Arachne looks up from the spider sitting on her hand and scrutinizes the quavering messenger elf in front of her from where she sits on her throne in the grand hall, tilting her head. "Would you repeat what you just said?"

The elf's throat bobs up and down and she swallows nervously. "We tracked the elf into one of the towns around the mountain but then-" She breaks off before speaking in a rush, "We lost him."

"I see." Arachne leans back and goes quiet. Then she speaks. "Go fetch the Demon Shadow."

The elf bows low. "Yes, mistress, right away."

Medusa's voice emanates from the shadows once the elf leaves. "I would have killed her for delivering me that news."

"Then you don't know the proper way to instill fear," Arachne replies coolly, lifting her head. She refuses to twist around to look at her sister. "Death is the end to all fear."

"Fear is not in death but in the ways to die." Medusa stops just on the edge of her vision, onyx hair braided into a rope looping her neck. "It's always interesting to see how far someone's threshold for pain will stretch before they snap and break."

Her sharp eyes don't miss the faint revulsion that crosses Arachne's face. "Not something your delicate sensibilities would ever allow but that's why I took over the army and you the throne, isn't it?"

Arachne does not let her taunts goad her into anger. "You do not mourn for our sister," she says. "Why are you here?"

"Shaula knew Mabaa was dangerous even though she was past her peak," Medusa says simply. "I do not mourn for fools." The clump of her boots echo against the walls and she comes fully into view. "There is one thing that does interest me, however."

Arachne waits.

Medusa speaks with a slow, easy surety. "It is obvious that the Kokketsu scythe is no longer in Asura's possession, despite your reassurances." She gives her a shrewd look. "Or are you hiding him away for nothing?"

Arachne doesn't answer.

"But you focus your efforts on finding a lowly deserter," she continues, pausing. "How do you know he has the scythe?"

Medusa laughs at her silence. "If you are thinking I aim to go after the scythe myself, you are wrong. Power does not interest me and while the scythe is fascinating, there are far more intriguing things taking up my attention at the moment."

She smiles. I am merely curious."

Arachne weighs her options carefully before she opens her mouth. "Even though the soul can't move on, a night elf is born every generation that would have wielded the scythe. They hold the same memories and wield the same powers as Asura," she says. "His powers begin to wane when they come of age while theirs get stronger so when I find them, I have the Night Guard dispose of them."

Medusa's expression is analytical. "And last night?"

"We had thought the elf's brother was the one and had him killed during a perimeter check," she replies. "But this morning, I ran across that elf and sensed his magic. He was going to be dealt with after the ball."

"And Mabaa?"

"She used the last of her life's energy to connect the elf's powers to the scythe." Arachne purses her lips. "And killed Shaula in the process."

Medusa nods. "I see." She squares her shoulders and rolls her head in a circle and her inky hair turns golden, eyes following suit. "There, less of a family resemblance, wouldn't you say?" She turns. "I'll be leaving with my army by tomorrow morning at latest."

Arachne blinks once. "To where?"

"While your fight against fate would be interesting to watch, staying in Sathros puts at risk everything I have brought to bear," she answers. "So my army and I are leaving."

"You will go nowhere without my blessing," Arachne says stiffly.

"No, dear sister, you misunderstand me." Medusa turns back to face her. "I promised I wouldn't go after the scythe but if this information were to go public," she pauses and her smile grows wide, "That, I imagine, would enough to spark a revolution, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, I thought so," she says after a moment of silence. "I will be making preparations now."

"Although you are right in one thing," Medusa says, stopping in the doorway. "There are different ways to instill fear in others."


The puppeteer sitting at the back of Tsubaki's mind breathes with Arachne's cold fury and she does not wait for it to tug on her limbs like strings to rise up from the table in the barracks' mess hall.

When she reaches Arachne's apartments, the doors open automatically and she enters. Arachne is sitting on a reclined couch, glass of wine in her hand.

"You've heard the news." Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Tsubaki nods.

"He was one of your pupils, wasn't he?"

"One of many," she answers. "He never caught my eye."

She isn't sure why she lies.

Arachne gives her a long look and the puppeteer in her mind stills her tongue. "I want you to retrieve the Kokketsu scythe. And I want you to bring the elf back, dead or alive."

She nods again.

"Go." Arachne dismisses her with a wave of her hand. "And don't come back until you have them both."

Bowing low, Tsubaki backs out of the room.

As she straightens and walks down the corridor, something flickers in her mind for an instant, fuzzy memories and the nagging feeling that she used to be someone different.

Then Arachne's voice echoes from within the puppeteer, praising her for her duty, and Tsubaki forgets what she was thinking about.