Meeting The Mother of Spiders
As the abrupt reveal of Amari's disappearance had disclosed itself, Tyrik was no less than a panicked mess as he somewhat rambled about the various possibilities of why his mother had gone missing. From minor problems to extreme grimed outcomes of being a private investigator for hire. Kathleen was once again rendered annoyed by this autistic adult as he was rushing around in a circle with his panic. This time, it was Ricky who had smacked the panicked Kage to get him to stop running around like a moronic child. Once Tyrik had recomposed himself with a quick breath, he thanked Ricky for interfering.
Tyrik began to look over his new set of friends, Kathleen, Macaque, Ezekiel, and Judy. A question beckoned within his thoughts. "So... Do any one of you guys have a Teleportation Spell or something?" He awkwardly asked with a nervous smile and hands moving about to further express his nervousness. "I do not like to assume what is possible with your guys' magic and whatnot... Though, I don't exactly have the money to buy a plane ticket from New York to California on hand for six people..." Tyrik sheepishly announced as he darted his eyes across the group of magic users. Mainly Kathleen, Ezekiel, and Macaque, as he figured that they were the ones who specialized in magic compared to Ricky and Judy.
"Yeah, I conjure portals to help you save your money for your dates with The Royal Elf." Macaque joked at the dismay of both Ezekiel and Tyrik as their blushing and enraged faces only resulted in Macaque laughing hysterically. Thankfully, with a small wave of The Monkey Sorcerer's hand, a portal made from shadows appeared before the group. "One portal to California up and ready for five." He declared with a dramatic bow, confusing everyone aside from Kathleen.
With an annoyed eye-roll, she snarkily remarked; "Leavin oehs behend again? Can't say I am soehrprised you're gahnna lesten frahm de sidelines as usual, floehffball...[Leaving us behind again? Can't say I am surprised you're gonna listen from the sidelines as usual, fluffball...]" The Muscular Kitsune then proceeded to cross her arms and glare at Macaque in a disapproving manner. Macaque returned the favor and gave Kathleen a very miffed expression for her harsh judgment.
"Look, I have business here, and I can't just leave on a whim. Even though most of the damages to the Café have been repaired. There are a few things I need to make sure are fixed." The Monkey explained with an aggressive hand gesture toward the source of what caused the damage. "Also, The Café is also a rest stop for other Mythics, and I don't have a large staff to help maintain the place while I am gone." He added as Kathleen just scoffed at these excuses as she marched through the shadow portal, and the other quickly followed behind comedically. Upon a heavy sigh, Macaque closed the portal behind them as he got to work with a sad expression on his face. Things were rough ever since Wukong had mysteriously vanished, leading him to finish Tripitaka's journey within The Ancient Chinese Story. There was no explanation as to why The Monkey King had disappeared. Even his own omniaudient hearing could not locate Wukong, leaving only speculation of the circumstances that resulted in this. The only thing that was present was utter Darkness that haunted The Monkey Sorcerer.
The feeling was unlike what he could conjure and manipulate. This Darkness was so much more than what he was used to. It was powerful, ancient, suffocating, and... Evil unlike anything before. This Darkness felt as if it could devour the Light itself and corrupt everything it touches, even one as pure as Wukong despite his faults.
As the crew crosses through the portal, they are greeted by the town known as Fresno. Quite reassuring to both Ricky and Tyrik that they did arrive within the state of California. The building the crew was in seemed to be a tavern of shorts, decorated with a theme consisting of spiders plus a gothic feel. "Why did it have to be a spider theme!?" Exclaimed the Filipino among the group, who had a degree of arachnophobia. With that, Ricky hid behind Tyrik for some means of protection. "I am not okay with this, Six-Ears..." Cursed the kapre as the sound of a large spider began to approach them.
"And what, pray tell, is wrong with spiders Kapre?" Questioned a sassy diva, yet being a powerful queen of her domain, of a woman, though not as human upon seeing her appearance. The woman seemed to be a mix between a spider and a human woman, her lower half consisting of eight legs connected to the body of a spider, of course. Yet the human half of her body was a bit surprising for even an arachnophobia to not admire. It was unexpectedly voluptuous and adorn an impressive bust to match. Her outfit for the upper half of her body consisted of a collared shirt underneath a fancy leather jacket that perfectly framed the curvaceous figure. A purple tie helped the colors of steel blue and dark cyan to pop. Clearly, the spider woman had a good sense of fashion to match the deva style personality, which was present. Her hair was pure white, being exotic and bold, styled akin to a smooth lob. Her hands possessed talons that seemed more for weaving clothing into masterpieces than cutting someone into shreds. "I hope that you are the one who finds spiders as pests meant for extermination like most. Quite despised those ignorant bigots who can't see the beauty that they can create with their webbing." Declared the woman as she sighed in disgust towards these people.
Ricky was now blushing due to the spider's stunning beauty as he muttered aloud; "Ok... Now I'm somehow both terrified and turned on..." Which was received an elbow into his gut by Judy for his perverted statement.
Yet, the spider found this quite amusing as she laughed pleasantly at the statement. "Well, at least I know that you're quite the bigot I thought you were." She proceeded to bow royally as she began to introduce herself, "I am Arachne, the proud owner of The Hazelnut Spider. What brings you to my Tavern, Dark Elf Prince?" Asked Arachne with courtesy and a warm smile.
"Wait, your Arachne of Greek Mythology? That is so cool!" Geeked Tyriked with excitement as well as stars in his eyes. Though... Arachne showed mixed sentiments towards this recognition of her story in myth. Thankfully, he was quick to catch on to this and soon apologized for his actions. "I guess I should have realized that story isn't a pleasant memory to revisit considering Athena turned you into a spider monster... But at least you're definitely made the best of your changes. You're absolutely rocking the new look, Miss." Tyrik praised the spider as it resulted in Arachne becoming quite flustered by his comment.
With a small giggle, Arachne gazed over at Ezekiel with a smile. "This one is definitely a charmer, my prince. I have to say that you have great taste for your lover." The spider announced as Ezekiel and Tyrik were once again flustered by this accusation.
"We're Not Dating!!!" Shouted the two with red faces as Arachne gave a sly grin, not believing the two for their response.
"In that case, better claim him while the young man is single." The spider remarked as Kathleen shared a laugh with Arachne.
"Ahkay, I dink dat is enooehgh teasin ooehr lahve birds. Ahnto de business at 'and. We came 'ere to 'elp de charmer figure ooeht what 'ad 'appened to 'is mahther. Wahnderin if you cooehld 'elp oehs wit ooehr endeavahrs, Arachne.[Okay. I think that is enough teasing our love birds. Onto the business at hand. We came here to help the charmer figure out what had happened to his mother. Wondering you could help us with our endeavors, Arachne.]" Questioned the Irish Kitsune as Arachne grew curious about this topic.
"I believe I know who you are referring to Ms. Carney. The private investigator named Amari Kage, correct?" Asked the spider as an expression of worry became apparent on her face. "I do indeed hope nothing horrible has occurred with the Human. She is such a kind-hearted human, quite rare among them these days..." Arachne announced with dread as she walked over to Tyrik, giving him a much-needed hug of comfort. Even if he declared that he didn't need it. Tyrik's first thought was to push Arachne away due to him not being fond of others touching him. This was because of his autism, yet Tyrik ultimately decided to hug Arachne back to comfort himself. "I will do what I can to help you find Amari. If you are anything like your mother, then I will not stand you being separated from her." Vowed Arachne as she soon let go of Tyrik, giving him a determined smile.
Seeing such kindness from others was such a refreshing change of pace for Tyrik, being too used to people telling him either "tough luck" or "grow up". Though seeing this action from Tyrik for Ezekiel, Kathleen and Judy were surprise as they saw him as an optimist. Not someone who would hide his scars behind a false smile. 'Wonder what skeletons this guy has locked up... Don't think it is gonna be pretty to see this Dragon Hybrid snap on someone...' Judy thought to herself as scratched behind one of her ears in worry and concern.