly made sense. Leona did not have a good alternative to propose, so she let Yuvon's hypothesis go unchallenged and instead commented on Charlotte's transformation.

"I've never seen someone use a spider-based transformation magic before, Charlotte. Your transformation's certainly impressive. The size and the coloration of your new features makes for a striking image." Leona gave her honest opinion while hoping that she did not upset Charlotte with her words.

The Wizard Saint was not lying when she claimed that the transformation was impressive. The combination of the size and the pitch-black coloration of the silver-haired mage's new features made Charlotte look more than a little intimidating without her having to really try to be intimidating. The visual image of Charlotte with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider was certainly a striking one, one that Leona would not soon forget.

[Post Word Count: 438]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,340]
[Total Word Count: 7,215]

The maid wasn’t sure how they would respond to her transformation but they at least didn’t seem to be mocking her, which she appreciated. It was an unusual feeling being in her spider form and it was as if her nerves seemed to lessen whenever she took it, as though Arachnea herself was soothing her worries somehow. The truth was that she just hadn’t experimented enough yet with her magic and there were so many questions that she didn’t have the answers to. All she could say right now was that she did enjoy her spider form and although she was hardly intimidating, she could see the reason behind Yuvon’s hypothesis. “I’m not sure what impression this form is supposed to convey but I think you might be right. Fear is one of the elements that I’m able to control and it would make sense if that’s what my form is supposed to inspire. Not that I’m the most intimidating person…” There was a little self deprecation there but compared to how she’d been just a few moments ago, she felt rather more happy. Neither Yuvon nor Leona had talked badly about her magic which gave her confidence a nice little boost.

She found Leona’s comment rather surprising and her eyes turned to the beautiful blonde woman. “Really? You’ve never seen spider magic before?” Charlotte couldn’t help but be a little taken aback but perhaps she shouldn’t have been. What did she even truly know about the magical world? Not a lot. Perhaps it was just a case that her form of magic was rather rare. It was a nice thought and the idea that maybe hers was unique gave her yet another confidence boost. “I thank you for the compliment though. I have taken quite a liking to this form, even if I don’t know what it’s truly capable of yet. There are a few tricks that I’ve learned though.”

With a mischievous smile that she hadn’t shown before, Charlotte would briefly manipulate the element of shadow around herself, causing the spider-like maid to completely vanish from view. She was gone for about thirty seconds or so, before reappearing behind Yuvon. “Surprise.” She uttered with a sweet chuckle, hoping that perhaps she might have managed to get a little yelp of surprise out of him. “I think that my magic is more of a stealth type than a direct damage one but I hope that I’ll be able to help the guild with it.”

(415 Words)
(3574 Charlotte's WC)
(7630 TWC)

Clapping his notebook shut for now, Yuvon was genuinely surprised – both by the unique transformation and the fact that even Leona, the Guild Mistress – the One Who Tames Scorching Winds, the undefeatable Sword of Qafas, the Star of the Three Kingdoms herself – had never seen anyone utilize a spider-based pseudo-Takeover spell before… but truth be told, there was a certain person whom this theme of arachnoids reminded the golden-masked Silver Wolf Mage of. An old friend who, unlike Charly – o-okay, better call her Charly from now on, then – stayed in such a form indefinitely.

“F-Fear? Wait, but w-why would a fair maiden such as you channel the power of such…?” he cut in her exhibition, already answered by her that she, too, didn’t see herself as an intimidating person… no, not by a longshot. She was, at first glance, a delicate sculpture – one to draw awe from, not to fear! For him, it was obvious that she was Minstrelois, and that only added to the comfort that he was able to share with her. Now, imagine adding the element of fear as a power for her to control… nooooo, it wasn’t fair. Maybe he simply adored her too much to associate her with such a terrifying potential, but who knew…?

“Is that true, my Mistress? Surely, someone of your caliber must’ve at least encountered an illusion-based wave of spiders flooding you… or, at least, a giant arachnoid creature? They can cast arcana, too – I’ve seen it with my very own eyes, even,” he added to Charlotte’s curious notion towards Leona, a woman he most looked up to despite her very down-to-earth nature, “Huuuuee, I once even got bit by an arachnoid from Sin. Did you know that their venom doesn’t actually harm you? It just made all my belongings glue to my skin for a whole week… I was a living Papier-mâché sculpture, really! Hahaha…” It was an unpleasant memory.

What was pleasant to hear was that Charlotte, despite the terrors she’d lived through according to her tale, actually enjoyed her Magic and even this form of hers. There was still a foundation of self-satisfaction that she was able to feed, and it warmed his heart to hear that. His heart, however, grew chilly when she suddenly disappeared into her own shadow – her aura, her Magical Signature as one would call it, had been cloaked under a wave of suppressing mana, a wide-spread utility in clouding one’s presence during an act of stealth. He… stayed silent for a few seconds, then began to laugh loudly. “I see, I see! So you’ve not only tamed fear, but the absence of light as well! Marveous! Simply marvelou- yip!”


With both arms in the air, Yuvon spotted her right behind him and let out probably what she was aiming for. “N-Now, now, y-you can’t just spook me like that – I, well, I know it’s Halloween soon, though… w-wait, no, no, dear Seeker, everything’s fine! As you can see, I’m unharmed and unthreatened, so please do return to Apocrypha…” Suddenly, Yuvon was speaking to someone who was looming riiiiiiiiiiiiight behind Leona; a cloaked entity with tendrils protruding from its body, two pairs of veiny arms, a hairy coat for a fur-like pelt and a face most resembling Yuvon’s mask. It was making a deep, quiet brumming… but it heeded his reassurance and faded into spawned tentacles which pulled it into an invisible portal, soon to disappear completely.

“… O-Oh, that fancy entrance does remind me; Leona, have you ever visited my brain?” If slow on the take, he meant the pocket dimension of his, “I have yet to take you on a tour around Silver Wolf’s most trusted, secure and vast archive, have I not~?”

WC: 621
TWC: 8251

Leona sipped from her coffee cup and listened to Yuvon and Charlotte talk before the newcomer directed a question to the Wizard Saint. She recalled that Charlotte's question concerned whether Leona had seen spider magic before. The blonde took a few moments to come up with a good answer for that question before speaking. She then recalled that she had seen spider magic before; in fact two users of spider magic she had met were once members of Silver Wolf.

However, she was having trouble remembering their names right away.

She lowered her empty coffee cup before answering the question.

"I've seen spider magic a few times before, Charlotte. I've also seen spider people. However, I've never seen Spider Take-Over Magic before meeting you." Leona calmly gave her answer after carefully choosing her words. She hoped that the tone in which she delivered the answer would not come across like she was being condescending to Charlotte because that was not her intent. The Wizard Saint then turned her attention to Yuvon, who was incredulous over Leona's earlier confession to the silver-haired young woman.

"I have seen spider magic a few times in the past, but I haven't seen it very often, Yuvon. The last time I saw any in action was at least two years ago when it was used by a former guild member who was a spider-person. And I've never seen Spider Take-Over Magic before meeting Charlotte." Leona politely told Yuvon in an effort to correct any possible misconceptions. She had seen a lot of different magic types over the years, but she had not seen spider magic very often. As a result she had little idea what it could do just like Charlotte was uncertain about everything her Spider Take-Over magic could do.

Speaking of Charlotte, where was she? She was standing in front of the blonde only a moment ago. Leona looked around to try and find the silver-haired young woman. After a short time spent searching their surroundings she looked behind the gold-masked mage and saw Charlotte reappear, a sight which caused her to jump in place because it had been awhile since she had encountered stealth magic like that. The last time she had seen invisibility magic used was in Desierto a little over two years ago during a fight in a mine with some bandits who could use invisibility magic to disappear from sight and move around unseen before attacking from unexpected angles.

Once she recovered from the surprise of Charlotte's disappearing act Leona saw Yuvon talking to someone who was not her or Charlotte. He was looking in the Wizard Saint's direction, but he was not talking to her. If he was not talking to her, then who was he talking to?

Leona slowly turned around and screamed when she came face to face with some weird... thing with what looked like fur and multiple arms plus a mask that shared quite a few similarities with Yuvon's mask, but she did not examine it in any great detail because she was startled by the strange being and was worried about it attacking her. She was glad her coffee cup was empty because if it had had anything in it she would have thrown coffee on either herself or on the being standing before her. If she had thrown hot coffee on it her remaining lifespan would likely have been measured in seconds.

After a few tense moments it eventually disappeared into an odd-looking portal and she turned back to face Yuvon, who had spoken to her. He had asked her a very interesting question, one that took her a moment to fully understand. If she understood it at all, that was.

"I can't say that I've ever been inside your brain before, Yuvon." Leona said to Yuvon as politely as possible. She did not know much about Yuvon other than he was a guild member who had been a part of Silver Wolf even longer than Leona and that he really liked books. Perhaps she could learn a bit about him at some point in the future... if her schedule ever let her stop moving long enough to do so.

"I haven't been on a tour of the archive either, Yuvon." Leona answered the second part of his question. She was not sure where the archive in question was, but she had never been to it. Maybe Yuvon would take her on a tour one day.

[Post Word Count: 744]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,084]
[Total Word Count: 8,995]

She achieved precisely the reaction that she’d been looking for and Charlotte was rather proud of the fact that she could get the jump on mages who were more powerful than her. The maid was pretty sure that it was a key part of her magic and when she pondered about the spells she’d already used before, it made sense. Direct combat wasn’t her strongest suit and to hit her opponents by surprise worked best. Soon enough, she’d have to try and enter her inner world to speak to Arachnea properly, if such a thing could be done. There was so much that she needed to ask and perhaps with the help of the creator of her magic, she could reach her potential. Of course, she’d take any help she could get and the nervous teenager was hopeful that the members of the guild would help her on her way too.

The spider hybrid was soon to have a nasty surprise of her own though as Yuvon suddenly summoned something rather strange. She couldn’t even describe it and it truly looked as though it was something from her nightmares. Clicking her front legs in fright, Charlotte would’ve fired out a web on impulse but the creature thankfully disappeared before she could do so. She felt foolish for having been so easy to scare after what she’d just done but it was the way it was. Even in her spider form, it was sometimes hard to keep her timidity in check and an introverted frown crossed her features. Was her confidence bruised that easily?

The conversation then turned towards Yuvon’s brain, a topic that the maid had no knowledge whatsoever of and she honestly thought was a little too strange for her. She felt out of her depth and unfortunately, it started to result in a side effect of her magic emerging. Her nervousness and fear began to radiate outwards, affecting those around her. It would look like a pulse was emanating from her and although it didn’t do any damage as such, it wouldn’t exactly leave those who felt it feeling all that great. She didn’t even notice that it was happening at first and only when she glanced down at the floor and noticed that her magical aura was darkening did she realise. With a nervous wafting of her hands, she managed to cancel the spell but it left her looking a little red faced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It seems to happen whenever I become overwhelmed.” Her tone had become rather meek once again.

(430 Words)
(4004 Charlotte WC)
(9425 TWC)

… O-Oh, maybe the Seeker’s revelation was a bit over the line. Both Leona and Charlotte showed such strong reactions to its appearance, which honestly nudged Yuvon’s temple a lot – what was there to be scared of? The Seeker was just a construct of his own mana, and it followed his every command. It had no intentions of harming them and never would for as long as Yuvon never would. And poor Charly looked even worse for wear; her frontal limbs were shaking in fear from the appearance of the summon, and even after its disappearance, there was still… wait, was Charly releasing a wave of mana right now? What kind of spell was that?

It felt… so uncomfortable. It targeted his psyche, huh, changing his perception of his own state of mind… what a subtle spell, though! He could clearly see the pulse of colors, resembling her release of mana, bathe over them before she waved the spell away. The masked librarian quickly regained his mood, despite how awful he felt a moment earlier. “A-Uh, uhm… n-no, no, it’s understood – you do seem to have quite a lack of finesse in the finer aspects of magic control… but once you catch up to everyone else here in Silver Wolf, such inconveniences will never befall you again! Mmph!” he proudly promised her with a clenched fist bumped to his chest.

Charly had a long way to go, that much was clear… but one step at a time, and she’d definitely reach the realm of the highest. Speaking of that realm, Leona was among them, and she expressed curiosity in the archive – that being linked to Yuvon’s brain and all. Her curiosity was sweet music to his ears, and he soon found himself blushing in awe. “W-Well, anytime you want, I can show you all how my Apocrypha is laid out! And do feel free to help me establish my Elder Books around the guild hall – that way, I can gain everyone in the guild access to my brain and archive without my presence…”

Now, holy shit, he just said that he’d gain everyone access to his brain, right? Well, that was Yuvon for ya – if there was any chance of you learning anything from him, why not take that chance? He was a librarian, after all; they enabled people access to documents, books and other sources of intel, and his brain was a vast archive filled to the edge with papers and constructions.

“Say… after Charly achieves her Wolf’s Mark, may I allow her to escort me to Hosenka? The blueprints for better water-leading tubes that Robinson requested are ready,” Yuvon suggested to the Guild Mistress, quickly lifting up a rolled-up, blue sketch with the recipes and methods required to modulate a sort of new alloy that was resistant to boiling-hot temperatures over long periods of time. Another effect was that the tubes were extremely insulative, so that people could touch the filled-up tubes without scorching themselves.

It sounded like a simple but still important mission for Charly to tag along in. One path of growing stronger was pure, abstract experience, and that was a fact.

WC: 526
TWC: 9951