Story: Spider Princess (all chapters)

            The tour bus moved down the road, a lone vehicle speeding past a vast field under a sunny sky. Sixteen year old Miyama Kanako was looking outside until she was startled by the feeling of someone tapping on her shoulder. The orchid-hair girl turned around to see a girl about her age with short dark blue hair grinning at her.

            “Hey, didn’t think I’d see you here, Miyama-san! You’re on the tour too?”

            “Oh…hello, Watanabe-san,” Kanako stammered. Watanabe Tsugumi was a classmate of Kanako’s and one of the most well-liked girls in the school as well. Although Kanako had never personally spoken to Tsugumi, she had often heard how friendly Tsugumi was with other people.

            “That’s great! Most of the other students here are older, and I’m glad that there’s another first year on the trip!” Tsugumi smiled, her expression beaming.

            “Um…thank you?” Kanako managed a nervous smile.

            The trip was one that had been planned by Yaesaka High School. The school had offered to let a select number of students go on a tour to the countryside, primarily to visit Fushigumo Village. The village was one that had supposedly been around for quite some time and the old customs were still practiced by the villagers. The school hoped that the students on the tour could learn a little about the older cultures of Japan.

            “Um…so, you’re friends with Tsugumi-chan?” The speaker was a girl that seemed about a year older than Tsugumi and Kanako. She had long brown hair with a blue ribbon tied in it; she also seemed to be about almost as shy as Kanako was.

            “Sachi-nee, you sure you’re feeling alright?” Tsugumi asked in concern. “You’re looking kind of pale…”

            “I…I’m fine,” the girl, Takano Sachiho, said in an attempt to reassure the younger girl. “I’m…I’m just feeling a little dizzy, that’s all…”

            “Wait…” Kanako suddenly spoke up. “Watanabe-san…how come your brother isn’t here with you?”

            Watanabe Takahiro was a name that elicited many cries of delight from the girls of Yaesaka High. He was a second year student as well as the student council president. Strong and smart looking, he was easily one of the most popular boys in the school.

            “Oh, he couldn’t come,” Tsugumi said, looking rather disappointed. “His kendo competition is in Kyoto and the kendo club will be there for a week.”

            “I…I see…”

            Kanako suddenly found Tsugumi leaning over once again. “Hey, Miyama-san, did you ever hear the rumors about Fushigumo Village?”

            “Tsugumi-chan…” Sachiho said, a slight warning in her tone.

            “What…what rumors?”

            “Well, they’re mostly about creatures from mythology,” Tsugumi said. “But there was one that was especially popular, let’s see, which one was it…?”

            “The Spider Princess,” a male voice rang out. The girls turned around to see a short blonde-haired boy with a cheerful grin on his face. “The Undying Spider Princess if you want the full title…”

            “So Ayukawa-ken knows the story too?” Tsugumi asked in surprise.

            “Well, not all of it,” the boy, Ayukawa Keita, laughed. “All I know about the story is that the village was said to be terrorized by a gigantic spider. I think the village sent a group of warriors into the forest to find her but…”

            “But none of them came back,” Tsugumi finished. “Yeah, but did you know archaeologists recently found a cave filled with human bones and a bunch of really big spider webs? Now they think the legend might’ve had some truth to it…”

            “Tsugumi-chan, please stop…” Sachiho begged.

            “So what did the villagers do to the spider?” Kanako asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of her. “Did…did they drive it away?”

            “Apparently not,” Keita said. “I heard they sent a priest over there for an exorcism, a priest that went by the name Shirogane. They found him dead and tied to a tree. The legend said that he had his innards sucked out of him by the spider.”

            “I…I see…” Kanako turned away, feeling a little sick.

            The bus was slowing down, finally halting completely. “We’re here!” the teacher called out cheerfully as the doors to the bus opened. The students filed out of the bus, admiring the scenery and the nice weather.

            “Ah~! It feels so good!” Tsugumi exclaimed.

            “Hey, there’s the village!” another student called out. “Wow, they have Western-style houses here too! I thought all the houses would be traditional!”

            “Ah, you must be the students from Yaesaka High!” The voice belonged to a young woman about twenty-eight years of age with long black hair. “My name is Tanaka Yuriko, and I welcome you all to Fushigumo Village.”

            “Thanks for having us here!” all the students called out.

            “Oh, everyone is so polite! Come on, let me show you where you will be staying for the night!” Yuriko led the students over to a traditional Japanese building. “This is the local inn; I hope that you all find it cozy here! Let me see, your rooms…”

            The students soon found themselves relaxing on the futons of the room. There were some like Sachiho and Kanako who were a little worried about only one sliding door separating the boys from the girls, but most of the others could care less. After sitting in a bus for so long, many of them wanted to explore.

            “Alright, let’s see where we can go!” Tsugumi said as she threw her arms around Sachiho and Kanako. “I want to go to the shrine first! Maybe they’ll let us pray there and it will give more luck than the shrines back home!”

            “Um…am I coming with you two?” Kanako asked.

            “Of course, why not?” Tsugumi said cheerfully. “The more the merrier, right?”

            “If you’re going, I’m coming too,” Keita said as he got up. “I want to see if the shrine says anything about the Spider Princess…”

            “Oh, the Spider Princess is real indeed…” an old voice suddenly cackled out. The students saw an old woman hobbling into the room with some sheets in her arms. “Don’t worry about me; I’m just here to bring you some clean sheets. Wouldn’t want your first night to be uncomfortable, would we?”

            “Wait…what do you mean by real?” Kanako asked shakily.

           “The Spider Princess really existed…” the old woman smiled. “She’s a dangerous one, oh yes she is! Everyone who tried to kill her always ended up either eaten or insane. She’s been alive for hundreds of years and she’s still alive even today…”

            “Mother, what are you talking about now?!” a young woman cried out as she hurried into the room. She had long brown hair that nearly reached her waist and judging by the apron she wore over her blue kimono she was an employee here. “I’m sorry; my mother tells strange tales sometimes…”

            “They’re not strange tales, Rie, they’re completely true!” the old woman said. “Why did you think there weren’t many men in this village for a while? It was because they wanted to be heroes but ended up as food for the Spider Princess instead!”

            “Mom…” Rie said with a warning tone in her voice. She smiled apologetically at the other students. “I…I’m really sorry about this…I hope you enjoy your stay here.” She hurriedly ushered her mother out of the room while the students watched them leave.

            “Whoa, now I’m really interested…” Tsugumi said.

            “Watanabe-san…” Kanako looked rather panicked upon seeing the gleam in Tsugumi’s eyes. “I…I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

            “Th-that’s right, Tsugumi-chan!” Sachiho quickly agreed. “What…what if something bad happens…?”

            “Come on, we’re just visiting a shrine!” Tsugumi laughed. “It’s not like we’re heading into the forest to find a giant spider! What harm could possibly come to us in a shrine?” She got off of the futon, stretching her arms. “Come on, let’s go!”

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            “We ended up coming here after all…” Kanako sighed in a resigned manner. “Are we even allowed to be here? What if the villagers don’t want people to come in here?”

            “It’s okay as long as we don’t touch anything right?” Keita smiled. “Hey, look; they have drawings there.” He pointed at a couple of wall scrolls hanging on the shrine walls. “They look pretty old too…”

            The wall scrolls showed a girl in a white kimono standing among a forest of webs with her hand up to her mouth and her tongue licking her hand. Although the painting was rather simplistic, the image of the girl still seemed rather vivid. There was blood staining the kimono and the expression on the girl’s face was one of cruel amusement, almost as if she got a kick watching humanity’s futile attempts to master her.

            “Wow, so this is the Spider Princess?” Tsugumi said, looking at the scrolls. “Whoever built this shrine was obsessed with spiders…” She shuddered a little as she looked at the corners of the shrine; cobwebs were seen all over the place. “I guess people haven’t been using this for a while…”

            “But there’s not much dust in here,” Keita observed. “That means at least someone’s used it recently…”

            “Tsugumi-chan! Come here!” Sachiho said. “Look at this!”

            The four students gathered around what looked like an altar of sorts. There was a picture of a large black spider with yellow stripes on its body standing on a hill of skulls. On the altar was a small statue carved from some form of black rock that was in a crude shape of a human with spider legs coming from her back.

            “Wow…really obsessed…” Tsugumi repeated. She pulled out her cell phone and started to take pictures. She suddenly leaned forward to examine the statue. “Hey, come look! There’s some sort of strange marking on the statue!”

            Kanako, Sachiho, and Keita hurried over. “Over here,” Tsugumi pointed at the front part of the statue. “It looks like a spider of sorts…”

            “You’re right…” Sachiho said uneasily, looking at the red spider mark on the statue. “How is it doing it? I…I don’t like this, Tsugumi-chan…”

            “She’s right…” Kanako said. “Please…let’s just get out of here…” She thought that her mind was starting to play tricks on her; the glow from the symbol seemed to be pulsing like some sort of heart…

            “Alright then…” Tsugumi took one last look at the shrine before the four students hurried back to the hotel.

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            A woman wearing the outfit of a shrine maiden watched as the four kids moved away from the shrine before going inside, dragging a large crate behind her. She got on the floor and bowed down in front of her altar. “Oh, mighty Spider Princess, your advent is soon approaching. The preparations for your return are being finalized as we speak, and soon the awakening festival shall be held.”

            Standing up, the woman lit an incense stick and placed it a small urn on the altar. She put her palms together in prayer and bowed three times before stripping off her kimono. As she stood in the shrine half-naked, she closed her eyes as if in concentration. The skin on her back rippled and strange growths started to appear. These growths stretched themselves until there were four of them sprouting from her back. These growths eventually hardened into silver-colored spider legs.

            Her transformation complete, the woman walked over to the altar and picked up a jar. Opening it, she dipped her fingers inside and drew out some thick red liquid. Lowering her fingers to the temple floor, she began to trace a pattern on the ground, a large circle with a crude spider shape in the middle. Finished, she stepped back a little and, looking the symbol over to make sure it was correct, reached for the crate.

            Inside was a young girl, sixteen years of age. She was naked and her arms were tied behind her. The girl’s moans and sobs were stifled by cloth stuffed into her mouth. The woman reached in and pulled the girl out, laying her on the pattern.

            “Now, Princess, I offer you the nectar from this young maiden, as a gift before your awakening!” The woman leaned over the frightened girl, one hand reaching out to stroke the girl’s cheek while the other one grabbed one of the girl’s breasts. “Don’t worry,” she said to the girl. “I’m not going to kill you. All you need to do is cooperate; it will be over before you know it. And afterwards, you will not need to worry about anything anymore. You will belong to our Princess for eternity when she awakens…”

            The girl could do nothing more than sob as the woman leaned down and pulled out the cloth. “No…” the girl whimpered before her mouth was sealed shut by the woman’s lips. The woman pulled her hakama off and lowered herself onto the girl’s body as the painted pattern started to glow in a sinister fashion.

Evening was soon arriving, and the students were seated around a table eating dinner. The mix of many conversations filled the room as some showed off several souvenirs that they had bought while others were opening up cell phones to show the photos of Fushigumo Village that they had taken.

            “Hey, do you think Big Bro would like this?” Tsugumi was asking Sachiho, holding up a keychain that she had bought. It had a wooden talisman attached to it with a carving of a cloud on it. “Or do you think this one is better?” she asked as she held up a letter opener that resembled a small katana.

            “I think Senpai would prefer the letter opener,” Keita said with an amused smile as he popped a sushi piece into his mouth. “You know, since he’s in the kendo club…”

            “Not to mention he gets a lot of love letters,” Sachiho giggled.

            “Hm…yeah, this seems like a better one,” Tsugumi said. “Miyama-san~!” she said to Kanako who was sitting next to her. “Here, take this as a symbol of our friendship!”

            “Eh? Ah…th-thanks…” Kanako said after getting over the initial shock of Tsugumi almost shouting into her ears. She took the keychain and admired it; although it was simple, it was clear that whoever made it put a lot of work into it. 

            “I hope you’re enjoying your meal!” Rie said cheerfully as she came in to check on them. “Do you need any more rice?”

            “Yes please!” their chaperone, a young teacher by the name of Handa Tomie said. Tomie was a young teacher at the age of twenty-two, having barely gotten out of college. She had been chosen to chaperone the trip due to the teachers ‘being impressed by her initial performance’ or something like that. Kanako thought that Handa-sensei was nice enough; she seemed able to empathize with students easily. Many students liked her and she was often given positive feedback from the other teachers.

            “So, Miyama-san, is it okay if I call you Kanako-chan?” Tsugumi asked, looking at Kanako with bright eyes and a good-natured grin.

            “Eh?! Ah…um…I…I think it’s fine…” Kanako said, her face red.

            “Ahahaha, Kanako-chan is so shy, just like Sachi-nee!” Tsugumi teased as she put an arm around the other girl. “Hey, are you still worrying about the shrine thing?”

            “N-not really…” Kanako lied. In truth, she couldn’t help thinking about what she had seen in the shrine. She hadn’t told the others yet, but she had experienced a strange feeling while in the shrine, a feeling of heaviness, a feeling of being watched. Although it was probably her imagination, it still bothered her.

            In another part of the village, hidden away from the eyes of others, four shrine maidens were gathered around another girl whose arms were tied up above her head, the rope bound to a beam at the top of the building. The girl’s shirt had been taken off and her breasts trembled as the girl shivered in fear. “The Priestess has come…” one of the shrine maidens whispered as the others took a step back.

            The Priestess was a girl about nineteen years old with long black hair and eyes that were an unnatural green. She was tall and had a rather intimidating presence. The shrine maidens bowed to her as she approached them. “The guests are staying at the local inn tonight,” one of the shrine maidens said. “Mari thinks that she’s found the girl who is the destined mate to the Princess. Your orders?”

            “First, we make sure that they can’t leave the village,” the Priestess said as she approached the bound girl. She started to trace the area between the girl’s breasts, causing gasps and moans to come from the girl’s gagged mouth. As she finished tracing, a strange pattern started to glow on the girl’s skin. “There, that’s done. The storm clouds will take a while to gather, but soon their communication will be down. What about the bus?”

            “One of us has already gone to take care of it,” another shrine maiden said.

            “Perfect. Make sure that you handle everything with care.” With that, the Priestess walked out of the building, heading back to the main Fushigumo temple. The temple was empty tonight, but it didn’t matter to the Priestess. She headed into the main room of the temple and walked over to a small statue in the shape of a pyramid on the altar. Pushing it down and turning it clockwise two times and counterclockwise three times, she then pushed against the back wall of the temple and walked into the hidden door that appeared.

            Walking down the stairs of the hidden room, the Priestess soon came upon a series of doors. She pushed one of them open and walked in, revealing a bedroom of sorts. She stepped in and started to strip off her robes. She walked over to the bed and climbed up, smiling down at the naked girl tied to it.

            “Hello Shiori,” she said with a smile. “I hope you weren’t worried about me too much.” She leaned down and kissed the girl on the forehead, eliciting a small moan from the girl. Saliva was dripping down from the girl’s mouth due to the ball gag stuffed in and the Priestess leaned down and licked the side of the girl’s mouth.

            “Everything is going according to plan,” the Priestess said. “Soon, the Spider Princess will awaken and grant us our dearest wish.” As Shiori continued to moan, the Priestess giggled as she stroked her captive’s long dark blue hair. “Uncomfortable, my dear? I’m sorry, but you brought this upon yourself. If only you hadn’t tried to run away from me, you wouldn’t be like this…”

            The Priestess pulled out the ball gag, causing the girl to gasp. “Please…Saki…don’t do this to me…please…” Shiori’s words were soon cut off when the Priestess Saki leaned down and kissed her softly. Shiori could only cry softly as Saki’s hands massaged her breasts with hungry vigor.

            “Shiori, I love you so much…”

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            The students were getting their beds ready, but none of them really had any intention of going to sleep so soon. It was only nine o’clock and the energy of the students hadn’t been completely spent yet. “So…what should we talk about?” Keita asked. The door separating the boys and girls haven’t been closed yet so the students were still allowed to mingle with each other before the lights went out.

            “I know! Let’s tell scary stories!” a student called out.

            “Scary stories?” Rie asked as she walked in with some more pillows. “I don’t know if these can be considered scary stories, but Fushigumo has quite a bit of stories!”

            “Really?” Sachiho asked. “What…what kind of stories?”

            “Any about the Spider Princess?” Tsugumi asked eagerly. Both Sachiho and Kanako looked at Tsugumi with dismay on their faces, but the energetic girl didn’t seem to notice her two friends’ discomfort.

            “The Spider Princess, huh?” Rie said thoughtfully. “Well, there are actually a few myths as well as urban legends about the Spider Princess…Oh! I know of a good one!” The students started to crowd around as Rie began her tale.

            “So the myth of the Spider Princess starts around the time when the onmyouji were still the most powerful spiritual force in Japan. It was said that a princess was traveling across the country to meet the son of a powerful lord for marriage. The princess’s travel company decided to take a shortcut through the forests since there were rumors of bandits around. However, it was in the forests that the bandits lay in wait…”

            “Did…did they get her?” Kanako asked.

            “The bandits attacked, but the fight woke something far more dangerous: a jorougumo whose powers were as strong as those of a god’s. The jorougumo attacked the two parties, devouring most of them in her rampage. The princess was said to have passed out at the sight of the giant spider, only to come to in the spider’s lair.”

            “She was bound to a giant web and thought that she was done for; she assumed that the jorougumo didn’t kill her because she wasn’t hungry. It was at that time that she realized there was someone else in the cave: a beautiful woman with very long black hair and red eyes that were like blood drops. The woman was playing a biwa but stopped as soon as she noticed that the princess was awake.”

            “‘Why did you bring me here?’ the princess cried out. ‘Are you going to kill me as well?’ The jorougumo didn’t say anything, but merely smiled at the princess and walked over to her. She gave the princess a kiss and…”

            “Whoa, whoa! Time out, time out!” Keita exclaimed. “Kissed? That spider woman kissed the princess? Wow, didn’t see that coming…”

            “‘From now on,’ the jorougumo said, ‘…you are no longer a princess. You belong to me; in exchange for your life, you will give me your freedom.’ The jorougumo planted her egg into the princess’s body, making the princess her ‘bride’ so to speak…”

            “Wha…” Sachiho’s face had turned a brilliant red. Kanako too could feel a blush spreading across her face; what kind of a legend was this?

            “The princess would later on give birth to another jorougumo, one that would be known as the Spider Princess. The jorougumo and the princess…no one knows what happened to them. No legend tells of their fate, but I think it’s possible they’re still around.” Rie laughed a little as she finished her story. “It’s not a good one, I know…”

            “Wow, who would’ve thought there’d be girls love in mythology?” Tsugumi asked. “Thanks! That was a really interesting one! Any actually about the Spider Princess?”

            “Hm…I trying to think…aha! There’s another famous one. The Spider Princess, after she had grown up, was terrorizing the countryside. She would attack livestock, dragging away cows and horses to be devoured in her lair. She would also attack any villagers that ran afoul of her, mauling them and occasionally killing some of them.”

            “The village near her lair grew desperate; they needed to find a way to get rid of her. It was at this time that a shrine maiden by the name of Sayako. Sayako, pitying the villagers, went into the forest to find and exorcise the Spider Princess. She was said to have found the place where the Spider Princess was using as a lair and the two began to fight. Although the magic of Sayako was strong, the Spider Princess was more powerful than she had anticipated. It took all her strength just to hold the demon at bay and she soon realized that if the battle dragged on any longer, she would lose.”

            “So what did she do?” A wide-eyed Sachiho asked.

            “She did the only thing she could; she used all her strength to summon a magic seal. Using this seal, she managed to catch the Spider Princess by surprise, trapped the Spider Princess underground, and put her into a deep sleep.”

            Rie laughed a little as she finished. “Well, it’s really an incomplete myth; no one knows what happened to Sayako afterwards. Some people think she might’ve died after using so much power while others think she might’ve escaped. But what they do know is that the Spider Princess is still sleeping somewhere, supposedly near this village if the legends are correct.” Rie suddenly started as she looked at the clock. “Oh! I better get back to work! I hope that you’re all comfortable and enjoy your sleep!” With that, she took off with the unused sheets and pillows in her hands.

            As the students started to settle down in their beds, Tsugumi turned towards Sachiho and Kanako. “Pretty interesting story, huh?” she asked with a grin.

            “It…it was interesting…” Sachiho smiled nervously.

            Kanako had to agree with Sachiho; the story was interesting, but there was something a little disturbing about it too. She just couldn’t put her finger on it…

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            Rie was putting the extra pillows back into the closet when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Whirling around, she realized that it was her mother. “Mom, please don’t do that!” she said. “You nearly gave me a heart attack…”

            “You were telling them the story of the Spider Princess, weren’t you?” her mother asked. “So does that mean you have accepted her into your heart?”

            “Mom, I’m telling you, I’m not going to join the group,” Rie said exasperatedly. “I just told them a story, that’s all.”

            “Just a story?!” her mother exploded. “Rie, you listen to me. The Spider Princess is no myth, she really exists! She sleeps below this village, waiting to awaken and reclaim the land as her own! You, as my daughter, have an obligation to…!”

            “I don’t have such an obligation!” Rie exploded. “Stop pestering me about it, okay? Stop trying to force your beliefs down my throat!”

            Her mother looked like she was about to say more until another employee called out. “Masako-san, someone’s calling for you!” Masako turned and strode off, giving her daughter one last look before going to greet her guest.

            Rie could hear her mother call out “Yoshiko-san! Come on in!” The girl sighed as she closed the closet door after putting the last extra sheet inside.

            "Honestly, why is she so obsessed about a myth?" she asked out loud. "It's almost as though she's letting it take over her life..." 

            “This inn is as nice as always,” Yoshiko commented as she sat down on the futon. She was a rather tall woman in her late forties, her hair prematurely graying and her eyes carrying a stern look to them. “How is Rie-chan doing?”

            “She’s grown to be a fine girl,” Masako said as she poured some tea. “She still won’t come to her senses though; I told her numerous times that the Order of the Spider Princess is the only path for her, but she refuses to listen. She may even be planning to leave the village to pursue a career in the cities!”

            “I see…” Yoshiko said as she accepted a cup from the mother. “I’m sure that she’ll come to see our path is the right one; my own daughter has recently been made a shrine maiden in the Order. It took a while for her to come to terms, but in the end she finally saw the light. I am very pleased with her. But enough small chatter for now. I bring some important news for you.”

            “What sort of news?” Masako asked, her body suddenly tense.

            “The Order has decided to take the female students,” Yoshiko said. “She will be sending people over here to take the girls away.”

            “Alright; do I show them where the girls are sleeping?”

            “Please do,” Yoshiko said as she finished her tea. “However, there is the problem with the male students. How many of them are there?”

            “Not many, maybe about three of them,” Masako said. “How are we going to deal with them? If the teacher notices that only the female students are missing…”

            “I’m sure that the Priestess will think of something,” Yoshiko said, a small smile on her face. “She’s always gotten us out of trouble before; she will handle it.” Yoshiko looked over at the clock and stood up. “Well, I’ll be off now; be sure to wait outside of the inn so that they will know where the girls are.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” Masako reassured her.

            Rie sighed in frustration as she put on a simple kimono that she always wore to sleep. “Honestly,” she said in frustration. “Why cant’ she understand that I’m not interested in her crazy stories?”

            Falling down onto the futon in her room, Rie stared up at the ceiling. ‘When did she begin to be so obsessed with the Spider Princess?’ she wondered. ‘She wasn’t like this when I was younger…was it the day after she came back from the checkup and received the news that she might lose her eyesight? She had gone to the old temple to pray that day. Then, she started to believe in those strange stories…’

            As the clock in her room chimed midnight, she slowly got up and walked downstairs. ‘I really need to get a drink…’ However, before she reached the kitchen area, she heard voices coming from the hall, voices that didn’t seem to belong to any of the staff members of the inn.

            “So where are the girls being kept?”

            “Right this way,” she heard her mother say. “They’re all asleep, so be careful when you bring them into the truck; wouldn’t want any of them waking up, would you?”

            “Don’t worry about that, Masako-san,” another voice said. “If they do rouse, all we need to do is put them back to sleep again before they can cry out. Come on, let’s get to work. We wouldn’t want the Priestess to get impatient…”

            Rie stood frozen at her place at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide with horror. Were these women here to kidnap the guests? Was her mother helping them? ‘What’s going on?’ her mind screamed out. ‘This…this can’t be happening…’

           She could hear the footsteps of several people walking down the hall once again. “Hey, one of the girls isn’t in her bed,” she thought she heard one whispering furiously. “What are we going to do if we can’t find her?”

            “She’s probably in the bathroom or something like that…”

            “There’s no one in the bathroom! Where could that missing girl be?”

            “Keep your voice down! Do you want to wake up the guests?”

            Rie hurried back to her room, leaping under the covers in case her mother came up to check. ‘Oh no, oh no…what should I do?’ she thought, her eyes wide in terror and her mouth biting down on her nails. ‘I…I need to help those girls…but how? I’m…I’m scared…I’m so scared…’

            ‘I’m so scared…I have to get away…I have to run…get away from here, get away from this place…anywhere but here…’

            Kanako ran from the inn, running as if all of hell had risen and given chase to her. She had been lucky enough to wake up during the middle of night. As she was about to lay back down, she had heard the sounds of people approaching and realized that they were coming to kidnap her and the others. Panicking, she had made a run for it, hiding in the backyard and slowly making her way to the front in order to avoid being spotted. Kanako was never an athletic person, but now she forced herself to run as fast as she could away from the inn.

            ‘I have to get away, I have to get away…’ she thought. Her breath was getting ragged and her legs were starting to feel heavier and heavier. She finally slowed down, panting and leaning against something smooth and firm. ‘Where…where am I?’

            She had run into the edge of town near the forest areas. She was leaning on a red torii gate of sorts. The torii gate seemed out of place; there were neither stone paths leading to a temple nor a trail of any sort. It was as though someone had just placed it there for no reason. ‘What…what should I do…? I…I have to call the police…who am I kidding? I just left everything and ran, even my cell phone…’ Tears started to fall from her eyes. ‘Watanabe-san…Takano-senpai…I’m sorry I ran away…I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better friend to you two…’

            As she sat down on the ground shivering, she noticed that the area she was in seemed to have an air of foreboding. There was no breeze in the air, no cries of cicadas, and no signs of life other than the plants in the area. It was almost as if the animals were avoiding this area on purpose…

            A sudden feeling of dread shot through her spine. She had no idea how she could tell, but something was coming. Forcing herself onto her feet, she glanced around wildly to see if anyone or anything was headed in her direction. Nothing; the place was still as abandoned as the moment she had found it.

            ‘What…what was that feeling? I…!’

            A sudden crashing sound brought a shriek from Kanako; the torii gate had suddenly broken, the main two stands cracking splintering while the upper part of the gate swayed around dangerously before starting to fall. Kanako threw herself out of the way as the top part of the gate crashed down on the ground, sending up a cloud of dust and debris. Kanako shakily picked herself up, starting fearfully at the broken gate.

            “What…what just happened?” she whispered out loud. “Why…why did the gate just…just break like that? It felt so sturdy just a moment ago…”

            “Well, well, what do we have here?” A flashlight beam struck Kanako in the face, forcing her to shield her eyes. As soon as the beams lowered, she found herself looking into the leering faces of three men.

            Tsugumi stirred, only dimly aware that she was no longer lying down on a futon. Turning her head to the side a little, she was instantly alert the moment she saw Sachiho. The older girl was bound and gagged, lying on her side while still asleep. Tsugumi tried to move her arms only to realize that she too was bound. The ball gag stuffed into her mouth was causing a line of drool to appear, and she was gripped with fear. What had happened? How come she and the others were here?

            The place she was in seemed like a temple of sorts; however, there were no windows and the only source of light they had were a few lamps in the room. Wall scrolls were all over the place, strange writings on them that seemed like some sort of ancient form of Japanese writing.

            The other girls were in a similar predicament and some of them were starting to regain consciousness. Many of them started screaming through their gags, the fright immediately settling in. Sachiho herself was slowly waking up. “…Mgh?” she mumbled before realizing that something was in her mouth. When attempts to move her mouth failed, the older girl eye’s widened in horror. “Mgh! Mgh!” She started to thrash around a little, trying to free herself from the ropes binding her hands and legs to no avail.

            “Ah, I see that you are all awake,” a soft voice rang out. The frightened students turned around to see a nineteen year old girl in ceremonial robes seated not too far from where they were. She was accompanied by several other shrine maidens, some who were busy drawing some sort of magic circle on the ground.

            “I’m sure that you’re all curious about what’s going on. I’ll tell you this; you girls have been chosen to be a part of an amazing revolution. You girls will be the ones that help bring about a new age in this land, an age where the land will be taken back and made prosperous once again!” She motioned to the shrine maiden; two of them walked over to one of the girls and pulled her over to the circle. The girl tried to resist, but the shrine maidens’ strength was almost inhuman and the girl was soon on top of the circle.

            The Priestess walked over to the girl and inspected her. “Hm…she seems healthy enough. Very well, this one will be the one we start with.” Saki grabbed the girl’s pajamas and tore them apart, causing the girl to let out a stifled shriek of shock. She also pulled down the girl’s bra as well, revealing her breasts. “You’ve been taking care of your body,” Saki remarked. “Good; you will make a fine addition.”

            With that, Saki pulled out a needle and pricked her thumb with it, drawing out a bead of blood. Lowering her finger to the girl’s chest, she started to smear her blood on the girl’s skin, the trails slowly forming a pattern of sorts. The girl shivered as Saki finished tracing and stepped back.

            “Alright girls, let’s get started,” she said with a smile. “The Metamorphosis shall soon commence!” With that, four of the shrine maidens stood in the magic circle’s smaller inner circles, each one placed in one of the four cardinal directions. Clasping their hands together, the four shrine maidens started to chant while Saki held a finger near the pattern drawn on the girl’s body. “Hatsudou…” she murmured, causing the pattern to glow a sinister red color.

            The other girls could only watch in horror as the pattern started to grow and spread across the unfortunate victim’s body. As the girl collapsed onto the circle, her muffled screams rang through the room as the magic circle started to glow the same color as the mark on her chest. “Mmgh! Mmmmgh!”

            “The process will take a few hours to complete,” Saki told the other shrine maidens. “The next ones to go should get some rest.” She turned towards the shrine maidens who were standing in the magic circle. “I’ll leave this to you all then; let me know when she’s finished and we’ll get started on the next one.”

            Kanako whimpered as a piece of cloth was stuffed into her mouth. “So this is the ‘missing student’ the Order was looking for,” one of the men, a young man with short black hair chuckled. “She’s cute.”

            “Let’s hand her over to the Order,” a mustached man wearing dark glasses said. “Saki-sama will be surely reward us if we hand this girl over.”

            “Aw, don’t be stupid!” the last man, one who had spiked his hair up and dyed it fiery red said. “Why do we have to? Let’s have some fun with her!”

            “Yeah, don’t be stupid,” the first man said. “Why do we have to do anything she tells us to? The ‘world’ she wants to create is one that will be dominated by women! That’s ridiculous! There’s no way in hell I’m going along with something like that!”

            “You’re right,” the red-haired man smirked. “To hell with the Order! After we’re done with this girl, let’s go to the temple and get the others! And if the women there try to stop us…we’ll just use this!” He pulled out a gun and loaded it, grinning maniacally. “Now little girl, if you don’t want to die, do as we say!”

            ‘No…” Kanako thought, tears streaming down her eyes. ‘I don’t want to…please, someone, anyone…help me!’

            “Heh, she’s not struggling. Good girl…” the first man grinned. “I’ll go first.”

            “Wait,” the mustached man said. “Do you hear something?”

            “The hell you talking about now?” the first man said, looking up. “I swear, you…” His voice suddenly trailed off as he squinted at something in the air. “What the hell is this? Is this…thread? What the hell is it AAAUUUGGGHH?!"

            That was when all hell broke loose.

            The red haired man was promptly entangled by a stream of white thread that seemed to fly out of nowhere. “What…what the hell?!” he screamed. The other two men whirled around as more threads appeared, wrapping around them and binding their arms to their sides. “Damn…it’s not tearing! What the hell is this?!”

            Through eyes clouded with tears, Kanako could make out a vague shape behind the man with red hair. The man managed to turn his head around and let out a scream. “You…you…!” The man let out a gurgling scream as soon as his head was separated from his body, bringing forth a spray of blood as the shape tore into him.

            “Ah…ah…AARGH!” the mustached man shrieked until the shape moved towards him and silenced him by ripping him open. The last man, having lost any form of bravery and being reduced to screaming mindlessly, had his life ended when the newcomer grabbed his face. Kanako couldn’t see what was going on, but the sudden cutting off of his screeches told her enough.

            ‘Oh no…please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me…’ were the last thoughts that went through her head as her body finally gave up and succumbed to exhaustion, losing consciousness quickly and only aware that the mysterious shape was heading towards her.

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            Saki lay down on the bed in her room, holding the shivering and sweaty body of Shiori close to her. “Shiori…you were wonderful…” she said, slightly out of breath. She ran her fingers through the younger girl’s hair, eliciting small whimpers from Shiori. Saki frowned a little at this response. “Are you still frightened of me? Is it because you couldn’t forget what happened that night?”

            “U….u…” Shiori moaned, pulling feebly on the bindings that tied her to the bed. Her breasts rose and fell in rhythm with her breath and her eyes were closed in her exhaustion. “N…no…”

            “Please don’t be like this,” Saki said with a soothing voice. “You know I would never hurt you. I love you too much to do so. So please don’t act so scared around me.” Her hand reached over to gently grasp Shiori’s chin as she leaned in for a kiss. Shiori didn’t resist; she was too exhausted at this point to do more than whimper.

            Saki looked up at the ceiling. ‘Soon…’ she told herself. ‘Soon, you will have everything you wanted in life. You just need to be patient…’ Her thoughts were cut off as a knock on her door was heard. “What is it?”

            “The first girl is nearly done; it is time to select the next girl.”

            “Alright, I’ll be right there.” As Saki got up and began to dress, she leaned down and gave Shiori a small kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon, my love.”

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Rie could hear the uproar downstairs; morning had come and things had quickly gone downhill the moment the teacher realized that none of the female students were around. Handa-sensei had initially suspected that they snuck out of the inn to get another glimpse of the village, but there was no sign of them anywhere. Realizing now that there was something seriously wrong, Handa-sensei was nearly hysterical with worry.

Rie could hear her mother expressing worry about the girls’ welfare. ‘You’re the reason why they’re gone, you liar!’ her mind screamed out furiously. But no matter how enraged she was, she was too frightened to confront her mother about it. According to her mother, many of the villagers belonged to the same ‘religion’ as her; what if she accidentally told someone who was also part of the kidnapping scheme?

‘Wait…there is one person I could talk to…but I’ll need to wait until my mom isn’t around…’ With that, Rie slowly made her way downstairs to get a better idea of what the teacher was saying to her mother.

“I’m sure that they’re safe…” Masako was saying. “I’ve already contacted the police; they’re doing all that they can to find them…”

“That’s not the problem! I thought this town was supposed to be safe! The only time so many girls disappear is when criminals are around! How could…”

“W-wait…” another voice piped up, a voice that Rie assumed belonged to one of the male students. “Does…does that mean that they could’ve been captured by slave traders? Oh…oh god…”

“Calm down, calm down!” Masako urged. “I’m sure that they’ll find those girls in no time! In the mean time…” She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Rie could hear her mother hurrying over to answer it. “Oh, Mihara-san! Did you find any information on the missing girls yet?”

“Not yet,” the voice belonging to Mihara said. “But I have urgent news for you. We need to talk in private.” Rie peeked around the corner to see her mother walking out the front door. Seizing her chance, she hurried down the stair and grabbed Handa-sensei by the shoulder, causing the surprised teacher to whirl around.

“I can’t talk long, but I know who did it,” she hissed urgently into the teacher’s ear. “It’s going to sound crazy, but my mother is part of a cult that’s responsible.”

“What?” Handa-sensei’s eyebrows raised. “How do you…”

“Sh!” Rie looked towards the front door to make sure that her mother wasn’t coming back yet. “Trust me on this…I think they’re being held in the old temple. But I think the policemen might be part of the group as well…”

“Then what should I do?” Handa-sensei asked, worry in her voice.

“I’m not sure…” Rie said, the disappointment evident. “But I think something strange is going on, something not natural…all I can tell you is to be careful and do not trust my mom or any of the other villagers…” She hurriedly drew away as the front door opened and Masako came back in, a disturbed look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Handa-sensei asked anxiously.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Masako said, a nervous smile on her face. “Anyways, rest assured that we will do what we can to find those students.” With that, Masako strode up the stairs toward her room. As she walked past, Rie could almost swear that she heard her mother say “Who could’ve torn those three in half like that?"

---------------------------------------------

The first thing Kanako was aware of as she opened her eyes was a gray ceiling. ‘I’m…I’m alive…?’ she thought groggily. ‘Where…where am I?’ She suddenly bolted up as she remembered what she had seen last night: the mysterious assailant that had slaughtered three men near the torii gate…

“What…what happened?” she asked out loud, breathing harshly. She looked around; she appeared to be in a small house of sorts. Someone had laid her on the floor and covered her with a simple blanket. ‘Where…where am I?’ she wondered. ‘What happened to those men? I…I haven’t been kidnapped as well, have I?’

“Ah, you’re awake,” a voice called out from the hallway. Kanako turned around and saw a tall girl with long black hair and red eyes that almost seemed like blood drops. She was wearing a simple dark blue kimono and was carrying a cup filled with warm tea. “Here, drink this,” she said as she handed the cup over.

“T-thanks…” Kanako said as she took a drink; the tea wasn’t especially good, but it was alright. “Where am I? Who are you?”

“You’re in someone’s house; it’s abandoned and I don’t know who it belongs to. As for me, call me Hatsune. That’s the only thing I can remember, really…”

“The…only thing you remember? Could it be amnesia?”

“A…am…amnesia?” Hatsune looked like she was having problems pronouncing the word. “What is that?”

“You don’t know?” Kanako asked in amazement. As Hatsune continued to look bewildered, Kanako flushed red. “I…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No harm done,” Hatsune said. “But I would like to ask you…what were you doing lying near the torii gate? And with three dead bodies as well…”

“I…I was…” The fear was returning to her; the fear of not being able to help her friends, the fear that all she could do was run away and leave the others at the mercy of the kidnappers, the fear that she was going to be raped and killed…

“You’re not comfortable with talking about it?” Hatsune asked. “It’s fine; no need to force yourself…ah, I never asked your name…”

“It’s…it’s Miyama Kanako.”

“Kanako…that’s a nice-sounding name,” Hatsune mused. “Anyways, you should get some rest; wouldn’t want you passing out again, would we? It wouldn’t be good for you.” She chuckled at this as she took the cup away from Kanako and walked off, leaving the younger girl to her thoughts.

‘I didn’t get a look at what the kidnappers looked like…I can’t go back to the inn because they might come back to look for me…oh…what should I do? Who can I trust in this place? That Hatsune girl…what if she’s one of them? But it doesn’t look like she’s handed me to them…maybe I can trust her after all…’

            Sachiho watched in terror as a struggling Tsugumi was dragged onto the circle. Like the other two girls before her, Tsugumi was soon stripped and the Priestess was once again drawing the mark on Tsugumi’s chest.

            “MMGGGHH! MMMGGHH!” Tsugumi screamed through her gag, thrashing around and desperately trying to break free from the restraining hands of the shrine maidens. However, the four in charge of standing in the magic circle had soon taken their place and soon began to chant once again. Saki pointed her finger at Tsugumi’s mark and, with a whisper, caused the mark to glow.

            The other two girls that had previously gone through the rituals were placed nearby. The mark that had spread across their skin had disappeared by the end of their ritual and now they lay naked but unbound on the floor. Some of the shrine maidens were watching them, making sure that they would not be able to run for it.

            The marks were spreading on Tsugumi’s body, causing the girl to moan in fright. Although the other two girls that had gone through the ‘ritual’ weren’t dead, they seemed to be shivering quite a lot, though not the kind of shivering you’d expect from someone who’s feeling cold. No, it was more like…

            “Ah…Ah…AAAHH!” One of the girls that had been lying on the ground started to scream. “My…my fingers…oh…ah…These…these aren’t my fingers…MY HAND! OH GOD, MY HAND, MY HAND…!”

            The other girls’ eyes widened, and their shrieks tried to escape through their gags. The other girl that had gone through the ritual tried to move away, but apparently she was too weak to do so. The girl that had cried out continued to scream in pure terror as the other girls watched in horror at the nightmarish scene before their eyes. “MY HAND! OH GOD, MY HAND DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THIS! OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD…”

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            Kanako had no idea how much time had passed, though she thought that it was probably around noontime. Hatsune had periodically stopped by to see how she was doing. Luckily for her, no one had stopped over at the house; she was still safe.

 Hatsune had brought lunch over, a simple meal of rice with chicken meat on top. “I’m sorry, I’m not much of a cook…” Hatsune apologized.

            “It’s…it’s okay!” Kanako reassured her. “I’m just grateful that you would do something like this for me…”
            “Is that so?” The relief on Hatsune’s face was unmistakable. “That’s good to hear. I hope you enjoy your meal.”

            “Have you eaten yet, Hatsune-san?” Kanako asked as she picked up the chopsticks that Hatsune had brought along with the food.

            “Don’t worry about me,” Hatsune said with a smile. “I’ve already eaten.”

            “Oh, I see…” Kanako said as she started to eat. When Hatsune walked out of the room, Kanako thought about what she should do next. ‘My cell phone is back at the inn so I can’t call for help…is there any way I can contact Handa-sensei? Oh, I hope everyone else is alright…what is wrong with this town?'

             She got up and looked down the hallway of the house; she needed to use the restroom. 'Where is Hatsune-san? I thought I saw her somewhere around here...' Moving down the hallway, she was about to call out until something caught her eye. One of the doors in the hallway was open and she had happened to peek inside. She let out a small gasp as shock as she realized what was inside of the room... 

           The room was filled with all sorts of objects that looked like they belonged to another era. The walls were adorned with wall scrolls going yellow with age and all sorts of papers were scattered all over the floor. There was a desk in the room that had more papers on it in disarray. There were also a few objects on the desk: a small statue, a paintbrush, a few books…

            Kanako found herself stepping tentatively into the room. ‘What are you doing?’ her mind screamed at her. ‘Just go back to the room you were in now! Do you want to get in trouble for sneaking around someone’s house?’ ‘But it’s abandoned, and Hatsune probably wouldn’t mind…’ ‘That’s not the point! Sneaking around is bad! You know that just as well as any…’ However, such thoughts were driven out of her mind the moment she laid eyes on one of the walls.

            There were newspaper clippings posted all over the wall. The headlines sent chills up her spine: “FIFTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL STILL MISSING…” “STRANGE ANIMAL DEATHS BAFFLE AUTHORITIES…” “WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO STRANGE CHILD…” There were more, most of them about missing girls, strange sightings of some sort of creature, and mysterious deaths.

            ‘What…what’s up with this room…?’ As Kanako stepped backwards, her foot landed on some of the papers that were on the floor. She bent down and picked up some of the sheets. It appeared to be a diary of sorts.

            “My daughter has given birth and the baby is healthy! She’s already able to scuttle on the floor, and she’s so adorable! My daughter, however, still hasn’t come to accept her situation yet. She keeps crying and won’t even look at the child…”

            “The baby is growing up just fine! Today she’s killed a crow; such a smart baby! I wonder how she caught it, but all she did was smile. The poor thing still can’t get her mother to look at her though…honestly, that daughter of mine! She’s shut herself up in her room now, crying about how we let her be raped. Nonsense! It was all for the sake of her Highness that we did it! We had to usher in a new generation!”

            Kanako couldn’t bring herself to read the rest of it. ‘This…this is sick…’ she thought to herself. ‘What…what kind of room is this? What kind of person would have this stuff here? Was…was that person crazy?’

            Her eyes soon wandered over to the desk. The statue on the desk seemed almost identical to the one she had seen in the shrine, only with a glowing green mark instead. The paper on the desk didn’t seem as old as the ones on the floor, but the contents were still just as disturbing to Kanako.

            “I have to write this down; they say that it’s one of the best ways to vent your feelings. She still won’t talk to me…she’s locked herself up and wouldn’t answer. But she can’t leave me now; the egg I had implanted in her has hatched, and now she’s the second mother of our child. But why won’t she even look at our baby? Our child is begging to see her second mother…so why won’t she come out? Humans can be rather hard to understand sometimes…I just hope that she realizes that she needs to be there for our little baby soon…”

            “Kanako?” Hatsune’s voice caused Kanako to nearly jump out of her skin. “There you are; I’ve been looking all over for you…” The taller girl looked around the room, her eyes widening. “What…what kind of place is this?”

            “I…I don’t know,” Kanako said. “I…I was looking for the bathroom and…”

            “This…” Hatsune was staring at one of the wall scrolls. Kanako’s eyes widened in horror; the picture on it depicted a girl and a spider creature with the upper half of a human female. The spider girl was on top of the human girl who seemed to be trying to push the spider girl off. The human girl’s kimono was practically torn off and the whole thing looked like some sort of rape scene.

            “Who could’ve drawn something so horrible?” Kanako whispered. However, there was a strange look in Hatsune’s eyes…recognition? Had she seen something like this before? The black-haired girl was already moving away from the scrolls, her eyes roaming around the room. She suddenly ran up to the desk and picked up the statue.

            “This…” Her eyes were wide as she stared at the statue. She seemed mesmerized by the light. “I…I’ve seen this before…but where…?” She dropped the statue as she stumbled backwards, one hand clutching her head. “Ah…ugh…”

            “Hatsune-san! Are you alright?” Kanako cried out, running towards Hatsune only to be stopped by Hatsune holding up a hand in a stopping gesture.

            “I…I’m fine,” Hatsune said, removing the hand from her head. “Just…just a bit of a headache, that’s all…I’m going to step out for a while…I’m not feeling too good…” As Hatsune left the room, Kanako quickly followed her, giving the statue one last glance before following her.

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            “Rie, I’m leaving for a few hours; look after the guests, alright?” Masako called out as she walked out of the front door.

            “Alright, mom!” Rie called out while secretly wondering ‘Guests? What other guests do we have besides the teacher and the students that haven’t been kidnapped?’ She watched from the window to make sure that her mother wasn’t going to turn back, then hurried to her mother’s room. ‘I need to find some sort of proof that my mother is responsible for the kidnappings; then, I’ll have to find out someone who can call the police outside of the village.’

            Her mother’s room was neat as usual. Rie immediately headed towards her desk and tried one of the drawers; locked, as she expected. ‘Good thing she doesn’t know I know where she hides the keys…’ With that, Rie headed towards the closet and pulled out an empty jewel box. Opening the cover, she pulled out the bottom to reveal a hidden compartment inside. Inside were four keys, three of them modern-looking and one of them looking a little more old-fashioned.

            ‘Hm…which one is the drawer key?’ she wondered as she headed over to the desk once again. She got the right key on the second try; pulling open the drawer, she noticed that the inside of the drawer was neat as well. ‘I’ve got to be careful in case she notices that something is out of place…’

            Inside of the drawer were several stacks of paper and a notebook. Rie reached for the notebook first, flipping through the pages. Most of them were simple accounts about the inn such as how much money was made and reminders to find missing objects. The pages in the middle were empty, but as Rie flipped towards the end, she noticed something that caused her to suck in breath sharply.

            There was some sort of spider web design on the back, though on closer inspection it was revealed to be something more. The pattern looked like several symbols arranged into a web shape. ‘This pattern…I’ve seen it before somewhere…’ As she turned the page, she let out a gasp.

            There was some sort of message scrawled on the page. “Remember to renew the sigil at the old shrine near the lake.” There was another one below that: “Find potential girls for breeding with the Kumobito.”

            ‘Kumobito?’ Rie wondered. ‘What could those be?’ She turned to the last place and stared at the message written on it:

            “Remember to check the basement.”

            ‘Basement? We had a basement in this place?’ Rie wondered. Her eyes suddenly wandered to the old key that she had found in the box. ‘I wonder…’

            She tried to think about where the entrance to this ‘basement’ could possibly be. ‘It couldn’t possibly be in mother’s room; she’s on the second floor. It has to be one of the rooms on the first floor…the problem is which one…’ She looked out the window to make sure that her mother wasn’t back yet and proceeded downstairs.

            She saw Handa-sensei as she was walking down. “Oh, Rie-san!” Handa-sensei said as she came running over. “Is there any news from the police yet?”

            “Oh, Handa-san…no, I’m sorry that there’s nothing from the police yet. Now if you’ll excuse me…Handa-san!” The teacher, in her hurry, had tripped. “Are you okay?” Rie asked as she ran over to help the teacher. However, as she reached the teacher, Handa-sensei grabbed a hold of her and pulled her down a little.

            “I’m being watched,” she whispered in an urgent manner. “There are strange people who keep pacing the area around my hotel room. What should I do?”

            Rie took a look; indeed, she could see three people that were clearly not customers of the inn; she recognized one of them as a friend of her mother’s. ‘Damn,’ she thought. ‘What’s going on around here?’ “Stay in your room for now and don’t attract any attention,” she whispered back. “Make sure that your remaining students are safe; I need to check something out first…”

            She hurried away from Handa-sensei to avoid raising any sort of suspicion. ‘If I were mother, where would I hide a basement where no one else could find it?’ The place that made the most sense was her office; might as well check there.

            Her mother must’ve been in a hurry; the door to her office was slightly ajar. Rie was instantly on guard. ‘Alright, something strange is definitely going on. Since when was my mother this careless? She must have something really big on her mind…’ Rie took a deep breath, looked around to make sure that no one was watching her, and quietly stepped into the main office.

            Once again, the insides of the office were especially neat. There were several cabinets where Masako kept records of the guests as well as a desk that had several papers stacked into small piles. There were several photographs on the wall as well, most of them depicting Masako with a young Rie. ‘Mother…she used to be so fun to be around. Now, it’s like she’s a different person, someone I don’t know anymore…’

            There was a painting on the wall, a painting depicting a Japanese temple. ‘That’s strange; why is the painting so low? I could just reach out and touch it. Why would mother hang something like that so low on the wall?’ Reaching over, she lifted the painting out of the way and smirked. ‘Ah, so this was the dirty little secret…’

            There was a small hole in the wall that, upon further inspection, was revealed to be a keyhole of sorts. As Rie fished for the key in her pocket, she suddenly realized that it was in her best interest to pick up some sort of weapon. Who knew what she would find? She hurried out of the office and into her room where she rummaged in the closet for a bit. “Aha! Found it!” she said as she pulled out her baseball bat. “This should do the trick.”

            Making her way back to the office, she tentatively tried the key; it fit in perfectly and she turned it. She stepped back, startled, as part of the wall revealed itself to be a hidden door and opened inwards. Rie stepped inside cautiously, making sure to inspect the door to ensure that there was a way to get out. She didn’t need to worry; there was a doorknob on the other side that worked.

            The stairs leading downward were quite long, about sixteen steps or so. The room wasn’t too dark and she had no real trouble looking around. As she neared the final step of the stair she stopped, trying to home in on something with her hearing.

            ‘Wait a minute…is that sobbing? Oh my god! Is my mother holding someone hostage here?!’ Rie quickened her pace as she got off the stairs but felt her hand nearly catch on something thin yet sticky. She squinted at her hand to see what it was. ‘Spider silk? Ugh, this place must be filthy…’ She brushed her hand on her clothes impatiently, causing the thin strand of the web to fall to the ground. There was another door on the wall and she tested it; unlocked. She opened it cautiously and peeked inside, freezing when she saw what was inside.

            She could see the faint outlines of thick spider webs everywhere in the room. The layers of webs were extremely thick and seemed to blanket most of the room. However, it was the occupants of the room that caused Rie to freeze up.

            There was a girl in the room…well, at least she looked like a girl. Her back was faced towards Rie, showing the four long spider legs sprouting from her naked back. The creature was pinning someone on the ground with long spindly limbs, a young girl who couldn’t have been older than sixteen. The captive was also naked, her wrists bound above her head by spider threads as the creature seemed to be sexually assaulting her. The captive was sobbing in a muffled manner; the creature seemed to be deep-kissing her given the slurping sounds that Rie was hearing from them.

            Suddenly, the creature’s head jerked up. She let out a hiss and the spider legs flexed. The creature got off of her captive and crouched down, letting the four spider legs touch the floor before scuttling towards Rie with a speed so fierce that the eighteen year old girl hardly had time to react before she was knocked over.

            The creature reared her head up and let out a cry that sounded like a shrill hiss mixed with a scream. As the creature lowered its head down, the cry was suddenly cut short. Recognition came into the creature’s eyes in a way that was akin to dawning horror. “R…Rie?” the creature stuttered. “Is…is that you?”

             Rie was equally stunned. "T-Teruko-neechan!"

Kanako waited anxiously as Hatsune came back into the room. “Are you feeling better?” she asked anxiously. When the older girl nodded, Kanako smiled in relief.

            “But that was strange…” Hatsune murmured. “What kind of a room was that? When I walked inside, it was like…I felt something familiar about that place…” She shook her head. “What am I talking about? That’s got to be nonsense.”

            “But if it helps you regain your memories…” Kanako protested.

           “That can wait; I would rather have my memories come back painlessly,” Hatsune said, smiling at Kanako. “But anyways, you look like something’s bothering you right now. Mind if you tell me about it?”

            “Well…” Kanako faltered; she looked into Hatsune’s red eyes, eyes that seemed so trusting, so understanding, and so mesmerizing that before she knew it the whole story came spilling out. She told Hatsune all about the kidnapping and how she managed to prevent from being spirited away as well. She told her about how the men had attacked her near the torii gate. She also told her about how she had betrayed the trust of her new friends; she couldn’t do anything to help them.

            Hatsune had listened to her patiently, never interjecting or asking questions. As Kanako started to cry after the whole story came out, Hatsune put her arms around Kanako and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Kanako, it wasn’t your fault,” she said softly. “You couldn’t have done anything.”

            “But…but I didn’t even try…”

            “What could you have done? They were far stronger than you; what good would you have accomplished in getting captured?” Hatsune placed her hands gently around Kanako’s face and stared into the younger girl’s blue eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe. I’ll help you find your friends as well.”

            “Hatsune-san…” Kanako was crying, but this time out of happiness. “Thank you so much…thank you…”

            “It’s alright, and you can leave out the formalities,” Hatsune said as she stroked Kanako’s hair. “We’re…friends, right? You don’t need to add…!” The older girl suddenly tensed up. “Wait. Someone’s headed this way.” She grabbed Kanako’s hand and hurriedly pulled her into an empty room.

            They heard the sound of the door opening. “You…you didn’t lock the door?” Kanako asked in horror.

            “Lock?” The brief look of confusion was soon wiped out as footsteps were heard. “Hush now; they’re coming.”

            “So why are we at this place?” a woman’s voice floated out.

            “The Priestess wants us to find something,” another woman said. “Hey, did you hear about this house’s story? Apparently a witch used to live here and a girl disappeared around here too. They say a mob attacked the house about a year after the girl disappeared and they too were never seen again.”

            “Oh really?” the first woman said. “So what really happened?”

            “Your guess is as good as mine; I’ll bet it involves them though, so best not to think about it too much…”

            “So…what exactly was that ritual with the girls we brought in supposed to be?” Kanako instantly tensed up; they were talking about the kidnapped students.

            “You don’t…oh wait, you’re new. Silly me, I forgot. Well, it’s supposed to turn them into…aha! There it is! Looks just like the one back in the shrine…”

            “It really does…” the first woman said. “But you know, the newspaper clippings give me the creeps. And what’s with all the paper here? It’s like…ah, never mind. I think I know what happened here…”

            “What? What happened here? Senpai, don’t tease me like that!”

            “I’ll tell you later, you know, after we have some fun tonight…”

            “Senpai, you’re a pervert. By the way, should we take down all of these clippings and take these papers as well? What if the police find out about this?”

            “What would they do? They would simply deem them as the work of an insane person. Come on, let’s get going.” Kanako could hear the sounds of the women leaving and as soon as she heard the door close she let out a sigh that she wasn’t aware she had been holding in for almost the entire time.

            “What did they take?” Hatsune asked out loud, frowning. She made her way back into the room the women were inside, looking around. “The statue! They took the statue! But why only that, though? There are other things of value here…why take only a statue that probably isn’t even worth that much?”

            “Hatsune-san, what are we going to do now?” Kanako asked. “How are we going to save the others? What are we up against?”

            “Hold on, let me think a little…” Hatsune said, her eyes narrowed in concentration. “From what I can see, there’s almost no way to get out of this village, so they must still be somewhere here…perhaps the temple?”

            “Wait, what do you mean?” Kanako asked. “We…we rode a bus here…wait, does that mean that they used the bus to take the girls away?”

            “Bus? What’s that?” Hatsune asked, a look of total confusion on her face.

            “It’s…well, it looks like a large metal box with wheels…” Kanako blushed; why couldn’t she have come up with something that didn’t sound so childish?

            “Oh! Do you mean the thing that was broken down into a wreck?” Hatsune asked, her eyes suddenly brightening with recognition. “I saw something like that near the house; it looked like a large metal box with strange patterns on the front and strange wheels made of some bizarre black substance. It’s all broken but…Kanako? What’s wrong?”

            Kanako felt faint, almost as though she was going to pass out at any time. Their only transportation out of the village was gone.

            Sachiho and the other three girls that hadn’t gone through the ritual could only stare in horror at the creature before them. It still looked like their classmate yet it was clear that she was no longer human; spider legs were growing out of her back while her hands had become black with angry red stripes with fingers resembling spider legs. The girl-spider thing occasionally let out a sob as she lay on the ground shivering, causing the spider legs to twitch and flex.

            The other girl was in the middle of going through the transformation. The girl wasn’t making a sound; her mind had snapped. Her body jerked around as the spider legs tore through her back, her blank eyes staring out at everything and nothing.

            Tsugumi’s mind hadn’t snapped, but it was clear that the young girl was frightened beyond belief. Her voice had gone hoarse from continuous screaming and her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. Her entire body was covered by the marks of the ritual. The shrine maidens continued their relentless chanting as the magic circle continued to glow in a sinister manner.

            The Priestess Saki watched the process while another shrine maiden walked over to her. “Saki-sama, we have investigated the torii gate; it is indeed broken but not by natural means. What should we do?”

            “Hm…” Saki took on a rather thoughtful expression. “We find those three useless bums torn to shreds in the same area where a great amount of spiritual energy has gathered…interesting, very interesting…” She started to walk off, motioning for several shrine maidens to follow her. “Let’s see if our girls are ready for a hunt…”

            “Teruko-neechan…” Rie stammered. “You…I thought you…you were here all this time? What…what happened to you?”

            “Rie…no…don’t look at me…” Teruko shrank back, her long brown hair shadowing her eyes that were an unnatural gold color. The spider legs curled around her body into a shape that resembled a fleshy cage. “No…please…” Her voice was wracked with sobs and her entire body shivered as tears came flowing out.

            “Teruko-neechan! What happened?! Who did this to you?” Rie looked over at the girl Teruko had been violating a moment ago; she had passed out. “Who…who is that? What were you doing to her?”

            “Oh Rie…I…I’m a monster now…” Teruko choked out. “It…it was a tall woman in holy robes…she told me I was going to be special…she forced me onto some sort of circle and did something to me…something that turned me into this…”

            “A tall woman in holy robes?” Rie repeated, not believing what she was seeing let alone hearing. “This woman…she turned you into a spider creature?”

            “They…they said I was a Kumobito now…they said I would serve the Princess and that I needed to make more…” Teruko motioned towards the bound girl. “Someone put her here…I…I didn’t want to, but there was this feeling in me, like a fire…” Teruko once again burst out sobbing as she suddenly grabbed Rie with her long limbs. Her head lunged forward and buried itself in Rie’s chest as the older girl let out a cry of agony. “H-help me…” she cried. “I…I don’t want to be a monster…I…I…”

            Rie could only lie there, stunned at the revelations that had been delivered like a blow with a sledgehammer. ‘Oh mother, did you let them do this to Teruko-neechan? Did you help your cult drag her into your sick practices? Did you tell her that it was for her own good? Did you watch as they turned her into a giant spider that can no longer walk among humans? Did you care when she broke down into an emotional wreck?’

            She put her arms around Teruko’s body in a hug. “Neechan…I don’t think you’re a monster. You’re still you, and you’re still my sister. I…I’m not going to abandon you.” Teruko looked up, her golden eyes now tinged red from the tears.

            “R-really?” Teruko sniffed. “You…you mean it?”

            “Yes,” Rie said with a small smile. “But first…” She hurriedly ran over to the girl and examined her; the girl was unconscious but definitely still breathing at least. She had no idea how long the girl was imprisoned here, but she could imagine the terror the girl must’ve felt getting raped. ‘Damn it, who would turn Teruko-neechan into something that would do something like this?’ She turned towards her sister. “Neechan, can you help me untie her? We need to get her out…”

            Teruko scuttled over and cut the threads effortlessly. She picked the girl up almost as though she was cradling her. “I…I didn’t want to do it…honest…” she said, almost as though she was speaking to herself. “But they said I needed to implant my eggs into her, to make her a breeder for a new generation…” She looked up at Rie once again. “She’s carrying my children, Rie…I…I planted my eggs in her…I planted so many…”

            “Oh god…she’s not going to die, is she?” Rie asked, horrible images of spiders forcing themselves out of the poor girl’s body filling her head.

            “No…they said she wouldn’t die…they said…”

            The girl’s eyes suddenly flew open. “Ah…ah…” She started to thrash around, causing Teruko to hold tightly onto her naked body. “Help…help me…I feel them…I can feel them inside me…help…please help…”

            “What’s happening to her?! Teruko-neechan, what’s going on?!”

            “She’s…she’s giving birth…” Teruko whispered. She looked up at Rie with eyes filled with both fear and ecstasy. “My babies…my babies are coming…”

            Saki and two young shrine maidens that appeared to be twins approached a door with a paper seal on it. “Takagi Mitsuko and Takagi Kaoru,” she called out softly. “I have a job for you two.” She tore off the seal and walked inside. She motioned for the shrine maidens to follow as they entered the room.

            There were two girls in the room, each one appearing just a little above twenty. One of them had shoulder-length black hair with red eyes while the other one had extremely long black hair with green eyes. The room was completely covered in webs and the two were lounging on the floor, their spider legs idly picking at threads. “Oh, it’s Saki-sama!” the red-eyed one said. “Kaoru-neesama, Saki-sama has come to see us?”

            Kaoru immediately got up and bowed. “How may we help you, Saki-sama?”

            “I need something to be investigated,” Saki said. “The torii gate has broken and something has escaped; I want you two to find out what it is and to capture it if possible.”

            “Your wish is our command, Saki-sama,” Mitsuko giggled. “But is it night yet? We do so much better during the night…”

            “Not yet,” Saki said. “However, this is a matter that I don’t want to put off longer than necessary. Oh!” She suddenly clapped her hands together. “I almost forgot! There is a girl that the others are searching for, about sixteen years old with orchid-hair tied in a braid. If you run into her, do be kind and bring her in, will you? Now, I leave you two to enjoy yourselves with a gift from me; to thank you for your hard work, of course.” She nodded at the shrine maidens before leaving.

            As the door was closed, the Takagi sisters motioned for the twin shrine maidens to approach. As soon as the girls did, both spider sisters were immediately upon them. Robes were torn apart and soon Mitsuko was suckling on one of the girl’s breasts while Kaoru probed her girl’s mouth with her spider legs as well as her tongue. “She really knows which ones are perfect for us…” Kaoru remarked before pulling her shrine maiden in for a kiss. “Now we definitely have to do our best…”

            “Ah, Sadako-chan! Good to see you again!” Saki said as she hurried to embrace a tall woman with black hair so long it trailed slightly on the floor. “Goodness, you’re covered in blood! What happened to you?”

            “A little exercise,” Sadako smiled as she lifted up a hand and licked the blood off. “But never mind that, I’ve brought you a little gift.” She motioned behind her and Saki could see a gigantic cocoon-like structure made of spider silk. The cocoon seemed to be moving around; something was inside of it. “Now, behold!” Sadako reached over and sliced the cocoon open with her transformed claw.

            Several girls fell out, all of them bound by spider silk as well. There were several Japanese and Chinese girls as well as a few Americans and Koreans. The girls whimpered as they looked up in fright at the tall, intimidating woman that was staring down at them. “Interesting…where did you get them? And why so many foreigners?”

            “They were going to be used for prostitution, so I thought why should some old geezer be the ones to enjoy them? They don’t fully appreciate girls like these. So I thought perhaps the Kumobito might find them appealing…”

            “Thank you, Sadako-chan,” Saki said as she reached down to inspect one of the Chinese girls. “So what happened to the people they were with?”

            “They were using a house in the countryside as a resting place. I had quite a bit of fun tearing them apart,” Sadako giggled. “They said that human males are supposed to be stronger, but they all tear apart the same way…”

            “Are…are you going to kill us?” one of the Japanese girls asked, her voice trembling. The other girls had the same question in their eyes too; they were especially starting at Sadako, who continued to lick blood off her hands.

            “No,” Saki said. “We’re not going to kill you.” She turned towards Sadako. “By the way, you might want to be careful; I’ve set the Takagi sisters loose and they’re searching for the source of a spiritual disturbance as well as a girl we failed to catch.”

            Sadako stopped in surprise. “The Takagi sisters, huh?” she mused. “The ones right below me in terms of power and the only ones put under watchful guard…what made you so desperate to use them?”

            “The only reason they’re locked up is because Mitsuko is a loose cannon; luckily, Kaoru is with her. Besides, the Spider Princess is close to awakening; all Kumobito must be present when that time comes.”

            “I see…” Sadako said quietly. “So it doesn’t matter anymore what the others do now, huh? They can’t stop us anymore…” Sadako’s eyes soon wandered over to the area where the students that hadn’t been transformed yet were laying. Several of them were lying on the ground in shock at what they had seen. Her eyes fell upon Sachiho, and she smirked a little. “That one…is she taken?”

            Saki looked at Sachiho, then Sadako with surprise. “No…you fancy her? Then you can take her; we weren’t planning on transforming her, anyways.”

            “Saki-sama, you truly are kind to me,” Sadako smiled as she reached over and pulled Sachiho up. The girl, far too frightened by all she had seen, could only whimper as Sadako pulled her close into a tender embrace. “You’re so pretty…” she whispered to Sachiho, who only sobbed quietly. “I’ll be sure to have a lot of fun with you…”   

            A shrine maiden soon came running. “Saki-sama, we’re sensing a large amount of spiritual force coming this way. It appears that…”

            “The Kumobito of the other countries are returning…” Saki said with a smile. “Perfect; the coming of the Spider Princess is fast approaching!”

            “Hatsune-san, where are we going?” Kanako asked as the older girl pulled her along. The two of them had left the house and were heading towards what looked like the edge of town. Hatsune especially seemed on edge; the black-haired girl seemed to be taking great pains to avoiding detection.

            “Damn…there are a lot of them roaming around…” she hissed.

            “Hatsune-san…?” Kanako asked quietly, her eyes filled with uneasiness. Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror and she slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. On the ground was a large tarantula, one of the largest she had ever seen. The tarantula seemed to stare up at her before trying to scuttle away. Without a second thought, Hatsune reached over with her foot and crushed it.

            “Weakling…” she murmured. “Kanako, do you see the old shrine over there? Hurry over there and meet me there; there’s something I want to do first. Hurry!” Kanako hesitated for just a moment until running off. Hatsune reached down and picked up the squashed remains of the spider. “The strong eat the weak…”

            And she promptly swallowed it.

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            Mitsuko clutched the right side of her face. “Damn it! Someone squashed my third eye! But at least I found the girl…Kaoru-neesama, how’s your third eye?”

            “It’s currently scuttling towards the torii gate,” Kaoru said, both eyes closed in concentration. “Where is the girl?”

            “She’s near one of the shrines…” Mitsuko said, recalling the final visions right before the tarantula was crushed. “I’ll head over there right now.” As she was about to run off, she felt Kaoru grab her sleeve. “Kaoru-neesama?”

            “…be careful,” Kaoru said quietly.

            “No worries,” Mitsuko grinned. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

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            Kanako soon saw Hatsune running towards the shrine. “Hatsune-san!” she said as Hatsune caught up with her. “Why…why are we here?”

            “This was one of the places that I felt familiar with…I’m here to see if there’s something here that can help us out…” Without another word, Hatsune immediately began searching around the shrine.

            “Um…what exactly are we looking for?” Kanako asked.

            “I’m not sure, but…ah!” Hatsune suddenly fell forward, causing Kanako to rush over to her side. “I’m…I’m alright…” she gasped, holding up a hand to reassure Kanako. “I…I just remembered something…”

            “Remembered something? Remembered what?” Kanako asked urgently.

            “It…it was something about this place…something my older sister told me…”

            “Older sister? You have an older sister?”

            “Apparently…” Hatsune said as she shakily got to her feet. “Let’s see…” She took a look around the shrine; like the one Kanako had been in, it was decorated with an assortment of spider imagery. The altar in the shrine seemed to have been recently used; there was an incense stick stuck into an urn that was still burning slightly.

            “Um, what did your sister tell you?”

            “She said something about a secret place…a secret place to go to should any of us be in trouble…” Hatsune muttered as she continued to scrutinize the shrine intensely. “Think…think…wait…”

            “Hatsune-san! Do you remember something?!”

            “Ugh…something about a thousand clouds…whatever that’s supposed to mean…” Hatsune’s face was screwed up in concentration and Kanako put her hand on Hatsune’s shoulder, whispering to her not to strain herself…

            “Thousand clouds, huh…” Kanako said out loud as she glanced around the shrine. The wall scrolls depicted pictures of all sorts, but all of them had some sort of spider motif along with some sort of word. “‘Everlasting Hunger’…” Kanako muttered, looking at a picture of a spider with thousands of warriors trapped in its web. “‘Demon’s Love’…” for a picture of a girl with the body of a spider clutching another girl in her legs, “‘A Thousand Spiders’…” for a picture of a swarm of spiders coming out of a crack in the ground. Wait a minute…

            “‘Spider’ and ‘cloud’ are both ‘kumo’…” Kanako said out loud, realization causing her eyes to brighten. She lifted up the wall scroll and motioned for Hatsune to come over. “Hatsune-san! Take a look at this!”

            “What is it?” Hatsune asked curiously, her eyes narrowing. “A door?” It was a small panel, to be exact. “I don’t see any way to open it though…” She knocked on the panel and tried pushing on it. “Hm…that doesn’t work…” Hatsune placed a hand on the panel, trying to see if there was a way to slide it around. “I don’t think…ah!” Hatsune drew her hand back sharply as the panel suddenly swung open.

            “How did you do that?” Kanako asked as she looked inside the compartment.

            “I have no idea…” Hatsune said, looking mystified. She reached inside and pulled out a strange-looking jade object. The thing vaguely resembled a large key, and the two girls looked at the object curiously.

            “What is this supposed to be?” Kanako asked as she looked at the object. “There’s a whole bunch of symbols carved on it…do you recognize it?”

            “No…wait, kind of…” Hatsune said as she studied the symbols closely. “I don’t know what they mean, but they seem so familiar…I think I’ve seen them before, but if only I could remember where…”

            “Hatsune-san, please, we need to go quickly!” Kanako begged. “My friends…”

            “Oh, you won’t have to worry about never seeing them again!” a voice suddenly sang out. The two of them whirled around to see Mitsuko lounging near the entrance of the shrine. She was smiling in a rather merry way as she ran a hand down the walls of the shrine affectionately. “Ah, such memories…”

            “Who are you?” Kanako asked, her voice shaking in fright.

            “Takagi Mitsuko,” Mitsuko said as she bowed in an almost mocking manner. “I’ve come to, ah, retrieve you…”

            “R-retrieve me?” Kanako squeaked.

            “Oh yes…you see, Saki-sama is a little upset that we might not have all the girls we need for the grand ceremony, and since you were the only little mouse to escape, we cannot have you running free.” Mitsuko’s grin widened as she started to transform. Her spider legs came tearing out as her limbs stretched themselves. She landed on all fours as the spider legs from her back reached the floor.

            “Ah…ah…” Kanako seemed to be trying to hitch in a scream until Hatsune grabbed her hand. The older girl seemed to take in the sight quite calmly as she pulled Kanako behind her. “Hatsune-san…”

            “Oh, you look quite nice…” Mitsuko purred as she licked her lips. “Maybe Saki-sama will let me have you some time…” With that, all eight limbs tensed up as she leaped towards Hatsune. However, the black-haired girl didn’t flinch. Instead, her hand shot out and caught a hold of Mitsuko’s face. The spider girl let out a cry of surprise as Hatsune shoved her aside, causing her to slam into the shrine walls.

            “H-Hatsune-san…” Kanako couldn’t believe her eyes; how could Hatsune face down something so frightening like that?

            “Stronger than you look, huh?” Mitsuko said in surprise as she picked herself up. “Looks like I’ll get to play a little.”

            “Come then,” Hatsune said coldly. “I’ll tear your limbs off before I let you take Kanako away.” She tensed up as Mitsuko once again prepared to charge.

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Rie glanced at her watch; it was almost evening. Teruko seemed to be quite absorbed in her new baby, watching her as she tried crawling around on all eight legs.

“Teruko-neechan…we have to get you out of here,” Rie said as she shook her sister’s shoulders. “We need to get you out…”

“I can’t…” Teruko said quietly. “My baby needs me…and if I leave, people will be frightened of me…” She reached over to stroke the infant’s head, the baby gurgling happily as she nuzzled against Teruko’s body.

“But…what about her?” Rie pointed at the girl that had given birth. “What if something bad happens to her? We need to get her out of here before…”

“That’s enough, Rie,” A voice called down from the door. Rie looked up to see her mother coming down the stairs. “She stays here and that’s the end of it.” Masako had a rather pitying look on her face. “I really hoped that you wouldn’t find things out this way. You were snooping around my room, weren’t you?”

“Mother…” Rie slowly stood up, anger building up inside of her quickly. “How could you? How could you do this to Teruko-neechan?! How could you do this to that girl over there, making her give birth to such a…”

“So she’s given birth?” Masako’s eyes brightened. “Wonderful…just wonderful. The day I’ve been waiting for…”

“Mother! Answer me! What did you do all this for?!"

“Rie…you should’ve listened to me and joined the group,” Masako whispered softly. “Do you not understand that by rejecting her Highness you are rejecting your own destiny! The time of her awakening is nearly here and you shall be a part of it as well!”

            A shrine maiden hurried over to where Saki was. The Priestess was sitting on a spider-like chair of sorts, Shiori in her lap and having her hair combed by the Priestess. “Saki-sama! The magic inhibiting communication to the outside as been dispelled.”

            “It matters not,” Saki said nonchalantly. “With the large number of Kumobito in this village now, no outsider would dare attack.” She finished combing Shiori’s hair and was tying part of it into a ponytail. “By the way, it looks like our guests have arrived.”

            No sooner had she spoken than several girls appeared in the large chamber of the temple. There were quite a few Japanese girls although there were several foreign ones as well: Caucasian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and a few others. These were Kumobito whose mothers had mated with foreign women but displaying more traits of the foreigners. “Welcome, sisters from the other countries!” Saki exclaimed happily. “Welcome to Fushigumo Village!”

            “Always a pleasure to be here, Priestess,” one of the girls, of Japanese and British descent, said as she bowed, sweeping her arm in front in a style reminiscent of a butler.

            “So today is the day you awaken the Spider Princess?” one of the half-Chinese girls asked. “Do you have presents for us?”

            “Yes, I do, Lin-Mei” Saki smiled. “Several young girls are waiting for you to claim them as your brides. But first, would you care to rest for a while? The ritual will not start for a few hours and I have asked that refreshments be prepared.” She motioned for several of the shrine maidens. Nodding, the shrine maidens motioned for the girls to follow them into the dining area.

            “How long has it been here since we last came, Sang Mi?” one of the Russian girls asked a Korean girl. “Lady Saki still displays the same amount of charisma, huh?”

            “Indeed, Elizaveta-ssi,” Sang Mi said. “What sort of girl will you be looking for?”

            “I prefer an older one,” Elizaveta said. She herself looked around sixteen, one of the younger girls in the group. “Someone who is older but also shy. I like shy girls.”

            “I see…” Sang Mi said. “Personally, I prefer an extroverted girl; I’m not much of a conversation starter, and I hope that the one I get is good at ice breaking…”

            “Are all the girls available going to be Asian?” a French girl asked. “I hope that there will be a variety…”

            “Probably not,” a Japanese girl said. “My friend’s older sister was once in a similar ceremony and she ended up mating with someone of Irish descent.”

            The room they were in was filled with tables with meat on them. Beef, pork, chicken, mutton, duck…the smell of roasted meat filled the Kumobitos’ nostrils, causing their mouths to salivate. One of the shrine maidens bowed towards them. “I hope you enjoy the refreshments…” she said quietly. As soon as she said that, the Kumobito gave a cheer and started to help themselves to food.

            “Hey, do you think Lady Saki will let me have a shrine maiden?” the British girl asked Lin-Mei as the two of them sat together. “There’s one I particularly like…”

            “I’m sure she would, Victoria,” Lin-Mei replied. “She’s always been nice to us. All the more reason to help her out, right?”

            “Yeah…” Victoria agreed. “I wonder if that injury still bothers her…”

-----------------------------------------------------

            Saki knocked on a door in the temple. “Sadako-chan, can I come in?”

            “Sure, come on in,” Sadako’s voice called out. Saki opened the door and walked inside of Sadako’s room. The room was filled with spider webs as well as wall scrolls carrying haikus on them. Sadako herself was lounging in a web hammock with a sobbing Sachiho tied up inside. Sachiho had been stripped naked, her arms bound behind her back by spider webs. Sadako looked up, smiling. “How may I help you, Saki-sama?”

            “The Kumobito from the other countries have arrived,” Saki said. “I’m just here to let you know that you need to prepare for the awakening ceremony. Oh, and I’m glad you’re enjoying your girl…”

            “She’s quite delicious…” Sadako giggled as she stuffed two fingers into Sachiho’s mouth, smothering the girl’s cries. “It’s really here, huh? The day that the Spider Princess finally wakes up again…”

            “Yes…” Saki agreed. “How I waited for this day…”

            “Hey, rumors say that the Spider Princess will grant the wish of the person who awakened her, right?” Sadako asked as she pulled her fingers out of Sachiho’s mouth, running her fingers down Sachiho’s breasts and leaving a trail of saliva, taking pleasure in the girl’s shivers and quiet whimpers. “What are you going to wish for if she really does grant you a wish?”

            Saki said nothing, but Sadako noticed that Saki’s hand unconsciously wandered towards her belly after hearing the question.

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            Handa-sensei couldn’t tell where she was; when she had been grabbed by one of the monsters back at the inn, the beast had bit her and she had passed out. Now, awakening, she realized that she was in a cell of some sort. “This place…”

            “Ah, so you’re awake,” a voice said. Handa-sensei looked up to see one of the girls that had attacked her.

            “You…you’re…!” Handa-sensei scrambled backwards, her eyes wide with fright.

            “Takagi Kaoru,” the girl simply said.

            “Hey, if it isn’t Kaoru!” a voice called out. Handa-sensei realized that the Japanese sounded a bit awkward and a bit accented. When the speaker revealed herself, Handa-sensei saw why; the girl that appeared was Caucasian. “So this is where all the girls are being kept, huh?”

            “What are you doing here, Christine?” Kaoru asked. “I thought you would be with your younger sister as well as your little toy…”

            “Hey, she’s not a toy, she’s my mate,” Christine said, her face filled with mock-hurt. “Besides, she’s pregnant now as well; she’s due in about a month. I’m here to see what kind of girls my little sister would like. You know how picky she can be…”

            “I see…” Kaoru said. “Anyways, the ceremony will start in a few hours so you better conserve your strength; we’re going to need a large amount of demonic energy for this and we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you…”

            “Aw, you’re so caring…unlike your psycho of a sister…”

            “Mitsuko is a good girl…she just tends to be a little energetic sometimes.” Kaoru turned to look at Handa-sensei. “Don’t worry, we won’t kill you.”

            “What…what about my other students? Did…did you…”

            “Oh, you mean the boys?” Kaoru asked. “Be thankful it wasn’t Mitsuko that handled them. I merely spirited them off somewhere with their memories partially wiped. They’ll be found by authorities with no memory of this place. Fortunately for you, I do not enjoy killing as much as my younger sister.”

            “You…” Handa-sensei didn’t get to say anymore as Kaoru turned to leave.

            “Christine, let’s go. Your sister can come herself if she wants to check out the girls.” With that, Kaoru dragged a protesting Christine away while the horrified teacher could only await her fate helplessly in the cell.

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            Rie sat in the basement, still stunned at what she had heard. Masako had been called away again, and the mother had decided to give Rie some time to ‘make the right choice.’ The infant, looking at Rie curiously, waddled over and poked her in the side.

            Rie looked down at the baby, who gurgled happily. ‘She’s got a point…how could you call this a monster? But…but what about the girl that had to give birth to her? How many times was she raped before she was successfully impregnated? How much did she suffer all those months of having something grow within her? How could my mother do this to an innocent person?’

            “Rie-chan…” Teruko crawled towards her sister cautiously. “Are…are you alright, Rie-chan?” She reached towards Rie as though to put an arm around her shoulder but drew back, almost as if she were afraid that Rie would recoil from her touch.

            “Teruko-neechan…what should I do?” Rie whimpered. “I…I don’t want any innocent girls being forced into something against their will, but if what that woman said was true…then I…I…”

            Teruko looked at Rie, distressed that her little sister was so upset. However, in her current state of mind, Teruko was in no condition to give any sisterly advice. The older girl could only sit there as Rie agonized over her dilemma. “Um…you could do nothing, right? Don’t involve yourself anymore…”

            Rie turned around, stunned that her sister would suggest something like that. “How could you say that?! What about those girls that could be turned into…into…” She stopped before burying her hands in her face. “I…I’m so scared…I don’t know what to do…I don’t know…”

            Rie suddenly stopped as soon as she heard voices. “H-Hatsune-san…are you sure that it’s this place?” “No other way to know besides checking right? Wait…there’s something down there. Kanako, be careful…” “But…what if we’re seen? What if the owner comes back?” “No one’s here right now…that’s strange…I wonder what’s going on in this place…”

            “Kanako…wasn’t that the name of one of the girls?” Rie wondered out loud. “That…that means she’s safe…” She suddenly noticed that Teruko was all tensed up, the anguished face expression disappearing into a frightening snarl.

            “Danger…there’s danger…”

            “T-Teruko-neechan?” Rie asked, looking frightened. The little infant let out a little snarl as well, though it seemed more like an expression of fear and she scuttled behind her mother. “What…what’s wrong?’

            “Webs?” a voice said, bewilderment in her voice. “Don’t tell me…” The speaker soon came into view: a girl with red eyes and long black hair. “Wait, Kanako! There’s a Kumobito right here!”

            “Teruko-neechan, no!” Rie shouted as Teruko let out an unearthly shriek and launched herself at the intruder.

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            Saki came into the room where the rest of the Kumobito were waiting. Shiori followed closely behind, the younger girl bound and held closely by the Priestess’s side. “Fellow sisters, it is time,” she said. “I hope you are all well-rested; this ritual will take quite a lot out of all of us. But our Princess shall be awakened today!”

            “So it’s finally here…” Sang Mi said quietly. “The chosen day…”

            “To be honest, I’m kind of nervous…” Lin-Mei said. “I wonder what kind of person the Spider Queen will be…”

            “Well, if she decides to eat us all, it wouldn’t make much of a difference what she’s like, right?” Victoria said jokingly. “I’m sure that she’s going to be alright; Lady Saki believes so, and I trust Lady Saki.”

            “Well then, let’s go then!” Christine said as she stretched her arms. The rest of the Kumobito followed Saki down the main room of worship in the temple and walked towards the large statue of a spider woman. She chanted a few words and a part of the floor separated to reveal a set of staircases leading down. “Watch your step.”

            The stairways led to an extremely large underground chamber. There was a large statue of a spider in the room with an altar in front of it. Several shrine maidens were in the room along with the Takagi sisters and Sadako, who cradled Sachiho close to her. The student had fallen silent now, her voice hoarse from crying. The girls that Sadako had brought over were sitting on the floor, stripped naked with their hands bound behind their backs, shivering in fear as the rest of the Kumobito arrived. There were also several other girls that had been kept in the shrine for a longer amount of time.

            Several shrine maidens were finishing up some sort of drawing on the ground, a magic circle with an emblem resembling a spider drawn in the middle. Saki came over and admired it. “Excellent work, girls.” She stroked Shiori’s head as she walked to her place. “Soon, my love…” she whispered to Shiori. “Soon it will come true…”

            Saki held up her hands and started to chant in a language that sounded like some sort of lost form of Japanese. The magic circle began to glow and Saki stepped into the middle of the circle. The rest of the Kumobito, as if prompted by some invisible voice, started to transform into their true forms. As spider legs came out and limbs stretched, the prisoners could only stare in horror as the Kumobito revealed themselves in all of their eight-legged glory.            

              Saki motioned for the shrine maidens to bring forward one of the students that hadn’t been transformed. The screaming girl was forced onto the circle and stripped naked while heavy weights on chains were locked onto her legs. Saki, finishing her chant, walked over and tilted the girl’s chin up. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to die. You have been granted quite an honor; you are going to be the Spider Princess’s first concubine.” As the girl continued to scream through her gag, Saki pulled out a paintbrush and a small pot full of some strange red ink. She began to draw patterns on the girl’s body as the rest of the Kumobito began to chant.

            Hatsune reacted immediately, her hand transforming into its black and yellow form before lashing out at the charging Kumobito. Teruko let out a screech as she was flung into the wall, causing the entire room to shudder a little from the impact. “Kanako, get back,” Hatsune warned. “This Kumobito has gone made.”

            “Teruko-neechan, stop, please!” Rie cried out as the Kumobito hissed and got back to her feet. It was as though all traces of humanity were gone from her older sister, replaced by a feral beast. Teruko’s eyes glared at Hatsune as she bared her fangs; the black-haired girl, however, was not intimidated.

            “So you really do want to die…” she said softly, her red eyes gleaming dangerously. “Fine; come at me with all you’ve got. I’ll tear you to shreds and devour your remains!” Her fingers flexed and tensed up as she prepared to strike once again. Hatsune was about to lunge forward when she felt someone grab her arm. “Kanako, what are you doing? Let go.”

            “H-Hatsune-san!” Kanako pointed behind the Kumobito. “Look!” Hatsune, looking a little bewildered, realized that Teruko was standing between her and three others. One of them was a girl perhaps in her twenties while the naked girl looked to be in her teens. However, what caught her attention was the baby girl that was hissing at her, a baby girl that happened to have spider legs from her back as well.

            “Huh…an infant, huh?” Hatsune mused. “That explains why she’s so agitated…” She looked over at the two girls. “So she was defending her ‘family’…”

            “Who…who are you?” Rie asked, her voice shaking with fear. “Are…are you one of those…spider girls?”

            “You…you’re the hotel owner’s daughter!” Kanako’s voice was filled with surprise. “Then…then do you know what this place is?”

            “I’m not sure…” Rie said, looking warily at Hatsune.

            “I’m sure it was supposed to be here somewhere…I know something about this place seemed really familiar…I know it…” Hatsune muttered as she looked around the place. Teruko was still hissing at her, her long legs ready to pounce; Hatsune rolled her eyes in response. “Someone please calm her down; the next time she attacks me will be the last time she breathes.”

            “Teruko-neechan…” Rie reached out and grabbed a hold of one of Teruko’s spider legs. “Stop, please. Don’t do it…”

            Teruko continued to look balefully at Hatsune; however, the cries of her little sister had finally reached her and she calmed down slightly. “But she’s dangerous…” Teruko whispered. “She’s…she’s really dangerous…”

            Kanako quickly followed Hatsune, remembering what Hatsune had told her after they freed the girl from the small building. Hatsune had managed to recall something else from her past, something that she said had to do with the Kumobito. Kanako was worried that something bad would happen to the other students if they didn’t hurry so the two girls had rushed over. Hatsune glanced around the basement before suddenly putting her hand onto one of the stones and pushing it in. Part of the wall swung open and revealed an opening of sorts. “Hm…so I was right…”

“H-Hatsune-san…what is…?”

“I remembered…I remembered that my sister and I often snuck into a hidden room in the temple. It was a large room with a statue of a spider in it. Maybe…” She didn’t finish her sentence as she hurried down the hallway. Kanako worriedly followed her, glancing back at Rie and Teruko briefly.

Rie watched as the two girls went off before getting up. “I…I’m going to help them,” she told Teruko. “Even if I do owe those…people some sort of debt, it’s still wrong to involve innocents.” Before she followed after Hatsune and Kanako, she made one last motion towards the girl that had given birth. “Make…make sure nothing bad happens to her, alright?”

“A…alright…” Teruko said as she watched her sister run off as well. She turned her attention to the girl, who was slowly stirring. “Ah…you’re awake…”

“What…” The girl’s eyes suddenly widened as soon as she saw Teruko looking down at her. “No…no! Don’t…please! Don’t…” She flinched as Teruko reached out and shivered as the Kumobito stroked her hair gently.

“I…I’m not going to hurt you, Yayoi…” Teruko said, her voice trembling. She wrapped her arms around the shaking Yayoi. “Believe me…I didn’t want to hurt anyone…believe me…I…I didn’t want our relationship to be like this…please…you need to understand. I never wanted to hurt anyone…you probably won’t forgive me…but…I never wanted to hurt anyone…” Her tears started to fall as she clutched onto Yayoi like a child clutching a comfort blanket. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone…”

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“So you’ve decided to come as well?” Hatsune asked, looking slightly amused at Rie. “At least you’ve armed yourself…” she said, looking at the bat with amusement.

The tunnel was not very long and seemed to be going downwards at a slight angle. Although it was dark, there was a source of light at the end of the tunnel. The sound of chanting could be heard and Rie and Kanako shivered; for some reason, the chanting caused a twinge of fear to move up their spine.

“Looks like they’ve started whatever they were planning to do…” Hatsune muttered as she hurried towards the end as silently as possible. The three girls realized that the end of the tunnel had a small opening shaped like a mouth of sorts. The end of the tunnel wasn’t that small, but the opening was barely large enough for the three to peek out of. “There’s quite a lot of them…”

Kanako and Rie looked dismayed; there were several Kumobito chanting as they gathered around what looked like a magic circle. Several of them seemed like foreigners though they were chanting in the same language as the Japanese Kumobito. There were several other girls, naked and looking terrified, being guarded by a couple of shrine maidens who were also chanting.

As Kanako’s eyes wandered over to the magic circle, she had to stifle a cry of dismay. Three of the kidnapped students were in the middle, their hands tied behind their backs and their legs chained to heavy weights to stop them from escaping. A tall, somewhat intimidating girl of about nineteen years was standing in front of the altar, leading the chants. At her side was another girl who was tied to her, though she was turned around and they couldn’t see her face.

“What…what happened to the other students?” Kanako asked worriedly. Her question was answered as soon as she looked over at one corner of the room, the sight of which caused her eyes to widen and a small whimper to come out of her mouth. “Oh no…they…they’ve been turned…no…Watanabe-san as well…” Her eyes roved around as she took in the scene before stopping at yet another familiar face. “T-Takano-senpai!” she cried out upon seeing the older girls in the clutches of one of the Kumobito.

“This is bad…” Rie whispered. “How are we supposed to handle this?”

“Oh, this isn’t too bad,” Hatsune said. “There’s only about less than forty of those Kumobito. What worries me is the Priestess…if she can command an army of Kumobito that easily, that must mean she’s very powerful, or…”

“Or what, Hatsune-san?” Kanako asked anxiously.

“Never mind that,” Hatsune said. “What’s she doing with those?” Saki was walking over to the giant spider statue and placing something on two platforms in front of the statue and behind the altar. Her eyes widened as she realized what the first of the objects was. “Hey…isn’t that the statue we saw in the house?”

Kanako gave a gasp of surprise at the sight of the second object. “You’re right! She’s also putting up that one statue from the shrine I was visiting…”

The three watched as Saki bowed down on the floor in front of the spider statue. The chanting had stopped for the moment as the Kumobito gazed up at the statue, appearing to be in a state of reverence. Raising their spider claws into the air, the Kumobito started to make a strange sound, a sound that was like the rustling and clicking of several rattles. The sound caused the two human girls to shiver while Hatsune frowned. “Something’s going on with the statues…” she muttered. “They seem to be…!”

A sudden shrieking sound cut off her question. The rest of the Kumobito stopped their little clicking sounds as they looked at the maker of the sound. The two human girls let out a shriek as Mitsuko suddenly leaped right onto the statue, her eyes filled with bloodlust and a somewhat psychotic grin on her face.

---------------------------------------------

Sadako was quite surprised to see Mitsuko break out of the group and lunge towards one of the big stone statues of a spider with open mandibles. She instinctively pulled Sachiho closer to her; if intruders came, she was not going to give up her soon-to-be mate without a fight. Even if an intruder wasn’t here, Mitsuko could be quite a vicious creature when riled up. She looked over at Saki, who frowned at the interruption.
            “Mitsuko!” Kaoru called out. “What are you doing?” The older Kumobito was immediately on her feet and hurrying over to where her younger sister was.

“Hey Takagi, what’s going on there?” Sadako yelled out. “Don’t tell me it’s one of your little psychotic fits…!”

“Intruders!” Mitsuko shrieked with glee. Her spider legs rose up and started to smash the statue head to bits, causing small stone pieces to rain down. The other Kumobito were instantly on alert, some of them starting to emit the hissing sound the Kumobito made when agitated. The captured girls were instantly alert as well; many of them had hope in their eyes for being rescued. The more pessimistic ones still had fear on their faces; what if something worse came out?

Screams could be heard as Mitsuko ripped at the statue in her frenzied attempt to get at the intruders, screams that were undoubtedly feminine. Mitsuko let out a sudden screech as she fell off of the statue, smashing into the ground and instantly getting back up to her feet, hissing at the statue opening. A girl in her twenties could be seen holding a baseball bat; she had hit Mitsuko with it and apparently quite hard as well. Although Kumobito were tougher than any humans, a bat to the face was still quite surprising.

There were two other girls as well, a rather small and frail-looking one with orchid-colored hair and a taller girl with long black hair and red eyes. Sadako’s instincts instantly told her that the black-haired girl was trouble; the hair on the back of her neck prickled and she found herself moving Sachiho into a more protective position…but wait a moment…was that recognition in Sachiho’s eyes as the girl looked towards the intruders? Come to think of it, the orchid-hair girl looked close to Sachiho’s age...

“Hey Saki-sama, it’s the girl that got away!” Mitsuko yelled out.

Saki looked up at the three intruders, her face betraying no negative emotions. “So, you three maidens have stumbled upon our little sacred ceremony, eh? Don’t be shy, come on down. We don’t mind at all; in fact, you’re welcome to join…” She raised her hand, pointing at the place where the three girls were standing. Flames suddenly burst from behind the girls, forcing them to leap away and into the large room.

“K-Kanako-chan!” Sachiho cried out, one of the first things she had said in a while. Her eyes were no longer filled with resignation and defeat; now they were filled with fear towards what might happen to her younger schoolmate. The rest of the Kumobito let out a shriek as they prepared to surge forward, only stopped by Saki.

“Now ladies, let’s not resort to force so easily,” she said. Turning towards the three girls, she gave them a smile that was devoid of any malice, much to the apprehension of the two human girls.

“Stay behind me,” Hatsune said, her eyes narrowing as they focused on the Priestess. “This one is a dangerous one.”

“No need to be so defensive,” Saki said, her voice betraying no negative emotions whatsoever. “I’m…we’re not going to hurt you. This is a time when those with similar interests should work together. After all, the Promised Time is close at hand and she will soon be awakened…”

“Similar interests?” Hatsune frowned. “I don’t follow…”

“Look over there,” Saki said, pointing at the altar. The statues, now aflame with green and red colors, were starting to animate. “That’s a sign that the Spider Princess is close to awakening. Soon, the Age of Spiders will come! You should want this right? You are just like me…” With that, Saki held up her hand; it was starting to form an exoskeleton-like skin and Hatsune’s eyes widened.

“Don’t tell me…!” Hatsune looked at her own hand; it was forcefully transforming as well as the rest of her body. She fell forward on one knee as spider legs started to force themselves out of her back. “You…!”

“She’s coming…” Saki said, her voice now taking on a joyful tone. “Rejoice, my dear maidens and friends! The Spider Princess has started to stir and will soon break through her prison and appear before us, her loyal servants!”      

            “You…you’re a jorougumo too…” Hatsune growled as her true form was starting to force itself out. “That explains how you could command the Kumobito…”

            “Please don’t resist the magical surge,” Saki said softly as she dropped her kimono robe, revealing strange moving bulges on her back. “Allow yourself to show your true form; it will all be over soon…”

“Augh…” Hatsune gritted her teeth as her spider legs forced themselves out, tearing through her clothes as her eyes started to glow a fierce red. Saki too was starting to forcibly transform as well, the spider legs ripping through the bulges streaked with emerald green stripes in contrast to Hatsune’s yellow stripes. The Kumobito were trembling, seemingly stricken with both fear and awe.

            Sadako collapsed onto the ground, her arms wrapped around Sachiho as she stared at the magic circle that was now glowing a sinister blue color. “She’s going to appear now…” she whispered with excitement. “The Princess shall appear!”

            The girls that were on the magic circle let out a muffled scream as they futilely pulled at the chains. A strange whistling sound started to emanate from the circle, culminating in a shriek as the glow became more intense. The Kumobito, most of which had been muttering to themselves in fear and ecstasy, started to make the clicking sounds once again. “She’s coming! She’s coming!”

            Meanwhile, Hatsune glared at Saki as she flexed her claws. Struggling to stand up against the massive spiritual pressure, she glanced over her shoulder to see how Kanako and Rie were doing. The two girls were holding onto each other as wave after wave of demonic energy buffeted everyone in the room. “H-Hatsune-san…” Kanako whimpered as the circle suddenly stopped glowing. The humans and Kumobito inside of the temple room watched in apprehension, waiting to see what would break the lull.

            “ARRGGGH!” Hatsune suddenly screamed as her human form twisted and morphed in a transformation that was frightening to behold. Her two eyes became eight and her mouth became mandibles; the lower part of her body swelled into a massive abdomen and soon in her place was a monstrous spider, her shrieks sounding like some sort of ancient monster whose cries were long forgotten.

            “Hatsune-san…?” Kanako’s voice was small and filled with fright. The spider responded with another shriek that shook the room. The eight-legged monster reared up and crashed down once again, her eight eyes glaring around the room.

            Saki stared at the spider, her eyes wide with wonder. “Why…why did she turn into her true form? The energy backlash wasn’t that bad for me…why…?”

            A sudden scream from the girls brought everyone’s attention back to the circle. The circle had started glowing once again, and there was a strange hole appearing in the middle. Large spider legs were forcing themselves out, the legs streaked with blue stripes as whatever beast they belonged to struggled out.

            “Urgh…” a voice seemingly emanated within Kanako’s head. “Why…why was I forced into my true form…?”

            “Hatsune-san!” Kanako cried out. “Are…are you okay?”

            “Kanako? Ah…I’m fine…but this…this demonic energy…seems so familiar…” The giant spider suddenly tensed up as she caught sight of the thing pulling itself out of the ground. “Wait…”

            The thing that pulled itself out was a monstrous spider as well, but far larger than Hatsune was. The thing had golden eyes that seemed to burn with fierce flames. The mandibles of the monster opened up as the creature let out a screech. The thing’s blue stripes were like those of the ocean streaked across the black exoskeleton of the beast. The monster was soon completely out, filling up a large part of the room. The giant spider let out another shriek, a sound of a terrifying bygone age.

            A sudden clanging sound managed to reach Kanako’s ears despite the screaming of the giant spider monster. It was the jade key-like object that they had picked up at the shrine. As the spider that was Hatsune hissed at the colossus in front of her, Kanako hurried over to grab it. Clutching the object close to her, she swore that she could hear some sort of hum coming from it…

            “She’s awake…she’s awake!” Saki whispered with glee. “Behold, sisters! Standing before us is the legendary Spider Princess herself! All of you in this crowd, welcome her Highness, Fushigumo no Setsuna!”

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            Handa-sensei looked up in fright. “What…what was that sound?”

            From the cell she was being held in, she could hear the monstrous shrieks echoing down the halls. The shrine maidens guarding her immediately looked up, strange looks on their faces, looks that resembled a mixture of terror and ecstasy. “She’s here…” one of them whispered. “Her Highness is here…”

            The shrine maidens hurried off, presumably to see whatever was making those terrifying sounds. As soon as they had left, Handa-sensei felt around one of the inner pockets of her jacket, a look of relief coming to her face as soon as she grasped onto the object within. ‘Thank god they didn’t take this…’ she thought to herself as she pulled out the skeleton key she always carried with her. She had found it when exploring the attic of her grandfather’s home and had carried it around as a good luck charm ever since she was a junior high student. ‘Guess it really is lucky…’

            Making sure that none of the shrine maidens were around, Handa quickly reached out of the bars and tried putting the key into the lock. Once the key was inside, she started to wiggle it around a little, trying to find some way to jimmy the lock open. After a minute of struggling, she was finally rewarded with a click as the lock opened and the door started to swing open slowly.

            ‘Now…I’ve got to find the others and get out of here…’ she thought to herself. ‘But, how do I do that…? Anyways, the priority is to get out of here first…’ She looked around for some sort of weapon to arm herself with, but the only thing in the room was a large candlestick of sorts. “Better than nothing, I suppose…”

            As she made her way through the halls, she noted with a bit of apprehension that the place was deserted. As if to hammer the point that something was definitely not right, another bestial scream echoed down the halls. “Oh god, what’s going on out there?” Handa-sensei asked herself. She could feel cool beads of sweat starting to form, trailing down her head and leaving a chilling feeling on her skin. ‘This place…it’s a breeding ground of monsters…’

            Sudden footsteps soon reached her ears and she hid around a corner. Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice of the person coming; Masako the innkeeper. “Looks like we should get more girls in case the Spider Princess isn’t satisfied with those we already gave her…perhaps that teacher would be good? She seems to be young enough to satiate the Spider Princess’s tastes…yes, she will do.”

            Handa-sensei gave a rather grim smile as her grip around the candlestick. ‘This one pays for all you put us through…’ she thought to herself just as Masako rounded the corner. The innkeeper only saw a flash before the blunt object collided with her face and stars exploded in her head.

            Handa-sensei looked down at the unconscious Masako; the woman was wearing some sort of ceremonial mask made of black metal with rubies set into it. The mask resembled a rather crude spider face and was a little unsettling to look at. Other than that, Masako had been wearing some sort of blue robe over her regular civilian clothes. Handa-sensei reached down and pulled the mask off; although it had cushioned the blow of the candlestick somewhat, the force that Handa-sensei had used was still sufficient to achieve what she wanted. Pulling the blue robe off as well, she hurriedly put it on and the mask as well. ‘Hopefully there will be too many people there to recognize me…’ she thought as she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. What she didn’t expect was for it to give way and she let out a startled cry as she fell through.

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            “Setsuna-sama, Setsuna-sama…” the shrine maidens and Japanese Kumobito chanted, their eyes filled with wonder and admiration.

            “She’s here, she’s here…” Sadako whispered. “She’s so magnificent…”

            “So that’s Lady Setsuna…” Elizaveta said as she gazed up at the beast.

            The monster spider, apparently beginning to calm down, stopped its shrieking as it gazed around the room. As its eight eyes met the many pairs of terrified eyes in the room, the beast started to click its mandibles, occasionally letting out a rattle-like warble. The girls on the magic circle, far too frightened to scream, could only emit small whimpers as the gargantuan stared down at them and everyone else in the room.

            “I…I’m free? After all those years imprisoned beneath the earth, I can finally roam free again?” The spider seemed to lift her head up and emit a victorious screech. “Free again! Free again!” The spider then turned her attention to the students that were on the magic circle. “And what do we have here?”

            “Fushigumo no Setsuna-sama!” Saki cried out, causing the giant spider to turn towards her. “We are glad that you have been freed! The girls you see there are tribute to you, for you to use in whatever way pleases you!”

            “And you are…?” Setsuna asked.

            “I am Saki, your humble servant,” Saki said as she bowed down.

            “Saki, huh?” Setsuna mused. “I thank you for freeing me from my prison. And what is this? Many spiders have gathered here for this occasion? I am flattered; to think that so many still remember me!”

            The spider suddenly froze as her eight-eyed gaze landed on Hatsune. The spider took a step forward, bending down to inspect the black-haired girl who still did her best to keep Kanako safe behind her. “Hatsune? Is that you, Hatsune?”

            “How do you know me?” Hatsune asked suspiciously.

            “What is this? Don’t tell me you have forgotten your own older sister!” Setsuna cried out, hurt in her voice. “Perhaps you might remember me if I did this?” The spider was suddenly shrinking in size, its eight eyes merging into two and two pairs of legs retracting into her body. The other remaining legs split into five ends on each limb while the abdomen started to shrink. The mandibles disappeared to form a human-like mouth. Black hair sprouted from the spider’s head and the exoskeleton started to take the more familiar soft look of human skin.

            Kanako gasped as soon as the transformation was done; standing in front of her and Hatsune was a beautiful girl who looked like an older version of Hatsune who had just reached the age of twenty. Her hair was longer than Hatsune’s, actually trailing on a little on the floor. Her golden eyes seemed just as fiery as when they had been spider eyes. Her naked body, although thin, seemed to give a feeling of great power underneath its seemingly frail appearance. “Now do you recognize me, dear sister?”

            Hatsune stared at Setsuna, trying to recall her from her fragmented memory. Setsuna seemed a little saddened when Hatsune didn’t respond. “No? Oh well; we will have plenty of time to enlighten each other, I guess…” Her eyes suddenly settled on Kanako, who instinctively hid behind Hatsune as she felt the gaze of the golden eyes. “And you’ve found yourself a mate as well?”

            “And what of it?” Hatsune asked.

            “To think that you would’ve finally settled with a mate,” Setsuna said, a hint of a teasing tone in her voice. “To think that Hatsune, the terror that devoured and raped many villagers would finally settle down! You make your older sister so proud…” Setsuna let out a sigh. “However, we can talk later. First…”

            Setsuna turned towards Saki and the rest of the Kumobito. Even the two Takagi sisters seemed frozen in awe as the Spider Princess walked towards them. Snapping her fingers, a black kimono and a blue hakama materialized around her body as she finally stopped in front of them. “You, Saki, the one who set me free…you have my thanks. I shall grant you a wish. What do you want?”

            Saki was silent for a while, though Kanako noticed Saki’s hand had reached over to her belly. Setsuna, noticing it, cocked her head to one side. “You…you were wounded by a magic weapon?”

            Saki looked up. “Yes, but that was a long time ago,” she said. “It was dealt by a man who tried to take Shiori away from me.” Shiori gave a small moan as Saki spoke up, clearly upset by whatever she was saying.

            “Is your wish for me to heal that wound?” Setsuna asked softly. She reached over and placed her own hand on Saki’s belly. “That wound prevents you from creating eggs. Do you wish for me to heal it?” Saki was quiet for a while as her eyes wandered over to Shiori. Finally, she nodded a little and Setsuna smiled. Her hand stared to glow red and Saki gave a gasp as the glow became brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the glow disappeared and Setsuna stepped back. “It’s done; your wound shall no longer bother you, and you can have children now.”

            Saki looked up at Setsuna, tears of gratefulness starting to form. “Thank you, Setsuna-sama…thank you…”

            “It was no problem,” Setsuna said. She turned towards Hatsune. “Now, let’s see if we can do anything to jog your memory…” As she said this, her eyes suddenly fell on the thing in Kanako’s hands. “Hm…perhaps it may be easier than I thought…”

            “You, girl,” Setsuna said, causing Kanako to jump a little. “That Key you hold in your hand; give it to me please.”

            “K-key?” Kanako stuttered as she looked down at the object she was holding. “What…what does it do?” She looked over at Hatsune to see what the black-haired girl would say, but Hatsune gave no answer; she was still trying to process the fact that the so-called ‘Spider Princess’ was her older sister.

            “You have no idea what it is, don’t you? Please hand it over; I might be able to use it to jog Hatsune’s memories,” Setsuna said. “You do care for her right? Then wouldn’t you want her to have her memories back? Or…” Here, a rather small smile came onto the girl’s face. “…perhaps you’re afraid of what you’d find? Perhaps you’re afraid that, if she regains her memory, she would become much more, ah, forceful in her affections for you?”

            “That’s…that’s…”

            The other spider girls in the room shifted about nervously. Some of them were tempted to surge up and grab the object by force, but that would risk the wrath of Hatsune. Alone or not, she was still a jorougumo, a being much more powerful than several Kumobito together. Besides, the jorougumo was like the queen of spiders; the Kumobito couldn’t bring themselves to attack her or her mate.

             Kanako couldn’t think of what else to do; she knew that if Setsuna wanted the key, she could easily take it by force. Also, she didn’t want Tsugumi or Sachiho to get hurt because of her. She extended the hand that was holding the key, her hand trembling. Setsuna smiled as she walked over to pick up the key. “I knew you would understand,” she said quietly. She then turned towards the large spider statue and the hand that held the key cocked back. “Guardian of the castle! Hear my command and open the gates!”

            “Ow…” Handa-sensei grumbled as she picked herself up. “Where…where am I now?” she asked out loud as she looked around the dark room. There was a single candle lighting up the room, so there wasn’t much light at all. However, Handa-sensei could see the thing in the room just fine; what she saw did little to calm her nerves.

            There was a young girl, perhaps nineteen years old, with long black hair and a kimono that seemed to have come from another time period lying on the ground. Her body seemed to be covered in webs though her face had a rather serene expression rather than one of terror. She was embracing a large shape, and it was this large shape that frightened Handa-sensei more than anything.

            The large shape was that of a gigantic black spider. Its eyes seemed rather dull, almost as if the beast was dead. The monster had red and blue stripes on its massive body, its eight legs in the air as it lay on its back. Handa-sensei could not believe that a spider this big could exist.

            However, she knew that this wasn’t the time to be gawking at a giant spider. ‘I have to find my students!’ she thought as she looked around for an exit. However, a thought occurred to her that she needed some sort of plan; if she was truly going up against monsters, she would need a miracle. Her little get-out-of-jail-free card had already been played in the form of her grandfather’s trinket and she doubted she was going to get another one.

Setsuna threw the key in her arm at the statue, aiming at the mouth of the large spider. As the key flew like a javelin, it suddenly stopped in midair close to the mouth. As if an invisible hand was guiding it, the key slowly moved towards the mouth and inserted itself in. The entire temple started to rumble and streams of energy started to burst out from underneath the statue. 

            Saki was not a person who scared easily, but even she felt a twinge of dread as the temple continued to tremble. Clutching Shiori to her body fiercely, Saki looked around to see the rest of the Kumobito looking around frightfully. “Setsuna-hime! What are you doing?” Saki cried out.

            Hatsune stared at the statue, her eyes widening in horror as if she was seeing something terrifying. “You…ugh!” One of her hands clutched the side of her head as she fell to one knee. The spider statue’s eight eyes were starting to glow in a fearsome blue color. The rest of the Kumobito murmured anxiously among one another as the rumbling got louder and louder. The kidnapped students, already petrified in fear, could do nothing but whimper as Setsuna gazed upon the large statue with joy in her eyes.

            “Oneesama…” Hatsune’s voice sounded almost frightened, something that caused Kanako’s heart to beat faster in anxiety. The older girl had a hand on her head, sweat coming out of her forehead, and looking as though she had just suffered a giant headache. Her eyes were roaming around the room as if seeing the place in a new light, as if something had awakened inside of her mind and she was waking from a dream. “You…are you raising the castle?”

            “Oh! You remember now?” Setsuna asked, sounding delighted. “I knew that raising the castle would jog something in there.” Setsuna hurried over to Hatsune and pulled the younger girl into an embrace. “Wonderful!”

            “This doesn’t look good…” Rie whispered to Kanako, her grip on the baseball bat tightening. “What if…what if Hatsune-san sides with that woman?” Rie got no answer, however, for Setsuna was suddenly in front of them. Rie let out a shriek and instinctively swung with the bat, only for Setsuna to casually catch it in one hand and crush it into splinters. “No! Don’t come any closer!”

            “I see humans these days are still quick to strike out in fear,” Setsuna said, sounding amused. “But no matter; I must thank you for taking care of my dear little sister during her…more vulnerable state. Now that I’ve seen you up close, I can certainly see why she decided to keep you around…”

            “Why…why are you doing this?” Kanako asked, feeling fear attempting to choke her voice into silence. “Why did you do this to my classmates and my friends?”

            “Do what?” Setsuna asked, sounding puzzled for a moment. “Oh, you mean turn some of them into Kumobito? Little one, we are merely doing this to survive. The Kumobito are little in number compared to the past and there are even less jorougumo in this world as well. We do not want to die out, and we have no intention of doing so either. You humans have always been in large numbers; what’s the loss of a few being transformed into Kumobito?”

            “But…but it’s wrong!” Rie cried out. “They have families that are waiting for them! You…you’ve trampled on their lives, just like what you did to my family! Teruko-neechan…she’s…she’s a wreck now! All because you turned her into a spider creature and made her rape another girl for the sake of reproduction!”

            “Don’t blame me,” Setsuna said serenely. “After all, I’ve been asleep for so long after that battle with the onmyouji.” She turned towards the other Kumobito, all who seemed to shrink away from her gaze, as if afraid she would do something horrible. “Although I am a little surprised that so many would be here. What is the occasion?”

            “Setsuna-hime…” the hesitant voice of Kaoru rang out. “We have strived for a long time to awaken you, gathering the needed energy to weaken the seal of your prison. We have awakened you so that you may take your place as our leader once again.”

            “Leader?” Setsuna’s voice suddenly, to Kanako and Rie’s bewilderment, took on a puzzled tone. “I was only leader for a while because mother…” The jorougumo’s eyes suddenly widened. “Mother! What happened to her? Where is she?”

            The Kumobito shifted uneasily, some of them clearly disturbed by the notion of a jorougumo above the Spider Princess in strength. They turned towards Saki for an answer; Saki looked a little uncomfortable but spoke up anyways. “She…she and your human mother have yet to awaken from their slumber. I’ve tried all I could, but I have no idea what’s happened to them…”

            “Are they alive?” Setsuna asked sharply, the tone of her voice much sharper than usual. “Are they still alive?” As Saki nodded, Setsuna relaxed visibly. “Well, I’ll take care of it later. Now, it seems like the Kumobito are expecting something from me…”

            “Are you not going to bring us back to our glory days?” Sadako asked. “Are you not going to take back the lands stolen from us by humans?”

            “Oh, is that all you were expecting me to do?” Setsuna asked in surprise. “Well, you need not worry. Once this castle has been fully raised, it will send out a call. All the jorougumo in this area will answer, and we can begin our reclamation of this land!”

            The Kumobito cheered, though not without fright. The jorougumo were the masters of all spiders, and it was already an awe-inspiring yet terrifying experience to be in the same room as three jorougumo. The thought of even more was mind-boggling. As for the humans and the recently transformed, the thought was enough to bring despair. ‘We have to get out of here…” Kanako and Rie thought. ‘But how? There are too many spider creatures here…how will we escape?’ Both Kanako and Rie knew that, whatever they had to do, they had to do it fast. Kumobito were already bad enough; if any more jorougumo appeared, escape would be impossible.

---------------------------------------------------

            Handa-sensei couldn’t believe her eyes; the corridors were filled with skeletons in old tattered robes that seemed to be onmyouji outfits. Many of the skeletons were in very bad shape; one of them had a huge hole in its skull while another one had been torn in half. Some of the skeletons still clutched onto strange artifacts and objects, surely the tools to their trades.

            ‘I wonder if any of these things still work,’ she wondered as she inspected one of the skeletons. Looking up, she noticed that the place was lit with torches. ‘Perhaps I can use one of these…’ she thought as she pulled the torch out of its stand. ‘If those spiders are fireproof, at least I’ll die with the knowledge that I tried…’

            She looked at some of the strange trinkets that the dead onmyouji were holding. There were a few staffs, probably used to hold the demon in place with magic while the onmyouji cast spells to finish it off. There were a few paper talismans with words that had already faded away with age. There were a few swords on the ground as well, some of them having been snapped in half. Picking up a good sword, or at least one that was in better condition than the rest, Handa-sensei swung it around a few times to test it out.

            She continued down the corridors, wondering if there was any way up. ‘Please, let me find a set of stairs going up or something…’ she mentally pleaded. ‘Please…I have to help my students; I can’t leave them to the monsters.’

            She didn’t expect to find a set of stairs so soon; going up, no less! She also didn’t expect to find two cult members walking down either.

            Hatsune’s head had been in a whirl ever since Setsuna was freed. Seeing the castle being raised and jolted a few memories loose in her head; she remembered being in the room when the onmyouji attacked, remembered the horrific screech of her mother in spider form as she fought against the onmyouji. She remembered the cries of the onmyouji as they were overwhelmed by the Kumobito that served her mother. She remembered her sister locked in combat with that one onmyouji girl Sayoko…

            “Little sister?” the voice of Setsuna snapped Hatsune out of her reverie. “Are you alright?” Setsuna, who had seemed so menacing in all her serene horror, now seemed much less dangerous. There was a familiar scent to her now: the scent of family, the scent of a loving older sister.

            “I…I am,” Hatsune said hesitantly. She noticed Kanako and Rie both staring at her in fear now; who could blame them? She knew what they were thinking: was she going to betray them? Hatsune hated the position she was in now that she realized the whole incident now was only part of a dark web of events from long ago. She had promised Kanako she would help her, but now that some of her memories had come back, she didn’t want to go against her powerful older sister either.