There were spiders everywhere.
In the food. In the guests' hair. In their mouths.
Spirit watched the chaos unfold around him.
He wanted to die.
This was all his fault.
He reached to graze the nape of his neck with his fingertips. He felt the small arachnids compiled there and embedded into his skin, beginning to loosen and crawl down his hand. He shook them off in disgust, before running out of the dining room along with the other guests shoving their way out of the palace.
Why did he always screw something up?
"I am going to destroy you."
Arachne's grin grew wider as she began giggle quietly. The snickers rapidly growing more and more boisterous until she was laughing hysterically.
"Oh really, now~" the spider queen cooed. The slight fear she had of possibly being defeated by the Phoenix Born dissipating as she threw a well placed punch to the gut, making the ash-blonde girl fall to the ground wheezing.
"Maka!" Soul shouted, rising to his feet quickly, running towards the dark-haired woman. Soul's punch to her face caused Arachne to fall down, cradling her chin with her face away from the heaving king.
"You know…" Arachne began, her form changing into a more adult version than the one she took to fool Spirit. "I normally don't fight my own fights, I find it useless to waste my power on such petty things."
She turned her face back to Soul, and he immediately took a step back.
She was terrifying.
Her soft yet angled chin had sharpened even more, her eyes now bulbous and the iris surrounded by cobwebs and her bottom half had gained six extra legs, all of them long, black and hairy. She settled herself on her newly formed legs, reacquainting herself with a form she hadn't used in centuries.
Soul helped Maka, who was stunned by what was happening in front of her, up from the floor. He held her tightly, the huge load of shit they were in becoming more and more evident.
Those same wine colored lips twitched slightly before rising slightly.
"But because it's you two..." She bent her head down, her bangs shadowing her eyes, leaving only that ever present smirk visible.
"I'll have to make an exception."
It was complete madness.
The palace was in a complete disarray and people were losing their minds.
Spirit even felt himself slipping.
Oh~ Like you're so strong-willed~ Weren't you the one who helped Arachne infiltrate the palace?. Of course, you were only focused on that curvaceous body of hers, so who could blame you~
"SHUT. UP." Spirit yelled, grabbing his hair and desperately trying to keep ahold of his sanity, at least long enough to help Maka and Soul.
He couldn't stand that voice.
Especially, since it sounded so much like his daughter.
You mean the one who absolutely loathes you?
Spirit gritted his teeth, shoving the voice deep, deep down in his conscious. He was not going to screw up. He was not going to screw up.
He refused to.
He ran around the halls, frantically trying to catch the attention of the screaming servants who were also slowly losing their grip on reality. Many of them were swatting away at spiders that weren't there, other swatting at spiders that were there and others slumped on the floor in defeat.
"Have you seen the King and Queen?" Spirit ran into a young boy, his face full of terror.
"Behind you!"
"Behind me?" Spirit looked behind him. He didn't see Soul and Maka there…
"T-They're everywhere! Run! RUN!" The young boy briefly shook the older man by the forearms before running off, his screams combining with the groans of desperation.
It's useless.
Spirit turned away from the boy's retreating figure, stomping his way towards the other direction.
And what are you going to do if you do find them?
Spirit's feet gained speed, his footfalls echoing throughout the halls as entered the closed off area of the palace.
You'd probably just screw it up. Liiiiiiiiike everything else~
The voice was getting stronger.
Good. Maybe… If he followed the madness, it would lead him to it's source… and he could actually be useful.
For once, he was going to get something right.
"...Shit." Soul cursed. Arachne's spider legs were quick, blocking all of his advances and thwacking him to the ground at every opportunity.
"Where's your scythe, little Soul Eater? Don't you want to eat my soul, too~?" Arachne taunted as she crawled onto the wall, a thin line of spider silk trailing her path.
Soul sucked his teeth.
Just his fucking luck. Something like this would happen on his wedding day.
…
Speaking of…
"Where's Maka?" Soul thought to himself, his careful, nonchalant mask hiding his sheer panic.
"Where's your dear wife, Soul Eater~?" Arachne cooed in his ear, her voice stunning him from making any sort of movement.
"She starts this fight and then leaves you to finish it for her? Not very queen-like of her, now is that?" The spider queen wrapped her arms sweetly around his neck, her nose nuzzling into his hair. She was so...warm…
"D...don't… talk about...her like that," Soul slurred. What was the matter with him? Why was everything so hazy? Why couldn't he move?
He just wanted to sleep.
Arachne smiled and grabbed Soul's chin with her long, thin fingers. "You're such a failure, aren't you? Sooo many times you've failed…"
Why was he listening to this?
"As a son…"
How did this happen?
"As a brother…"
Where was Maka?
"As a king…"
Why did he care?
"And now, as a husband."
He was slipping.
" But, look who've you decided to marry. A woman who starts fights and disappears in the middle of it. Where could she have gone?"
"I'm right here." Arachne tossed her head up to look at the Phoenix Born, startled that she hadn't noticed her standing in front of her before.
Maka's eyes were slits, their color a deep emerald, fire swirling behind the green pool of her irises. Her grip tightened on the sword's hilt.
Soul's eyes widened, the familiar sheen of the magnificent sword waking him from his stupor.
The sword's was his father's after all.
"Duck." Maka ordered.
"What?"
"Duck!" Maka screamed as she flung the sword into Arachne's face, the scream that emitted from her throat more frightening and blood curdling than any they have heard. The hit forced Arachne to release Soul from her grip, the white-haired man took the opportunity to slip away from her while Maka yanked her weapon out of Arachne's face.
"Y...you… INSOLENT BITCH!" Arachne screeched, her features getting sharper and more terrifying as she rapidly climbed onto the wall.
"Are you upset?" Maka yelled after her. "Come down here and fight me, then!"
Arachne glared at her before turning her head towards the hallway entrance.
"Maka! Soul!" Spirit's voice bounced off of the walls, echoing in the battle torn corridor.
"Papa…?"
It happened in a split second.
The hallways gave way to Spirit, showing him the path to the battlefield. What he saw almost made him turn back around and run for his life. Arachne had entered into her true form and it was hideous.
And his daughter was fighting against her.
He had to help.
Maka's attention had turned to her father, unsure if she should be relieved to see he was okay or furious with him for cluelessly bringing this havoc to the palace. Her shift in attention gave Arachne the chance to make her move. The spider queen began to recite a spell,
"Here lies my web of lies and you are the flies with muffled cries."
The magic of the spell was heading for Maka so quickly that she had no chance to move.
So, Spirit pushed her out of the way.
"PAPA!"
He couldn't move.
"He's not breathing!"
He wasn't? It was okay, though.
He could die knowing he protected his daughter.
He just wished he could've made her smile on last time.
Hearing Maka scream like that made Soul's throat run dry and his heart stop.
What he didn't realize was that he was screaming as well.
Spirit was a pain in the ass, but the man was practically his second father.
And now, he was dead.
How many people would he lose in this palace?
Why did he fight so hard for this place if his loved ones were going to continue to have their lives taken away from them here?
Because no matter what you do, you'll always be worthless.
Oh.
Just a sniveling little brat trying to be like his dead daddy.
That voice was back. He thought he had gotten rid of it after he reclaimed his home.
Soul shook his head. He needed to focus. He needed to check on Maka.
What was Maka doing?
Maka had stopped screaming, her head bowed down low, her hair was undone and covering her face.
"...Maka…" Her name came out in a whisper, his tone concerned as he made his way slowly towards her.
She suddenly stood, her eyes watery but the fire within them burning brighter and hotter than before. Her grip tightening on the sword's handle before she headed full speed towards Arachne's form.
Arachne didn't even flinch.
Maka wasn't paying attention.
"MAKA, NO!"
She didn't see Arachne's long, sharp fingernails purposefully in front of her torso.
Arachne roughly pulled her hand out the Phoenix Born's stomach, her sharp nails scraping her entrails and spilling her guts and blotches of blood on the floor.
Soul was paralyzed.
Was this happening?
Was he cursed?
Was everyone he loved going to die tragically in this place?
Would he ever be happy?
No.
He was nothing but a sniveling brat trying to be like his dead father.
Soul grinned widely, his sharp teeth flashing.
Arachne turned towards him, waiting patiently. "Oh. Looks like I've done something terrible." Her lips set itself into it's usual smirk. "What are you going to do now?"
Fine.
If he wasn't going to find happiness, then maybe no one would. Maybe no one deserved happiness.
Arachne's laugh grated his ears, the sound akin to someone repeatedly smashing their hands on an organ.
Someone like her definitely didn't deserve happiness.
He'd put an end to that.
"Tch." Soul sucked his teeth before pulling his lips back into that off kilter grin of his, the smile off-putting to even the likes of Arachne.
"I'm gonna rip your fucking throat out."
His eyes were a pure red, the pupil almost non-existent.
"And then I'm gonna eat your soul."