12- Stolen Oracle

A day had passed by since Igneous and Lumen's investigation. With Lumen being the one exception, the team had been too on-edge to get a particularly good night's sleep, though. Early in the morning, they all found themselves gathering in the meeting room.

"You guys…" Corona said. "Last night, I was thinking a lot about that man. What if, the reason he was researching the Inner World so much is because he's an Earthen like Richter?"

"Actually, I was wondering about that too!" Hunter exclaimed. "Richter said he fell into the Inner World, but he could have been lying. Maybe he came here with that man, somehow."

"Well, whether or not that's true, it doesn't tell us anything about their objectives," said Igneous. "We need to find one or both of them, and question them."

"Perhaps," Lumen said. "But what will stop them from just lying to us?"

"I know that," said Igneous, frustrated. "We need a real plan, and adequate rest. It's likely we'll end up having to fight again soon."

"Got it!" Hunter replied.

"Well I don't like this one bit," Glint commented. Not that there was anything she could do.

Of course, it wasn't just the Riders at Arachna who were tense. Buguese was not interested in resting either.

The Insector leader had begun searching early that morning for any signs of Richter, or the shadows. It was a search that he'd started the previous day, and had only taken one very short break from.

"Buguese," Aqune called worriedly, as she followed behind him. "I know it's important that we find Richter, but you don't have to push yourself. He may not even be in the Insector lands anymore."

"As long as there is a chance he's here, I must find him before he can cause any more damage, my dear," Buguese replied. "You don't need to come with me, but it is my responsibility to take care of this nation."

"It's mine as well," Aqune replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised.

"Well," she began. "Because I'm a Spider Rider, and an Oracle Handmaiden. So I have to help out everyone in trouble. But also…" She paused, her face turning red. "I'm going to be your wife," her voice was softer now. "Wouldn't that make me just as responsible for this country?"

"That's…" Buguese began, but he wasn't sure if he could protest. Though he felt the burden was his alone, Aqune did make a valid point.

"And also, I have to take care of you. Seeing you get so stressed is troubling. Just like how when I had my doubts about fighting, you were there for me, now, I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Aqune," Buguese replied. He reached over, resting his hand on her shoulder. For a moment, he did feel calmer.

"Buguese, for just a little while, let's go somewhere quiet and breathe," Aqune suggested. "Then, we'll get back to searching as hard as we can."

He stared at her for a moment, pondering the options.

"Alright," said Buguese. "But only for a little while. If we hear anything usual, then we must leave immediately."

"Sure," said Aqune, smiling.

Buguese and Aqune went through a wooded area, to a small clearing. There was a lake there, and even Buguese had to admit the way the sun reflected over the water looked lovely. He'd never noticed this place in the years when they had no light. It just seemed like another dirty and useless swamp. But Aqune had found it one day not long ago, and showed it to him.

"Soon, I'm sure we'll have peaceful days again," Aqune said, as she sat looking into the lake.

"We will," Buguese agreed. "But only by fighting for them."

All of a sudden, Aqune rose to her feet. She felt a strange feeling. Someone, or something was nearby.

"Is something wrong?" asked Buguese.

In a flash, something large flew out from the trees, striking her. The girl was sent flying backwards.

"Aqune!" Buguese exclaimed, shocked. He ran to her, and kneeled down by her side. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, trying to stand back up. "But what was that?"

"Ah, that was my spider," a man said, as he stepped out before them. He was the man from the cottage.

"A spider?!" Aqune exclaimed, though she noticed there was a large grey and hairy spider behind her. How could something that size possibly move so fast? Really, that wasn't the most important thing to be concerned about though. "You're a Spider Rider?"

"No, there are only eight of those," replied the man. "And the boy, Richter, is the newest one. I'm sure you were already acquainted with him. But anyway, this spider is one of the only survivors of my experiments. Experiments to enhance the powers of a spider."

"That's cruel…" Aqune said, stunned by what she was hearing. "Spiders are living things."

"Tell me who you are?!" Buguese was less concerned by what he was doing to spiders, and more irritated at him for attacking Aqune.

"Fine. I suppose that is the polite thing to do," he answered. "My name is Siegfried. I'm a researcher, and I'm looking for the Oracle's reincarnation. You haven't seen her around, have you?"

Aqune tensed up, hearing this. He was looking for her? And, he must have known she was the one, if he'd come here and attacked.

"I won't let you touch Aqune!" Buguese declared, standing in front of her with his sword in hand.

"Oh really?" replied Siegfried. He pointed to the grey spider.

Then, the spider shot a web at Buguese from the side, with enough force to push him into a tree.

"Buguese!" Aqune exclaimed. She tried to run towards him, but the grey spider got there first, standing in her way.

Irritated, the Insector struggled to push the webs away from him. But it was unusually difficult.

"You're not going to escape so easily," said Siegfried. "The webs of my enhanced spider are special, you see. Your energy will slowly be sucked away. So the more you struggle, the more useless it will become."

"I don't care!" Buguese declared, who was still attempting to escape. "I will protect Aqune."

"You're the one who needs to be protected," replied Siegfried. The giant spider moved closer to Buguese, pushing one of its legs to his neck.

"Now, Aqune," said Siegfried. "If you don't want me to kill him, you'll do exactly as I say."

Aqune glanced to him, and to Buguese. She obviously couldn't let Buguese be killed. But on the other hand, she didn't know just what this man, who experimented on spiders, intended to do to her. If he wanted her powers as the Oracle, then he could do anything he wanted, possibly jeopardizing more lives than just Buguese's. However, the girl had one idea.

"Portia! Spider Out!" she yelled. She released the purple spider from her manacle, who charged at the grey spider, knocking him away from Buguese. Then, she came closer to him, and began to start pulling the webs away.

"So, you'll resist me?" Siegfried asked.

The grey spider, who quickly recovered, sent Portia flying away with a single swipe. Then, launching a thread, it caught Aqune by the arm. The girl was knocked to the ground, as the spider reeled her closer.

"Portia…" she said, worried. Her spider seemed to be pretty hurt. "Spider in."

"Aqune!" yelled Buguese. Regretfully, she hadn't had the chance to undo enough of the web, and Buguese was beginning to feel extremely exhausted.

"What do you want with me?!" Aqune shouted, as she tried to break loose with her free hand. She did succeed briefly, only for the spider to use the chance to attack with more thread from the other side. Aqune realized she wouldn't be able to escape so easily.

"Well…" replied Siegfried. "I could tell you but, I don't think it's going to make a bit of difference if I do."

Moving closer to Aqune, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a standing position. With his free hand, he took from his pocket the black box. "It's time we go now. After all, I can't let my years of research be for nothing."

"Never!" Buguese yelled. Somehow, he had freed himself from the webs. Though it was obvious it was struggle for him even to stand, he started to stagger closer to where Aqune was.

Seeing Buguese, Aqune wanted to be happy, but she was too worried.

"Don't…" Aqune said. "You can't fight like this. I'll… go with him."

Ignoring her protest, Buguese aimed his sword at Siegfried. However, he simply grabbed it, and threw the Insector down onto the back of the grey spider.

"Actually," Siegfried said. "You get to come with me too. I'm surprised that you managed to escape. I think someone with a will that impressive would be very useful to me."

Then, using the black box in his hand, light surrounded the four of them. They vanished from that spot.

"So that's how strong he's gotten?" From a short distance away, Richter watched from the treetops. "Wave, it looks like we'll have to take some more drastic measures."

"Yes sir," the spider replied.