The Arachne giggled as if she was mad. Although there were other laughing sounds, hers was definitely the most outstanding in that aspect. Although it wasn't the loudest, it was somehow the most prominent. It pierced the air as if it was a poison arrow that was just shot from a crossbow, and seemed to be even deadlier.
The body was totally halted in fear of the voice. Rachnera could feel shivers going down its spine and goosebumps starting to appear in its arms and legs. The ear-piercing high notes of the giggle seemed to be tearing the girl in pieces already.
She herself was finding it hard to maintain conscious. It was as if the girl's fear was slipping into her own systems. She could feel great fear that didn't seem to be solely hers, although she had no idea how this could even happen. Her head spun, in a speed that she has never experienced before. She never wanted to collapse more than now.
"Oh my," spoke out the Arachne, after stopping her chaotic giggling. "You okay there, little girl?" Her comment was soon joined with the jeers and laughter of the other monsters. Yes, monsters. That was the only word that came out in Rachnera's mind. There was no doubt. These creatures were just plain monsters. Not the word 'monster' humans used to distinguish extraspecies from themselves. No, they were the monsters, the ones that deserved damnation.
"Why, are you too terrified by how I look?" she could hear the monster continue. "My, my… You really shouldn't judge by appearances. Didn't your mommy teach you that when you were young?" Rachnera clenched her teeth. She herself wanted to speak, or rather, shout out every word in her mind instead of the poor little girl that seemed to have lost grasp of herself. But she couldn't. The body didn't move by her will. It was frozen in its spot. Rachnera could feel the fear intensifying every second. It made her clatter her teeth.
"But no worries, little girl. It's not like we weren't going to eat you even if you didn't! After all, every monster knows that human flesh, especially the young ones, can be really tender." The monster smacked its lips. "Don't you worry too much, you'll die being useful to at least someone!"
As soon as the monster finished that sentence, Rachnera could feel thin, but powerful silk strands constricting around the body. The feeling of the strings constricting the body parts, blocking regular blood circulation and turning the skin red was so vivid; it was as if someone was doing the act to her and not another body that she somehow got trapped in. It tied up the arms and the legs, preventing it from properly moving. She could feel the body trying to break out of it, flailing and thrusting her body in all directions, but it was already too late; it didn't do any good. How she could feel this as if it were her actions, despite that this body has only two legs and no spider abdomen was a mystery that she couldn't linger her mind on for long before the pain distracted her.
The strings were wrapped up as if it were the strings used on wood to create a raft. It constricted with such power that it was as if it was piercing through the skin and cutting off the bones. She could feel the body howl in pain, and she found herself doing the same thing too. It was unbearable. The strings even wrapped around her eyes, blinding her sight as well.
Somehow, the body managed to move its lips.
"Why… Why are you doing this to me?" The voice was hoarse and stricken with pain and fear. If it wasn't for the dramatic situation she was in, Rachnera would have closed her eyes and turned away. It hurt to just listen.
Another howl of laughter came from the crowd, and this time a voice of a male answered.
"Why? You're asking why, little human?" He was nearly choking. "Why, isn't it definite for us to eat you inferior humans? Don't tell me that you humans actually believed that all of us agreed to that ridiculous bill some of our governments signed with you! I mean, why would we want to maintain peace with you miserable beings?" Rachnera could feel something sharp going through her stomach area. It took a moment for her to feel the sharp pain and liquid oozing out.
Blood.
"So weak, so fragile, so delicate… And they think that they should be considered equal with us?" She could hear more jeering and the malicious giggling.
She couldn't think about anything except for the pain she was feeling. Being an Arachne, her body was never delicate. She seldom had to go through even the most minor injuries. The experience of being cut like this was nothing familiar. It was alien and creepy, and she didn't want to feel it for another second.
"Now, now, cut it out. We have to go on with the cooking! Let's carry her outside, where we can properly roast her up!"
And that was the last thing she heard before she felt something hard smashing into her head, making her lose consciousness once more.
When she woke up again, she still couldn't see anything except for complete darkness. But she could still feel the strings constricting her. And she could also feel that she was being hanged on something. Her wrists and ankles were tied to something that felt like a tree trunk, and that seemed to be preventing her from falling. She realized that the body was positioned like a chicken when it is getting burned on a fire. Those monsters weren't joking when they were talking about 'properly roasting'.
Yes, they were about to grill the body on fire.
She heard a voice. "You sure she's unconscious? Shouldn't we check out by poking her with a needle or something?" Rachnera felt a wave of anxiety rush on her. She didn't want to go through that, after experiencing how it felt to be cut.
"Nah. She might actually wake up because of that. And we don't want to hear our meal yelling at us, do we?"
"Guess you're right." She sighed in relief. At least she didn't have to experience that.
Despite the panic she was in, she started to think. What would happen from now? If she was right, then she was experiencing an event in Satsuki's memory. This means, that no matter what happens, she would somehow make it through without getting eaten by these monsters. And whatever she does won't change that outcome, or any of this body's actions.
And judging by the fact that she was thinking and conscious, at least within this weird situation that she can't really explain, Satsuki must have been conscious at this timing when this event has actually happened in reality. In other words, she must be thinking of a way to get out of this. Or at least, that was what Rachnera was hoping.
But she couldn't feel any thoughts that weren't her own crossing her head. Either Satsuki isn't thinking of anything, too caught up in terror, or the thought-sharing wasn't 100% perfect.
She didn't have much time to ponder which was right when she felt another voice.
"What took you so long?" It sounded as if the speaker was hissing rather than talking.
"No business! Anyways, me brought the fire, so start the party!" It was another female voice. She didn't sound too intelligent.
"Are you sure you knocked her out?" asked a male voice. "You sure she isn't going to start squealing or something?"
"Yup, didn't move a single inch."
"That's good. Gosh, I hate listening to little brats screaming their lungs out." Rachnera could hear someone moving. "Now, let's start our little preparing process. Hasty, Lida, start." Rachnera could feel the body's skin crawling. Although she herself had no idea what these monsters were talking about, it seemed like Satsuki knew something.
"Got it!" yelled out two voices in unison. Rachnera could feel something approaching. She could hear a stomping sound and the sound of grass being swept getting louder and louder.
She could feel a heart beating as if it was going crazy. She had no idea whether it was hers or the young girl's. It didn't matter. She was too horrified to be thinking of such a minor thing. She felt as if she was sweating, and her body was trembling.
'I'm doomed,' roared through her brain. And she couldn't deny it. She could feel it coming, although she had no idea what exactly was about to happen.
Slash.
A giant slashing sound pierced into her auditory senses, and she could feel a cold shudder running through her veins. It was slightly different to the sound she heard previously, before she went unconscious, but she could still know what that meant.
She screamed to the top of her lungs, which turned out to be in vain. A great pain started to ache around her right shoulder. The cut was definitely deeper than the one in her stomach. It felt as if someone pierced in thought of actually cutting off part of the skin.
Before she could get over the pain, she could feel another wave of pain wash around her arms. She could feel same pain in her legs. The slashed areas burned as if someone torched them with fire, and she could feel the limbs getting wet with blood. She felt tears rushing down her cheeks because of the pain. She thought that this was much worse than death.
This was complete torture.
"Will that do?" Rachnera could somehow process the sound as her mind was totally crazy with the pain. It was the hissing voice.
"You idiots! Do? You overdid it! I asked you to make cuts in the body so that it would roast better, not soak the whole body with blood!" It was a deep voice. It seemed like the owner of this voice was something like the leader of the group.
"Charlotte would not be happy to see this," he mumbled. Or maybe he wasn't the leader after all. Rachnera had a feeling that she knew who the leader, the one named Charlotte, was.
"No! Charlotte angry!" squealed the unintelligent voice. "What we do?"
The leader-like voice gave out a sigh. "We have no choice. We'll have to go wash her with water and rub out the blood before Charlotte gets here. Loosen up the strings. Let's take her to the stream."
Soon she could feel the strings around her wrists and ankles loosening up, until they were totally free, making her go through the bare shock of collapsing to the ground. The slashed areas still felt like they were on fire. She howled out in pain as she realized that she collapsed on one of the slashed areas on the legs. But of course, it seemed like no one except for herself was recognizing that.
She was starting to feel respect for the girl. Although she was feeling all this pain and wasn't fainting, she wasn't making a sound. Rachnera realized that she must have a plan or something going on in her little brain. She had no idea how she was doing that. The pain itself was enough to process in one brain, and even herself, Rachnera Arachnera, found it impossible to endure it without a few screams.
She could then feel something that seemed like a hand, getting under her back and knees, as if it was about to lift the body in a bridal style. She winced as it touched one of the cuts on her arms in the process.
But it seemed like Satsuki had been waiting for this moment.
The moment the body was lifted, Rachnera could feel the body, or rather, herself, jump into action. Ignoring the pain, it ran with all it had. She could hear sounds of yelling and pursuit, but that didn't stop the body in any way. In fact, it just made it run even faster.
The girl ran like the wind. Her speed was over the boundaries of being 'impressive'; it was just unbelievable. The sound of wind rang into her ears. She could feel the girl ignoring the pain and lifting her shoulders to struggle with the silk covering up her eyes until she finally succeeded in getting rid of it, regaining the sense of sight. For a moment, she could ignore all about the cuts and the blood. She felt free, as if she was running through the sky.
And she wanted that moment to last forever.
"My, my… It seems like our little dinner is being a bit disobedient, isn't it?"
Rachnera could feel a set of strings wrap around the legs, making the young girl tumble. She didn't need to see who the culprit was.
Within a second, she could feel the body being lifted up once more, this time by spider webs rather than arms. To her horror, she could see that the Arachne chose to lift her up in the position that she posed Satsuki a while ago. Satsuki and the Arachne were facing each other, the former lifted up from the ground in order to match up with the latter's superior height; the distance between the two faces was only about a few centimeters.
And before the body could even blink, there came the pain that she was expecting to come, but never wished for.
It was nothing she had felt before. It didn't feel like a cut, it felt like her chest was being cut off. It was as if every nerve, every cell in the area was breaking itself apart. Rachnera couldn't even scream this time. She just couldn't get the power to give out a big cry. Instead, she could feel a hot liquid leaving a mark as it traveled down her cheek. She tried to stop it, but the effort was useless. The more she tried, the larger the streams became.
She could feel blood spreading through her shirt, totally soaking it up in blood. At first, it started out as a slim line with the shape of the cut. But every passing second was making the stain grow. A few seconds that felt like forever was enough to dye the whole shirt into red. A dirty, murky red.
Her senses were growing faint. She could hear the other monsters gathering around her. She could feel some more cuts piercing her skin. But now all of that was growing dim. She could feel her eyes closing and her body collapsing.
'-chnee. Rachnee, are you okay?'
She could hear a voice ringing in her ears, as if it was an imaginary voice rather than a real one. She knew that voice. Although she thought that it was actually imaginary, she was never happier to hear it; she wondered if she would ever get the chance to tell that to the owner of the voice. Will he forgive her for doing what he asked not to?
'Rachnee, hang in there! It's not real!'
Not real? How could it be not real? Rachnera thought, as she could feel her body falling to the ground. Everything was moving in slow motion: the monsters that were surrounding her, the change of scenery as her body plummeted to the ground. No, it was real. It has to be. Unless it would be impossible to explain all that has happened, and how horrible it was.
When her eyes finally closed, and her back crashed into the ground, the texture of the ground felt strangely soft and tender, as if she was caught by a pair of arms instead of the hard surface of the ground.
I wasn't planning on writing an A/N on any of my chapters, but I guess it's about time to write something.
The Kurusus has now over 5,300 views. I honestly wasn't expecting this much attention. When I first started writing this, i was just wanting to write down a story that was going on in my brain. I still have no idea how I got the guts to start writing this. This is my first fic after all. I'm still quite nervous. I just hope I didn't mess up.
Although I'm not responding to your reviews, I am reading them. Thank you, everyone.
I don't think this story is going to end any time soon. If everything goes on as I planned, I think this story will get really, really long. I'm not too sure how I'm going to write such a long thing without making it boring, but at least that's my plan.
At some point, I think I'll have to go through this whole story and kinda organize it into proper sections. Right now, I'm just posting up whatever I've finished writing and calling it a chapter. I guess that I'll have to combine some chapters and give each chapter a name sometime in the future. But taking a look at how the story is making its progress, I don't think that'll be anytime soon. Especially considering how hectic my schedule is becoming.
Anyway, thank you for enjoying 'The Kurusus'. If there are things you want to point out or tell me, feel free to leave a review.