“Didn’t know that was how things worked,” I said as I lowered my abdon and wiped off the silk from my spinnerets. “The more you know, I guess.”
“You have to admit,” Cellestra said, smiling. “It was kind of funny.”
“I suppose you’re right. I was just concerned about my legs. Seems it was a good idea to take a few steps back.” I turned around to observe the ss I’d made. Threads of silk were spread out on the gravel. To clean up, I decided to quickly burn it with a weaker version of the fla beam spell. When that was done, I turned to see the other two elves looking at with amusent.
I shrugged, just as my mother stood up. “Want so more tea?” She asked.
Cellestra and I both nodded. As soon as Lilinia disappeared inside, I saw Shadow peek his head around the corner again.
“I sure hope that was random and not an allergy,” I spoke. “It was kind of cute to see him sleeping on my back.”
“Don’t have a skill for that?” Cellestra asked as a joke. At least, I believed it was a joke.
“I would have taken it already if I’d had the option.” I shook my head.
I skittered back to the table and waited for my mother and father both to return. In the few minutes it took to get new tea, Shadow had found the confidence, or perhaps the curiosity, to co near again and started playing with my fangs before it was sohow distracted by my large, red eyes.
My mother returned just as I spoke up. “Do you know if spiders can sneeze, Cellestra? He’s right where I assu my nose would be.”
“I don’t think they can. You should know more about that than .”
“I most definitely do not,” I said, shaking my head. “But that’s fine, I think. I don’t need to know everything.”
Lilinia took a seat and put down the glasses of tea for the second ti before turning to face Cellestra.
“Cellestra. I heard so much about Kealyna, but do tell what made you choose to travel with her.”
The brunette was taken aback by the sudden question and seed to burn her tongue on the tea. She quickly retracted the cup before staring at the tabletop. “She…” She started softly. “She’s keeping alive.”
My mother lost all semblance of a smile and looked to be horrified by Cellestra’s brutally honest answer. Before she could speak, the other elf continued.
“I’ve had this ailnt ever since my birth. It grants massive amounts of mana, but it’s unstable and causes periods with horrible nightmares that seed to have gotten worse over the years, to the point where I fear they will eventually kill . Kealyna has inford Elysa of this, who, I believe, confird the illness was getting worse, but Kealyna’s healing magic prevents it from progressing and suppresses the effects. Our initial goal was to find you and then set out to try to cure .”
“That’s awful,” Lilinia said, still in shock.
Cellestra shook her head. “I was lucky to have your daughter there to help . She’s been incredibly kind and helpful.”
“You have no idea how happy that makes as a mother. The more I hear, the prouder I get.”
“Thanks, mom,” I said softly, a wide smile on my face thanks to her kind words.
“I an it, Kealyna. You’re a knight in every sense. ”
I smiled bashfully at the complint, staring at my tea. Cellestra’s cute, soft giggling made think I was blushing madly. My attention was diverted when I heard footsteps on the small pieces of stone surrounding the building. From the side appeared Keelarin, a warm smile on his face.
His return would an that I’d get to et Elira. However, I didn’t see her. My father’s smile indicated that there was nothing to worry about, which made wonder what was going on. Then, I saw two ears peek from around the corner, and then light blonde hair, followed by a pair of green eyes.
I was lucky I didn’t have to turn my head to see her, because when I did, she instantly disappeared behind the wall.
It would have made feel sad, but what I saw in the brief ti I’d seen her eyes wasn’t fear. I saw curiosity, but also carefulness.
This small elven girl, one that couldn’t be much older than I had been at the ti of my parent’s passing, peeked around the corner once more. She stared straight into my eyes, and as soon as our gazes t she darted behind the wall once more.
“It’s okay,” My father said. “She’s not scary. Look, Shadow isn’t scared either.”
When the girl peeked around the corner again, my father pointed at the cat, who was still playing with one of my fangs. I put down my cup of tea and lowered myself to the ground as far as I could, lessening the intimidation that I very well knew I had.
“Hi,” I said to her while waving a hand.
Elira then showed herself fully for the first ti. A girl that wouldn’t reach much higher than my belly ran over to my father and hid behind him, her hands around his waist. She wore a bright red skirt that reached below her knees, and a blue blouse to go with it. Her hair flowed freely and reached to her chest. The sa green eyes from before stared at one of my spider eyes at my side and had a fiery spark in them.
“Hi,” She said softly. She then looked at Shadow who had now moved to the side to rub his head against one of my legs, he then started climbing it, reached one of the joints at the top, then turned his head to Elira, and remained in that position.
I chuckled at the cat’s antics before looking at the little elven girl. “I’m Kealyna,” I greeted the girl warmly with a smile.
Keelarin walked forward, Elira still clenching his waist, forcing her to get closer to . I turned my body so that I was facing her from the front and laid my legs on the ground, causing Shadow to jump onto my back from my leg.
“Hi,” I said again. “May I know your na?” I already knew it, but I asked to try to make her feel more at ease with .
“Elira,” She said softly, still hiding behind the safety of my father.
“It’s okay,” Lilinia said with a soothing voice. “Go et your sister.”
“My… sister?” Elira looked at my mother with large eyes, who nodded in return. She then turned to as I nodded too.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “But yes, I’m your older sister.”
She let go of my father and slowly walked over to , her eyes fixated on my red ones. Not entirely unexpected as it was one of my lower body’s most prominent features. As she approached, I saw her pupils dart back and forth to the cat on my back who was curling up in my soft hair again. She reached out and carefully placed a hand on my spider head before looking up at my other head.
She then looked into my spider eyes in turn. “Is that you?” She asked.
I nodded as I slowly raised a pedipalp from the ground, causing a bit of a shock reaction from the little girl, but she quickly recovered. “See?”
Her eyes grew wide as she turned to the dirty limb which I slowly stretched and retracted. “Woah,” She let out in amazent. “You’re half spider!”
I giggled softly and saw Cellestra, Lilinia, and Keelarin look at us with smiles written all over their faces.
Elira placed her hand back on my spider head, between my front eyes where it was still relatively clean. “So soft,” She said. She then looked up again.
“Your eyes. Is that magic?” She said in wonder.
“Yes. It’s a blessing from Elysa,” I said warmly.
“Goddess Elysa?” The girl asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“Woah,” She let out again. “So cool.”
“If you think that is cool, you should see the colors behind .”
I pointed my thumb towards my behind and the girl backed off a bit before she looked at the colors swirling in my rear. She jumped over my legs and made her way towards it, laying her hand on my spider abdon as she peered at the spectacle before her.
“So pretty,” She said in awe.
I could see how my parents had fallen in love with her. I’d only known her for a few minutes and I already felt a bond forming between us. This girl’s curiosity had conquered her fear and ward my heart.
I let Elira watch for a bit before she turned around and noticed my smaller, rear eyes. She jumped over my legs again and cocked her head, staring into one of them.
“Are those eyes?” She asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Spiders have eight eyes. Pretty cool, huh?”
The young elf nodded in agreent before walking back in front of . She pointed at my shorter limbs below my head. “What are those?”
“Those are my fangs. Watch.” I opened my chelicerae and showed Elira the fangs at the ends. I decided to keep my lower mouth closed as I imagined seeing all those teeth could be rather frightening.
“Woah. Scary.”
I closed my limbs again while giggling. “Not so scary if you know they belong to .”
She nodded before she turned her head and finally noticed Cellestra. When she did, she ran over to her. “And who are you?” Elira asked curiously.
The brunette giggled. “I’m Cellestra, Kealyna’s friend.”
“Woah. Your eyes are purple. Are you blessed by goddess Elysa too?”
“Unfortunately not,” Cellestra said as she patted the girl’s head. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you soday.”
My heart grew warr and warr at seeing this child’s interactions. Was this what it ant to have a little sister?
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