Arachne

 

- Talisa -

 

Nerysi just transformed into her spider form.

I need to say, she's beautiful.
Already her human form, despite its limitations in appeal, showed hints of her elegant nature, but now it's fully revealed.
Sharp, glistening, silver-grey legs with just the right thickness, and a slender midriff.
Truly, a picture of aesthetic wonder.

Although rather small, I can tell that in a fight she would be a reaper of death, each limb its own scythe, with poison that will grant eternal sleep.
As miraculous as her appearance might seem to me, she appears to be having even more trouble dealing with this.
She’s shifting around, allowing all of her purple eyes to scan the room, while she's trying to figure out the weight distribution of her new form.
After all, this is the first time she truly has to rely on her real legs to lift her up.
Not just the lacking stumps her human form provides.
While, according to Kyroki, the understanding of her movement should come naturally to her, she seems to need a bit to adapt.

However, the thing that concerns me right now is her mentality.
It's clear that such a transformation would be a problem for her.
Her current demeanor and the signals she's emitting are telling me just that.

 

"Nerysi, calm down! There's no reason to be distressed. The strain should be gone soon. It will wear off!" (T)

 

Hm, unfortunately, she's not reacting.
I try moving towards her, but the moment I approach too closely, she swings a leg at me.
Worryingly, the strike manages to slash clean through my sleeves and the padding on the ground.
Her legs are truly dangerously sharp.

 

"Skchhh!" (N)

"Nerysi! This behavior is unbecoming!" (T)

 

She doesn't seem inclined to listen.
But how should we calm her down then?

 

"Neri?!" (L)

 

Her familiar?
I haven't interacted with her yet, but she seems appropriately invested in her matriarch's wellbeing.
However, now she drops to the ground, holding her head as if trying to block noise that isn't there.

 

"What can we do?!" (A)

"I don't know, but we need to act!" (M)

 

Masiabi runs towards Nerysi, but the newly formed spider lashes out again.
Even Masiabi's focus on strength wouldn't work to hold this bundle of blades.
Also, she's showing great hostility.
Which is very unusual for our innocent little pacifist.

 

"Kyroki, do you know what is going on?" (E)

 

Yes.
Kyroki might be able to grant some insight into this situation.

 

"Considering the reaction of her familiar, I'd say they're dealing with a massive mental onslaught. Or in other words, our little sister is experiencing a mental breakdown." (K)

"Then what do we do?!" (A)

"Well, if we could get her under control I might be able to get her in order again." (K)

"Fine. The goal is set. Let's overwhelm her together." (T)

 

Together we try to drive her into a corner, dodging her frequent strikes in our direction.
None of us changes into spider form, as this would just make her worse.
Yet I start to form a web to limit her movements.
However, her ability to easily cut them is going to make the application difficult.
So I have to wait for the right opportunity.

Suddenly, her familiar jumps up and runs at us.

 

"Stop it! Stop torturing her!" (L)

 

I have no choice but to tie her up with the prepared web, but Nerysi takes the chance to rush through us to the only exit.
Masiabi holds her for a moment, supported by Akasia, but she's acting so wildly that they are thrown off, and a moment later, she's gone.
Meanwhile, her familiar just lies sobbing in the web.

 

"That was odd. No matter how affected she is, would Nerysi really leave her familiar behind?" (A)

"Kyroki said she isn't thinking straight." (E)

"After seeing that, I'd even go one step further." (K)

"Like what?" (A)

"I think Neri's human mind shut off. All the mental load got too heavy for her and so she simply stopped thinking. Even her familiar is only acting on an instinctual order." (K)

"That's too complicated for me. What do you mean?" (M)

"Sigh! I mean that Neri's human brain is completely not home anymore, so she's solely acting on her spider instincts. Right now, those are probably only concerned with escaping." (K)

 

This might be the epitome of irony.
Her fear of spiders is making her fully immerse herself as one.

 

"What can we do now!?" (E)

 

The others are at a loss.
I need to come up with something!

 

"Masiabi! Get behind Nerysi! Don't approach her, just keep track of her location and report." (T)

"Got it!" (M)

 

And she's off.
Now let's proceed.

 

"Eritu, let your familiars maintain the area around our sister. Stay in contact and block off the routes she shouldn't take. But avoid upsetting her any further." (T)

"Sure!" (E)

 

This should prevent the greatest harm, but it's not bringing us any closer to a solution.

 

"What about her?" (A)

 

Akasia points at Nerysis formerly human familiar.

 

"Try getting her back to her senses. Her mental bond might tell us more about Nerysi's state." (T)

 

That leaves one.

 

"Kyroki, do you have any ideas regarding how to solve this?" (T)

"The physical condition that caused her transformation should have worn off by now. Her mentality is an issue though. I might concoct something to calm her down, but I wouldn't bet on it ending her current state of mind." (K)

"Then what would?" (T)

"Reassurance? Not the artificial kind provided by something that forces her body to rest. No, her troubled mind needs serious tender care. So I hope you won't look at me for this." (K)

"You're saying she needs a hug?" (T)

"Apparently, you aren't listening to me. No, not just a hug! Nothing that is forced onto her. She’s had enough of that! She needs to feel that she's safe and that no one wants to do to her anything she considers to be bad. Just so you understand, this includes any kind of training you routinely subject her to. Anyone who does this won't qualify as a suitably calming influence." (K)

 

That's not good.
Akasia might work appealing to her human side, but it's a widely spread web that might not catch on.

 

"What if we just wait? Won't she calm down by herself?" (T)

"Maybe, maybe not. Her mental state might come to permanent harm from being like this for too long." (K)

"SHIT!!!" (T)

"Sister!?" (K)

"Sorry. I lost my calm. We need to hurry and help her immediately!" (T)

"If you say so. As I mentioned before, I'm going to concoct something to soothe her nerves." (K)

 

Yes... whatever works.

I don't know what exactly we can do.
We aren't "reassuring" to Nerysi.
No, Neri, as that's her human self.
She sees us as oppressing.

I look back at her familiar.
She seems to have recovered a little, though, not by much.
It's good that she wasn't given any concrete orders she still needs to act upon.
It was apparently only an instinctual sense to aid her matriarch.
Yet it doesn't bring us much closer to a solution.

While she's the closest we have to a human, she'll immediately get influenced again once she strays too close to Nerysi.
Still, Akasia does a good job getting her back up again.

 

"Hey, little one. Everything's alright. Can you tell me something about Neri's state?" (A)

 

I won't chastise her about using the name we agreed upon.
Right now, this is what the familiar wants to hear.
Everything else would send the wrong signal.

 

"She, she's confused and afraid. She wants to get out... Away from here... Away from her fears." (L)

 

Just as we thought.
Though, it's hard to hear this so clearly.
This nest is meant to be her home, not something she needs to run from.

 

"Please, lead us back to her. I know you can follow your link. We need to help her." (A)

"Are you really going to help her?" (L)

 

The tears in that familiar's eyes tell just how unstable she is.

 

"None of us wants to see her in this state. Yet for it to end, we need to calm her down. Can you accept this?" (T)

"Y-yes. I think I can." (L)

 

Good.
One hurdle taken.

Moments later, we are moving to Nerysi's location.
Guided by Masiabi's relays regarding where she went and this Liana familiar's input about the way her matriarch intends to take, we follow.
The information of her familiar we also use to have Eritu's familiars crowd those tunnels.

Even now, Neri doesn't want to confront them.
At the same time, I have my familiars block the tunnels to prevent Nerysi's familiars from joining her side, or the situation would become uncontrollable.
By doing so, we ultimately guide her into the main hall.

Naturally, we cleared it out first, or Nerysi, as I call her spider form now, would go on a rampage.
This is our only chance since she's very fast.
Neri's familiar meanwhile, gets loaded off and secured at a safe distance, and then we approach.
Masiabi is the first to get near her, but she's just as aggressive as before.
If not worse.

Masiabi had just enough time to change into her spider form before she would've been skewered.
Now, albeit reluctantly, she fights back.
It's a surprisingly fierce battle, given all of Masiabi's experience and greater strength.
While she's far more durable, Nerysi's legs are all extremely sharp, and she uses them to perform many quick slashes and stabs.

Once Nerysi grows the slightest bit tired, it's our turn.
With prepared webs, we begin to catch our little sister.
By throwing the lines next to Nerysi and circling around her, we eventually manage to restrict her movements.

 

"Sccchhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

 

Which she doesn't like one bit.
She's still angry and slicing all the time at the strands, so they have to be continuously reapplied.
But at least Masiabi can now return to her human form for appearance's sake.
Though, this doesn't help to calm her down in the slightest.

 

"Please, sister! Wake up!" (M)

 

It doesn't help.
Even if I wish it would.

 

"Sister! Please!" (E)

"You need to calm down!" (A)

 

Abruptly, Kyroki's frail form rushes into the hall.
Her spindly thin legs find purchase on the threads around Nerysi's spider body, where she doesn't waste any time and stings her.
A moment later, her body relaxes in its binds.
Nonetheless, I can even now feel her distress.
This just isn’t helping!

But I want to!
I want to help this young one.
This cute spider princess.
My little sister!

And that fragile little girl!

 

"Neri!" (T)