2-Chapter 25: Anastasia Pt 2

After pushing the large black stoned doors, Lucilla and the others walked into the dimly lit room. Pale blue light came from the light crystals fixed to the row pillars on either side of the room. A well worn-out red carpet ran along the floor towards a dilapidated throne located in the back of the room.

The high ceiling held a massive web. Connected to the pillars and the wall, the large web covered the entire room, reaching down towards the ground in some places. The chandeliers the hung above were dark and caught in the spiders webbing, clearly meant to help support the webs. Despite the clear disrepair in some places, such as the throne and parts of the wall, the place looked to be cleaned regularly. For whatever reason the occupant decided not to fix anything.

As they approached the center of the room, they could hear something above them. Looking up revealed nothing, but the gentle sway of the web here and there. Squinting in the darkness Lucilla thought she could see a large shadow moving directly above them. Once they reached the center of the room, a voice called out to them.

"Welcome." A silky-smooth voice greeted them from somewhere above. "Is that Cristina I see? My, it has been sometime since we last talked."

"Sure has." Cristina spoke. She didn't like being here. She didn't have a problem with normal sized spiders, but the giant spider bodies on Arachne creeped her out. Even just the normal giant spiders made her uncomfortable.

"So, what brings you all here?" Asked the voice.

Everyone looked to Lucilla. Rolling her eyes in annoyance Lucilla responded to who she presumed was the Arachne Queen.

"We came here to request assistance from you, and some new equipment I guess." She answered. "Lady Nielia sent us. Also, Sara prosperty is here with me."

"You come to me for a favor? Why would I do something like that?" The voice asked from their right. "Did you think having the girl with you would make me want to help?"

"Uh, Nielia said you guys were friends? So, I guess she figured you would help?" Lucilla didn't really know what their relationship was like, but if Anastasia and Nielia didn't get along... this little trip suddenly became much more annoying.

"Ha! like an Archangel wishes to befriend us mortals." The voice said from above and to their left. "We're more of acquaintances than anything."

"Are you not worried she'll retaliate against you?" Morella hesitantly asked. "She's quite the powerful enemy to have."

"She may be powerful, but she can't stray too far from that little lake of hers." They answered from behind them. "That's why she sent you here instead of coming herself. I think I'll be fine."

"So, you won't even entertain the idea of helping?" Lucilla asked getting agitated. If she wasn't even going to help, then this trip was for nothing and Nielia wasted their time.

"I never said I wouldn't help. Just don't expect it to be free." The voice said ahead of them. "All you have to do is a small little favor."

"Tell us what we have to do then you have a deal." Lucilla said a little more satisfied. Though she was still a little dismayed she was once again doing some type of task for someone else to get something else. Couldn't she just find herself in a situation where money would suffice for once?

"Absolutely." The Arachne responded as she revealed herself.

The Queen descended from the giant web directly above the throne. Despite her massive size she quietly and gently landed on the floor. Her fuzzy silver colored lower half approached them much faster than her size would've suggested, her eight legs scurrying across the ground. She stopped a few feet in front of Lucilla and the others.

She looked a lot like other Arachne, her doll like features looking slightly off somehow, like a porcelain doll one would find in their grandmother's house. With an indented line extending from the corners of her lips, indicating her real mouth was much larger than it appeared at first glance. Unlike her niece they met before, her carapace, that had the same appearance as skin, was white in color and made her look pale.

Though there were some differences between them, one of which was the fact her spider half had a head. The spider head looked at the group with eight crimson eyes its mouth full of fangs making them uncomfortable. The Queen's face was also slightly different. She only had two eyes located on her human head, her red irises looking at Lucilla and the other with curiosity. Her human body was located in the space between her spider head and the rest of the body, making it look like she was just a normal person riding a giant spider from some angles.

While everyone else took an involuntary step back, either from fear or just their natural instincts rejecting the sight in front of them, Lucilla didn't move an inch. Seeing this Anastasia tilted her head to the side, a small smile appeared on her face. It wasn't often someone weaker than her didn't either cower in fear or put on a brave front to keep their pride intact.

Though unlike some people who were foolishly brave, not realizing their own weakness, the woman in front of her didn't appear to be like that. She wasn't scared and she wasn't trying to size her up. It looked as if she simply didn't see a reason to view her as an enemy and be weary of her or see her as an object of fear. She didn't even appear to feel unsettled by the sight of her.

This was unprecedented and Anastasia's interest in the Silver haired woman grew slightly. The reaction of her companions was more of what she was expecting. Even those within the lost country leveled wary looks in her direction when they saw her. The only ones that didn't react to her in a negative way were the few that were stationed in here. Even then it took them some time to grow used to her. There was only a small number of people located in the Citadel in the first place as well, and they would still keep their distance from her to a certain degree.

This made Lucilla the only person that wasn't her niece to seemingly react to her as a normal person. Looking the woman up and down Anastasia decided she would like to have a private conversation with her someday, but that would have to wait. They were here for something else, and it wouldn't do to derail the conversation too much.

Before she could say anything though she caught Lucilla whisper something under her breath, causing her to temporarily freeze.

"Beautiful."

To Lucilla, Anastasia was the most beautiful woman she's ever seen. To the degree she, without even realizing it, voiced her honest impression out loud. The Arachne woman in front of her froze in mild shock at being called beautiful, with her companions behind her also looking just as shocked as the one in front of her.

Lucilla couldn't help but find the woman in front of attractive. The red lipstick that Anastasia wore with her long black hair, the exact opposite to her own, with a silver streak running through it. Her hair was twisted into a long braid that came over her right shoulder was positively appealing to the monster woman. Her human half looked to be in their early twenties, roughly twenty-two. Though she was much older than that. The spider half of the woman looked just as adorable as she was beautiful to Lucilla's eye, making her entire figure pleasing to look at.

Despite her usual poker face Lucilla was feeling a bit flustered, like a young teenager sitting next to a girl they like. These past few days have been a wild twisting storm of emotions for Lucilla, and right now her heart was beating fast in an anxious rhythm. She was getting a similar feeling like she did when Cristina first flirted with her, but that was more out of bewildered shock of never being hit on before than actually being attracted to her.

No, this feeling was rawer and purer than that. Fortunately, this was still only her initial impression of the woman, so she was able to bring herself back under control fairly easily. She was still short of breath, and her heart was still notably beating as she heard the thumping in her ears. Yet none of that showed on her face.

'She could turn out to be like Cristina and just turn into a pain once I get to know her.' She thought as she calmed herself by taking a deep breath. 'An attractive woman doesn't mean anything. Focus, we have places to be.'

"So," She started. "What do you need us to do your Majesty?"

"Um, uh..." Anastasia blinked still frozen before she realized the woman in front of her spoke. "I'm not royalty, there's no need to give me a tittle." She answered.

"Then why are you called the Arachne Queen?" She asked with a small tilt of her head. "We even saw some of your retainers outside."

"That's just the name of my species. I'm an Arachne yes, but I'm a more advanced and evolved version." She answered. "As for my so-called retainers, the towns and villages that are within my territory decided, without consulting me mind you, to send people to serve me once every fifty years, give or take."

"Why would they do something like that? Feels like an unnecessary waste if it's not a requirement."

"I guess it's their version of a sacrifice to appease me?" She shrugged. "I refuse to eat people anymore, not without their express permission anyway. So instead, they just send people to help take care of my home. I didn't ask for it, but I'm not turning them away. I think there's about twelve to fifteen people in total that are currently working here, so not a lot considering the size of this place."

Ignore the implication that the spider woman in front of them was still completely fine with eating people if they gave their permission, Lucilla thought back on how decrypted the place looked. It made sense now, there just wasn't enough people to keep up with the upkeep this place required. Especially considering how old the complex was.

"Must be rough, seems like they put you in a position where you're forced to be in charge." Lucilla sympathized, thinking on how the people around her keep leaving many decisions to her discretion. It was especially frustrating when someone as capable as Judieth was one of those people. Even Morella left the decision making for her despite how naive and inexperienced she was to the world at large.

Lucilla couldn't help but glance in the direction of both of them, which prompted the two of them to look away from her. She rolled her eyes slightly not really caring, she knows why Morella does it. The problem was Judieth, who seems to share the same underlying reasoning as Morella; to have her make her own decisions and gain life experience, but there seems to be another hidden reason that she couldn't figure out.

"Exactly, I suddenly have a number of subordinates I never asked for." Anastasia nodded in confirmation, happy to find someone who understood her dilemma. "Sure, they're helpful every once in a while, but they tend to do stuff without even asking, thinking it'll please me or something."

She sighed. She tried explaining this to her niece once before, but the only response she got from her was, "That is to be expected auntie, these inferiors should be following you." Honesty it was just a headache for Anastasia.

Before the two of them knew it they started having a casual conversation. The dramatic tension Anastasia had set at the start had all but disappeared. Despite the two of them intending to move the conversation along a productive task, the both of them enjoyed the more friendly conversation at hand.

"They do come in handy sometimes." The spider woman eventually said. "Like for today, I noticed you ship approaching and I thought I might as well put on a show."

"A show? You mean the army of spiders we saw outside?" Lucilla questioned.

"Yes exactly." She confirmed. "With how I organized my niece and the other two you might think I had an organized militia, with the spiders making up a large portion with those three leading it."

"I did get that impression." Confirmed Lucilla.

"Yeah, that's not normal. I may have control over the giant spiders but keeping them in an orderly fashion like that for actual battle isn't really possible. Their intelligence is limited after all." She explained. "I also don't use the people here for any type of fighting personally. Whether or not they possess combat capabilities is completely separate from me."

"So, you don't really have any real organize fighting force?"

"None at all. What you saw was just for dramatic flair, a show of sorts. Same with how I introduced myself, I enjoy the performance of it all." She said with a smile, indicating she enjoyed the current topic of conversation.

Lucilla nodded at Anastasia with approval, she too appreciated the flare for dramatics and the love of performance. She wasn't as into it as the woman in front of her was, but she could understand where she was coming from. When she and the others did the small performance to introduce herself to the world as Lucilla Crimson, the entire act was her idea.

At that moment, she was absolutely nervous. She wasn't used to having such a large group of people watching her, but she did find it a little enjoyable in the end. She unfortunately couldn't do such things often. Revealing her true appearance when she intends to kill someone is one of the few ways of expressing her desire to be dramatic.

Everyone behind Lucilla looked on in wonder as the two monster women conversed with each other casually. They seemed to have taken some kind of liking to each other as they went from serious to everyday friends in no time at all. Cristina was especially bewildered since the last time she talked with Anastasia the Arachne gave off a more dignified disposition. Yet it seemed to have all disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Morella had a soft smile on her face. A warmth welled up in within her chest as she witnessed her younger sister get along with someone like this for the first time. Lucilla wasn't what one would call friendly or even a conversationist, and she most certainly didn't take a liking to people upon first meeting them.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stay here and talk forever, they needed to get back on track.

"Uh, Teach, we don't really have time for this." Before Lucilla and Anastasia could continue their conversation Sara decided to remind her teacher why they were here in the first place.

"Hm? Oh yeah." Lucilla looked at Sara when she felt her tug at her sleeve. Turning back to the spider woman in front of her she asked, "So what's this favor you wanted us to do?" She asked again.

Slightly disappointed at having her first real conversation in a while come to an end Anastasia got back to business. "It seems like the Kingdom of Purinia is holding some of my people captive. The stone that makes up this fortress can be found there, but for some odd reason they were detained at the border."

"I heard that the Kingdom has been actin' odd as of late, even merchants have started ta travel there less frequently than before." Cristina said, joining the conversation. "Only those that deal with them Royal Family directly seem to be comin' and goin'. That 'sbout all I know though, not much information be comin' from there these days."

"Yes, well we did notice the decrees in merchants heading to and from there, but we don't really concern ourselves with the other nations." Anastasia said.

The desert Kingdom Purinia could be found at the far east of the central continent. Surrounded by mountains from every direction but the west, it was extremely difficult to enter the kingdom without crossing the Lost country first.

Past the mountain range to its north was where the corrupt lands were located. An abysmal place where the dead walked freely. The earth itself is a rotting mess as the miasma that slowly drove one insane. A scare left in the world thanks to Eldon Vesh. A stark reminder to the people the terror and threat he had once posed long ago, so much so his actions still had an effect on the world even to this day.

The mountain range to the Kingdoms east had the vast ocean waiting behind it. The eastern mountain range was split in half by a vast put empty desert waste land that led to the ocean. A river flowing from the north flowed along the eastern mountain range and snaked its way towards the ocean. The Capital of the Kingdom was located between the river and the northern part of the eastern mountain range.

The river allowed them access to the ocean which in turn meant they had the most accessible way to make contact with Eastern Continent out of every other country on the Central Continent. Which meant they had a large monopoly on products coming from Mankind's homeland.

To the south were the Dwarven Mountains. An area covered with large mountains and vast valleys cutting between them. The volcanic area that made up the Dwarven Mountain range was so vast it was the second largest piece of land the Angelic race held, second only to the Empire. In the northeastern corner of these mountains, which was also where southeastern corner of Purinia was located, a small path that connected the two countries could be found.

Unfortunately, the path through the mountains was not only treacherous but difficult to navigate through. Many merchants tend to avoid that path for those reasons, making the rout through the lost city the only way to get to and from Purinia. The only people that used the other path were the Dwarves themselves, who had many secret tunnels running through the mountainous country.

Which meant that unless the country started trading with the Dwarves to the south, the number of recourses that they couldn't get an abundance of within their own country has drastically dwindled. This weirdness has yet to be noticed by any of the other countries, but it wouldn't be long before they became aware of the situation.

"So, we just have to find these people and get the country to release them again?" Lucilla asked.

"That would be preferable, though if you can't get them peacefully you can do what you need to get those people back." Anastasia said, "That country doesn't have the strength to launch any kind of campaign against us. I can't organize my spiders into a proper army, but I can still order them to defend my territory if needed. Fighting thousands of spiders isn't easy, organized or not."

A cold smile formed on the spider woman's lips as she continued speaking, "Any who try to take what belongs to me shall be punished accordingly."

For some odd reason a shiver ran down Lucilla's spine. Not one of fear, no this was something else, one she couldn't place. She shook her head, now wasn't the time to think about such things, they needed to do what needed to be done and leave.

"Oh, before any of that, what did you come her to request from me?" Anastasia asked with a smile, much warmer than the one she had just seconds ago.

"Nielia wanted to know if you would be willing to accept those that reside in the forest if they had to evacuate here. We would also like to get some new weapons that could stand up against the Hero's sword." Lucilla said. "Well, some of us, Judieth and Morella don't use melee weapons, they would be for me and Sara."

"Wait, what? Me? Why are we getting me a weapon?" Sara cried when Lucilla pointed at her. "I'm not fighting the Hero!"

"Just by having me around makes you a potential target, better safe than sorry." Lucilla said with a tinge of bitterness and self-loathing coating her words. "Even if you don't face the Hero directly getting you a pair of well-crafted daggers that can face even the Hero's sword should serve you well on a battlefield.

"Oh, yeah, I guess we are going to be on a battlefield." Sara muttered as she held her stomach. It seems like the situation she was finding herself in was finally starting to sink in. Her stomach churned as she tried to keep herself from throwing up.

Anastasia meanwhile was thinking of what type of material could withstand an enchanted blade like the Hero's. There weren't a lot of metals out there that could do that, other than using Angelic steel like the Hero. The problem with that is its rarity and the fact it could only be found on the Floating Continent. There was also the option of Demonic Steel that rivaled Angelic Steel. The metal was just as rare as Angelic Steel, but unlike the floating continent, which was hard to locate and get too, Demonic Steel was found underground. To be specific the underground continent surrounded by a large sea of magma.

Fortunately for them, Anastasia happened to have a small stash of said items. The problem with using Demonic Steel however was its ability to absorb miasma. Unlike its counterpart, the Angelic Steel, which would purify any Miasma it came into contact with, turning it back into Mana. Angelic steel was also capable of absorbing Mana to increase its strength over time.

Demonic Steel also had the ability to slowly absorb the Mana around it to increase in strength but was unable to Purify Miasma. Its unique ability to instead absorb and store Miasma in itself made it very dangerous. Any living thing that stayed too long near or within Miasma would slowly lose their minds as their bodies degraded over a long period of time.

There were ways to counteract such things however, one of the easiest ways was to avoid anywhere that had a high concentration of Miasma. One could also periodically use Purification magic to clear away any Miasma that might've been absorbed along with any number of magic items designed to fight impurities. Though the last option would get rather expensive very fast and even possibly the second if you didn't know anyone or know how to use Purification magic.

Despite this Anastasia still answered. "I do have Demonic Steel in my possession, but I highly doubt that girl there could handle the side effects."

"Demonic Steel!?" Morella, Judieth, and Cristina cried in alarm.

"You can't possibly be thinking of making weapons out of something so dangerous!" Morella roared, shocking Lucilla since she never sees the older Woman raise her voice. "I won't allow that, what would you do if Lucy were to lose control of herself?"

"I get that Demonic Steel would probably be the best material to fight the Hero with," Judieth spoke, "But, even though it doesn't generate a lot, a battlefield still generates Miasma, making it likely Lucilla could be negatively affected. Lucilla I wouldn't recommend this. There are plenty of other metals that can hold up against the Hero for a while."

"This isn't my place ta butt in," Cristina started, " But if you value yer sanity don't do this. It's said that Eldon Vesh was exposed to high levels of Miasma throughout his life and look how that turned out. He became one of tha world's most nefarious bein's."

Lucilla looked at them then back at Anastasia. She put her hand on her chin in thought, absentmindedly stroking the scar on the left side of her face. She didn't know what Demonic Steel was exactly, but from what she gathered it wouldn't be good for her mind. 'So why did Anastasia recommend it?' She wondered.

"You specifically said Sara shouldn't use it but didn't mention me... why?" Lucilla asked.

"Because you already have Miasma inside of you. With seemingly no adverse effects I might add." Anastasia said with a smile.