Trigger warning:
Arachnophobia, body horror


"Are you sure you saw nothing, Otto?"

He shook his head apologetically, having already done an as-accurate-as-he-could-be play-by-play of the evening. "If I had, I promise I would've stepped forward immediately. Last I saw them, they were going off with Xara."

Hadrian grunted, but Otto could tell he was frustrated more with not being able to find Jesse- not inherently Otto's lack of answer.

"I really am sorry I can't be of more help," Otto said anyway.

Hadrian waved him off, shaking his head with another grunt. "Not your fault. You'd give the information if you had it, I'm sure," he muttered, without any acidity.

Jack was pale, almost clammy. He was still staring out the window at the snow drifting down in fat white flakes.

Not again not again not a-fucking-gain-

He'd been lucky when Fred had died.

Lucky to the point that he sometimes didn't feel he deserved it.

Fred, being the way he was, had put in a command to 'free' Jack from the contract in the case of his death. Jack's heart had returned to him, along with his memories, but...

He didn't know if Romeo was the way Fred had been.

If Romeo died...

He glanced at the October Children. They were interrogating several guests, brows creased.

All of them looked a little pale- though whether Romeo's condition affected their own health, or because it was out of fear, or worry, or... or something else... he wasn't sure.

He hoped Jesse would be found sooner rather than later.

Most of the guests complied with a brief explanation of what they'd been doing, and some even provided alibis for one another.

(Maya, at one point, quietly asked Aiden if it was possible that it was multiple people attending the party and giving one another alibis that were colluding; his response was to tell her that maybe that shouldn't be brought up quite yet until all the alibis were examined.)

A few of the snootier ones had to get shot down by a glare from Isa or from Ivor drawing himself up and levelling a look at them that looked like he was likely to slit their throat if they didn't comply.

And then there was Karen.

"This is ridiculous!" Karen shrieked, her chest puffing up in indignation.

("I hope she pops from too much air," Gill muttered.

For once, Maya didn't try to step on his foot and just grunted in assent.

The hatred of Karen, apparently, was universal.)

"I demand you let me out! This is wrongful incarceration!"

Lukas politely inclined his head at her.

How he held back the urge to kick her in the face, none of them would ever know, but he was doing an excellent job at not losing his marbles.

"My apologies, ma'am. We're looking for anyone who knows the whereabouts of Jesse, or the thief who took the keys. Do you know anything about that?""

Karen turned her nose up at Lukas. "Of course I don't!" she snipped, flicking her ringlets over her shoulder with a disgusted scoff, twisting a finger into her hair. "Why would I?"

Lukas persisted, somehow still not looking tempted to deck her. "Still, any information is helpful... could you tell me what you were doing this evening?"

"Oh for hell's sake! This is a tremendous waste of everyone's time! Obviously you have more to worry about!" she snapped, crossing her arms with a disgusted look on her face, like Lukas was a worm under her high heeled shoe. "You have a thief, a kidnapping, and the lord of Narvid is poisoned!"

A small ripple of gasps ran through the crowd at that, murmuring beginning to rise through the crowd.

"Don't you think you have more to do besides questioning me?"

Lukas tilted his head, looking at her guilelessly. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that... might you say it again?"

Harper frowned. Lukas had excellent hearing- granted, his eyesight was... not quite as admirable, but he certainly heard well enough that he usually didn't need anything to be repeated.

What was he playing at?

Karen's nostrils flared as she stalked closer. She was a bit shorter than Lukas, but she still jabbed her finger into his chest.

(Aiden looked like he wanted to cut her head off at that.)

"If I must repeat myself, you have a thief, that tiny commoner of yours has been kidnapped, which you all seem so worried about, and the Narvid lord is poisoned, you absolute dolt!"

Lukas paused, for a hair of a second, before nodding slightly. "Thank you for repeating yourself, and now that I've heard you properly, I must say, that is true, ma'am. Then, with that in mind, will you answer just one question for me?"

Karen smiled smugly, as if she'd won some great prize.

(Maya had to restrain Gill from trying to punch her in the face.)

"Well, I suppose..."

"Good." Lukas inclined his head at her.

This time, though, it felt more predatory.

"With all due respect, ma'am, how did you know that Romeo was poisoned?"

Karen gave a stupid blink, her snooty face falling slightly. "How do you mean?"

"We didn't tell anyone Romeo was poisoned while we were walking around. We've been asking about what happened to Jesse and the keys. So the fact that you know that when it should only be known among the lords right now, frankly, is a little suspicious," Lukas explained, lips twitching up into a smile.

Somehow, despite his eyes being covered, everyone could tell it was a satisfied smirk.

"I just- I must have said the wrong thing," she spluttered.

"You said the wrong thing? You repeated it, twice, to a full audience-" Lukas gave a sweeping gesture at the silent, staring crowd of guests off to the side- "And you would still like to claim you said the wrong thing?"

Karen froze, lips forming an almost comical 'o' shape. The room was deadly silent, waiting for her answer.

Lukas's smirk widened as he leaned in a little closer, poking her in the chest like she'd done to him.

"Would you please explain yourself, if you'd be so kind?"

Karen said nothing, still staring stupidly at them.

Then she was abruptly whirling on her heel and started to run, her high heels squeaking with a shrieking grate on the floor as she skidded for a second before she picked speed up.

"Hey-" Mevia barked from her bubble, looking like she was about to throw something at the baroness's head if she could-

Maya made to follow but had to duck a high heel flying just through the space where her eye had been, the sharpened end of the heel whipping through the air and splitting a few hairs.

The second one narrowly missed taking out Aiden's uncovered eye as he had to dive to the floor to avoid getting a high heel to the face.

"Shit- catch her!" she shouted, just as Karen shouted something and threw up a wall of something shimmering and sickly yellow-

Ivor swore, recognizing it as a (terrible) barrier spell, but nonetheless one that would have to be taken down and waste a few moments, and if she had enough magic to teleport, or take her elsewhere, they'd lose the only lead they'd found so far-

Petra yanked her glove off.

Half-demons rarely ever showed the full markings that they got from their lord.

Everyone always knew where one was, of course, because it was covered up constantly in public, but the marking itself was rarely ever shown off.

Petra's, now that it was revealed, was a dark, almost spidery mark webbing up her arm, with a tiny, reddish mark shaped like an hourglass.

The little red mark began to pulse with a sickening, seething energy, sending ripples of pulsing red over her, and with each pulse, another change happened in the blink of an eye.

Petra's red irises went jet black.

Another blink, and now her entire eye was a black void, shining like some kind of black pearl.

Now there were four tiny slits blinking on her forehead as well, little black slits that squelched with each tiny open and shut motion.

Black slits that were as shiny and beady as her two jet-black eyes.

(Maya made a vague face; spiders and bugs were not her strong suit.)

There was a sickening crack as something began to pry itself from her legs, squirming under her skin.

The skin cracked, then tore as a spindly, skeletal set of arms pried itself from her legs, leaving blood trailing down her skin, the joints crunching slightly as they began to arrange themselves- then another set tore itself out of those arms, then another.

Isa took in a brief breath as her eyes fixed on the arms- only now that she looked, they weren't arms, but rather legs.

Spider legs.

There was only a millisecond of warning when huge spider legs bent slightly; Petra launched herself off the floor and at entrance to the ballroom behind her, twisting as she went.

She slammed into the wall of the entry hall on her back, the barrier giving a millisecond of resistance before shattering and dissipating into acrid yellow smoke, and immediately the legs on her back propelled Petra along, her head snapping around with a disgusting cracking sound to look at the floor as she skittered up the wall and across the ceiling.

Karen, still running in her gown, wasn't paying attention until a huge web of silk caught her and slammed her to the floor.

Judging by the sickening crunch and ensuing shriek after her face hit the floor, her nose had suffered something of a minor casualty.

"Don't run," Petra crooned, except the voice wasn't quite Petra, because Petra didn't have a hundred hisses and skitters and clicks magnifying her voice, Petra's voice wasn't overlaid with one that was deep and velvety and terrifyingly alluring, Petra didn't have two, oversized fangs jutting out from her upper jaw that made her lisp...

"Let me go! Let me go this instant!" Karen screeched, but Petra's spidery legs began to spin, clicking together as the tips clunked into each other, and soon the web was dragging Karen up to the ceiling in jerky, clumsy motions, Karen still screaming-

The scream cut off as she finally looked up at Petra's face.

Petra gave a predatory grin, black eyes squelching lightly as she leered down at the suddenly pale noblewoman dangling like a Christmas ornament beneath her.

"Haven't you heard it's rude to make someone play with their food?"

"Oh, yes," Ivor said absently, either ignoring or oblivious to the other lords and barons gaping at the whole spectacle from the entry hall as Petra tightened the webs and began to descend again, slinging Karen over her back like a sack of potatoes despite the woman now screeching something about unhanding her at once, "I neglected to mention this, but, ah..."

"Petra's able to host one of the ancient original demons' spirits."


A/N: I did not plan out this chapter too well so it's a bit shorter than usual fdshkl;

Well, uh, here's what's turning out to be monthly updates on this story. We're... sort-of-kind-of-maybe-somewhat heading to the climax now, so hopefully that goes well lol.

Responses to reviews!

DubstepDragon14: I'm glad you like it haha

TheAmberShadow: Hehe / It is a doll haha / Well, OC Soren's not so much of a cowardly liar, just a coward haha. / Fair, haha. / :3c / :3c / Yeah Xara's going through it haha

Darkbeast Dend: Abrecan, and maybe :D / Thank you!

Toni42: Hehee, thank yoou. / :D / It would be pretty unpleasant yes haha

Guest: Both in-story and out of story xD

jessicanightmarewolf: :3c / Dolls aren't supposed to, but ye :D / Well there's a reason the story's now tagged with "Major Character Death", but I will say it's not Xara :D / Thank you!

That's all for now. See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x


"Petra's able to host one of the ancient original demons' spirits."

There was a brief pause.

"No shit, Sherlock," Magnus grumbled, earning an elbow in his ribs.