DA: Sorry for the wait, again... But I'm done for the school year so I have free time and lots of it. Hopefully I'll be able to get at least halfway through this story by the end of the summer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Spider Riders, never ever will.

DA: Okay, so I lied... again. There's no Invectids this chapter. That'll be next chapter and that's a definite. I need to start checking before I say something for certain.

**Note** More sadistic goodness this chapter... Just so you're prepared.

Chapter 11

Igneous recovered first from the shock that resulted from the prince's sudden mood swing. He dragged Aqune outside. Once in the hallway, the Handmaiden muttered, "Okay, I don't believe that that kind of thing usually happens around here..."

"Tell me about it," Igneous whispered back. "Never has that happened before. Yea, he might have suggested a few things here and there but nothing overly demanding. Something must be bothering him." Aqune nodded at him.

"Those are my thoughts. It's my hope that we can get it out of him on the way to the Invectids." Igneous nodded in agreement. With that, he turned and headed towards his room. He had a half hour to blow and not all of it was going to be spent on packing.

Aqune had nearly the same thing in mind. Except the other item on her agenda was very different from Igneous'. On her way to her room, she stopped at another door. She took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, looking around to see if anybody was watching her. Then she walked into the room and shut the door quietly behind her. Hunter's room was the exact same as it was when he left. Obviously, no one had been here since his departure.

Aqune looked around for something she had done for him as a favor not too long ago. After he'd semi-recovered from his fight with Melinda, he'd asked her to do something that she'd never expect from him.

SRSRSR

(1) "Aqune," Hunter greeted as she walked into the room. She nodded at him and sat by his bed.

"What did you call me here for, Hunter?" she asked, watching the boy closely. He reached over to the table and grabbed two of the Oracle Keys.

"I need you to put some sort of protection on these two keys." Aqune's violet eyes widened.

"But don't you need these, Hunter?" He smiled at her and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if I do. I can't and won't allow them to fall into enemy hands. Don't worry, I'll keep two keys but from now on two of the Oracle Keys I carry will be fake while the other two are real. Two in enemy hands is bad, but if all four fell into enemy hands..." He shook his head. "I won't allow it to happen." Aqune studied the boy for a long time, contemplating her decision. She then took a deep breath in and nodded. Hunter grinned at her as he put both his hands behind his head. "Thanks Aqune."

SRSRSRSR

She'd given him a box that couldn't be opened by anyone save for a Handmaiden or a person who had an Oracle Key in their possession. It couldn't be broken as well, courtesy of the Oracle.

Aqune spotted a glow emitting from the cracks of a cabinet. She opened it carefully and saw a plain wooden box, glowing with the Oracle's power. With a small smile, she removed the box from its respective shelf.

The box was plain. A normal brown box that didn't even have a lock. What made it special was what Aqune had done to it. She had sent a prayer to the Oracle, asking her to guard this box and now pretty much nothing could get through its new security. Aqune placed a hand on the box and temporarily removed its defenses. Taking a deep breath, the Handmaiden opened the lid.

The inside of the box was as ordinary as the outside. The sparkling brilliance of the keys is what made it extraordinary. Aqune glanced around nervously before removing both of the objects. No one knew about what was in the box and that was what made her nervous. She stowed them in a pouch on her hip and quickly made her way out of the room. Locking the door, she made sure the hallway was still empty. She then walked to her room. Once inside, she sighed in relief and took one of the keys out of her pouch and placed it onto the counter.

Reminding herself that she needed to pack, she pulled out her travel bag and placed the necessary articles into it. Then she laid her cloak onto the bed with her bag. After she finished, she turned to the key. Praying this way wasted a lot of energy than normal. It needed to be done though.

Aqune knelt in front of the Oracle Key and assumed the usual prayer stance. She let her eyes fall shut as she began the chant. "Light brings knowledge, knowledge brings compassion. Light brings knowledge, knowledge brings compassion. I am bathed in Light, I open my mind and heart to the light," she whispered, feeling her heart connect with the Oracle's being. Her thoughts were focused on her sole purpose: protecting Arachna. As her lips moved through the familiar words, she prayed to the Oracle, begging her to protect the city.

The key lifted off the desk, glowing brighter in response to the incantation. An orb of protection formed around the key. A little while later Aqune felt the Oracle's power and protection settle on the city. Only then did she relax her position, the words of power stopping their flow from her mouth. She slumped to the floor, closing her violet eyes.

Realizing that she couldn't stay here, Aqune picked herself off the floor and gathered her things. Checking to make sure the other key was still in her pouch, she left. Igneous crashed into her, literally, in the hallway. He was jotting something down down on a small notepad. He looked up for a second but looked right back down, absorbed in his work. "Oh, hey Aqune," he said. Aqune put her hands on her hips, waiting for the boy to put the pad away.

"Igneous, what in Oracle's name are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm writing down some emergency strategies," he said, startling her by actually answering. "If I write something down, it's less likely that I'll forget that." He put the notebook away and grinned up at her. He then frowned after getting a good look at her face. "What have you been up to? You seem way too tired for just packing?" Aqune grinned sheepishly.

"You'll see soon enough." She walked ahead of the commander and beckoned for him to follow. "C'mon, let's get going. We don't want Prince Lumen getting upset again." She kept walking. Seeing Aqune not stopping, Igneous ran to catch up.

"Speaking of which, can we just leave that subject alone when we see him?" Aqune laughed.

"You're loosing your nerve. And here I thought that you were a big strong Spider Rider," she joked. Igneous scowled at her and she gave a light hearted laugh. "I'm just kidding."

"When did you become such a kidder?" he grumbled, frowning. (2) They traveled the rest of the way in silence. It wasn't long before they exited the city. Outside the walls, Lumen was staring at the city in awe. "We are ready to leave, my prince." Aqune glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, smirking. In her head, she was commenting on his gender preferences. The prince shook his head.

"Never mind that," Lumen said, still looking astounded. "What's going on with the city?" Aqune smiled, guessing what they were seeing. Next to her, Igneous gasped.

"Great Spirit Oracle!" he exclaimed. She suppressed a giggle.

"Precisely," she said, startling them both. Two shocked faces turned towards her.

"What?" Prince Lumen asked.

"The Great Oracle's power. I asked her to protect the city. So she did."

"But wouldn't a prayer of that caliber require an Oracle Key to be fulfilled?" She gave a soft smile and fished the key from her pouch.

"Who said that I didn't have a key?" she asked quietly, displaying the key on her palm. Igneous opened his mouth to say something but she answered his question before it even left his lips. "There's another key in the castle holding up the barriers."

"How did you end up with two keys?" Lumen demanded. "They're supposed to be with Hunter."

"He asked me to protect two of the keys and I did. He now carries two false keys. He didn't want to chance all four keys falling into enemy hands."

"So he knew that you had the keys?"

"They remained in his room. I just put protection on them." Their faces softened. A horrible thought then occurred to her. "It's only a temporary shield. If someone powerful attacked, like someone with two Oracle keys, the whole thing would shatter." Lumen's face froze and Igneous frowned. It was a while before anybody spoke. Lumen swallowed, trying to clear his throat.

"W...Well, there's no use in worrying. The only thing we can do now is ask for help from the Invectids. They're our only chance." Aqune and Igneous nodded. They then called out their spiders and started off. They rode in silence for a while before Igneous thought he'd prove someone wrong.

"Prince Lumen," he started. Aqune looked at him in shock, realizing what he was doing. "You've seemed pretty tense lately. What's going on?" Lumen cocked an eyebrow at him while Aqune buried her head in her hands.

"I'm the leader of the Spider Riders again since Hunter's missing," he said after a moment's hesitation. "So now I have to remember how I juggled two responsibilities and I can't. Then with everybody arguing back there, I guess I just snapped."

"I'll say," Aqune muttered, finally lifting her head out of her hands.

SRSRSRSR

"So you're telling me," the Dark Oracle said (3). "That the Spider Riders left their precious city." Melinda nodded. "They're probably going to get help from the Invectids." He snorted. "Let them get help from those disgusting insects. It will do them no good. We've got much more power on our side."

He met the gazes of both Melinda and Hunter. "Yes sir," they murmured in agreement. Hunter wore his street attire while Melinda was wearing her usual black ensemble. The psychic winced and her hand shot out, grabbing Hunter's wrist. The redhead's arm jerked up in a futile attempt t get his arm free.

"Let go of me," he whispered weakly. He struggled, but Melinda did not let go. Eventually his struggling ceased and he resorted to glaring at his captor. Melinda smirked at him. "Don't you even think for a second that you've won. I will never give up and the rest of the Spider Riders won't either. They'll find a way. They'll beat you." The boy then turned to the Dark Oracle. "Then you can crawl back in the pit you came from, you bastard." He smirked, the overall effect of the facial expression weakened by his tired countenance.

Though her master was encased in shadows, Melinda could feel the waves of cold rage rolling off of him. She let go of Hunter and stepped away. Whatever he was going to do, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"You fool!" the Dark Oracle snarled. "You dare insult me! I could destroy you with a blink of an eye. As for your friends, they'll never win. They're fighting a battle that they will lose. Then, every single one of them will perish by my hand." With a flick of his wrist, he sent the boy flying into the nearest wall. A cry of pain and shock left his lips as his body made contact with the solid rock. He slid to the floor, unconscious. Melinda walked over to him.

"I've got him back again, sir," she said. "You should stop hurting him every time that he manages to break free. You'll kill him before you get any use out of him." She turned to the Spider Rider. "Up!" His eyes snapped open and he stood up. "Now, back to my report, sir?"

"Very well. Continue Melinda."

"I'm also picking up a barrier protecting Arachna. It'll be hard to penetrate but with the keys, it'll fall easily. My forces are ready whenever you need them."

"We won't attack just yet. That'd be playing right into their hands. They're probably expecting an attack now that they know that we are in possession of Hunter and the Oracle Keys. Our attack, whenever it may be, will take them by surprise. Speaking of the keys... Hunter! Bring me the Oracle Keys!" Hunter took the keys from his pocket and calmly gave them to the Dark Oracle. He took them from the boy's grasp.

"What is this? Two of these keys are fake! Hunter thought he could out think me, didn't he? I suspect the other two are hidden away at Arachna Castle. No matter. I can still work with this." His maniacal laughter echoed around the entire room.

DA: That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. It could have been worse, much worse. Once again, probably not my best. I didn't deviate much from the original chapter. I usually do... Not to mention I used the word 'Oracle' way too much this chapter...

(1) I'm pretty sure that you figured this out but this is a flashback.

(2) Aqune is once again OOC so I had Igneous pick up on that to make it seem a bit more realistic. I apologize as I have no idea how she's getting so out of character.

(3) Two chapters ago, chapter nine I think, I compared their master to the Oracle so now you understand how I got that name. :D

DA: I posted a one-shot a week or so ago. I hope some of you read it. I also was hit with two more ideas for books after this one. You'll see their summaries on my profile and please, I don't know whether or not I'll write the last two, so please vote on the poll which is also on my profile. It'll be a great help. I think that's all I have to say tonight. Review, because I know you want to.

May your hearts stay strong,

DarkAngel555