“Didn’t know that was how things worked,” I said as I lowered my abdomen 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 mess 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 flame beam spell. When that was done, I turned to see the other two elves looking at me with amusement.

I shrugged, just as my mother stood up. “Want some 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 come near me again and started playing with my fangs before it was somehow 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 assume my nose would be.”

“I don’t think they can. You should know more about that than me.”

“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 time before turning to face Cellestra.

“Cellestra. I heard so much about Kealyna, but do tell me what made you choose to travel with her.”

The brunette was taken aback by the sudden question and seemed to burn her tongue on the tea. She quickly retracted the cup before staring at the tabletop. “She…” She started softly. “She’s keeping me 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 ailment ever since my birth. It grants me massive amounts of mana, but it’s unstable and causes periods with horrible nightmares that seemed to have gotten worse over the years, to the point where I fear they will eventually kill me. Kealyna has informed Elysa of this, who, I believe, confirmed 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 me.”

“That’s awful,” Lilinia said, still in shock.

Cellestra shook her head. “I was lucky to have your daughter there to help me. She’s been incredibly kind and helpful.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me 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 mean it, Kealyna. You’re a knight in every sense. ”

I smiled bashfully at the compliment, staring at my tea. Cellestra’s cute, soft giggling made me 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 mean that I’d get to meet Elira. However, I didn’t see her. My father’s smile indicated that there was nothing to worry about, which made me 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 me feel sad, but what I saw in the brief time 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 time of my parent’s passing, peeked around the corner once more. She stared straight into my eyes, and as soon as our gazes met 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 time. 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 same 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 me. 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 name?” I already knew it, but I asked to try to make her feel more at ease with me.

“Elira,” She said softly, still hiding behind the safety of my father.

“It’s okay,” Lilinia said with a soothing voice. “Go meet your sister.”

“My… sister?” Elira looked at my mother with large eyes, who nodded in return. She then turned to me 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 me, 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 amazement. “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 me.”

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 abdomen 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 warmed 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 agreement before walking back in front of me. 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 me.”

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 someday.”

My heart grew warmer and warmer at seeing this child’s interactions. Was this what it meant to have a little sister?