Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Lady Bone Demon did not kill the spider Demons.

She instead absorbed their souls.

Which would have been significantly worse; if it actually worked.

You see, it takes a very long time to absorb a soul as strong as the Spider Queen’s. And because the sheer size of it, it’s what the Lady Bone Demon latched onto. Why bother with the much weaker, borderline mortal souls, when there’s such a large amount of power right there?

So the three spider demons were overlooked in lue of their much stronger queen.

And then.

The draining stopped.

All of the Lady Bone Demon’s ties vanished. Snapped and disappeared as if they were never there at all.

The queen dragged herself out of the furnace, weak and drained,  but very much alive.

And furious.

But she needed to rescue her clan first.

The queen reached back in, blindly groping for the very familiar souls of her ingenue, desperate to get them back.

Goliath was the first- His soul wasn’t strong, but it was large. Under her hands it was warm and wet, with stray webs floating around it, guiding the spider queen to what she could not see.

It was a struggle to heave him up, out of the furnace. He weighed almost as much as the queen herself, both natural born spider demons. But spiders are strong, able to carry far more than any mortal should, and so even in her weakened state it wasn’t too hard.

Next was the Huntsman. Tracking him down in the murky, unseeable depths, was much harder. There was no heat to follow; his soul was cold. But she managed eventually, wrapping her arms around the sharp, pointed thing and refusing to let go until she pulled him to safety, despite all the cuts.

The queen had no time to patch up her wounds however, because there was one soul left; the weakest and most frail, the one who had the least chance of survival.

It took far longer to find him than the others, and the Spider Queen was in borderline panic. But eventually, through sheer luck, she found it.

He was small, so small, and could be held in just one hand. There was a bit of warmth, but only just, and he was the most still out of all of them.

She had to be careful in pulling him out. Even then, she had no idea if he’d make it until lying him on the floor of the cave and seeing his chest rise with slow and shallow breaths.

Her clan, all alive and safe.

Then the Spider Queen passes out.

When she awakes only a few hours later, Huntsman is already up, patching her hands up.

He growls when he sees she’s awake. “I told you she was dangerous.” Though even though he sounds bitter, there’s no real bite to his voice.

He’s scared, not angry. Not truly.

The Queen reaches up a hand and cradles his cheek. He freezes, eyes going wide, then softening. “I was… worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Please,” she scoffs. “It takes more than that to render me down.”

He doesn’t seem pleased. “The others-”

“Will be fine.” The Spider Queen assures. 

“Your clothes were destroyed. Torn completely. It though… I thought it was what was left of you, for a few moments.” He confesses.

“Little Miss Mystery wasn’t very gentle, but I'm alright.” She reassures, patting his hair. Without all her mech she was only about a foot taller than the Huntsman. “We can tend to clothing later; for now we need to care for your clanmates.”

Huntsman obeyed, almost immediately, helping her lift them and take them to the nest of their cave. No surprise there, he was always the most loyal, even before her venom.

When they first met he was a demon hunter; demon huntress actually, but the point is still the same. His job was to track down deadly and dangerous demons before they could hurt others, or try and take over the world.

And kill them.

Tracking he was very skilled at. He was the only hunter who managed to find her. Killing however…

That didn’t work out for him. It took the queen no difficulty to capture him with her webs, but it’s not like he put up much of a fight. If anything he practically handed himself over on a silver platter. Something that was all but confirmed when the Spider Queen got a chance to talk to him.

“So you’re the little huntress that’s been roaming around my territory.” She asked with a smile. Despite being tied up, he didn’t move at all. Merely stood upright, yet relaxed. Despite still being human, he was still tall and muscular, just with a few more curves, Even then, his clothes hid most of that well. All in all, he looked pretty similar to his appearance now. Skin more brown than purple, and his distinctive braid was black rather than grey, but the similarities were there.

Even then, all he did was frown. “It’s hunter .”

“Sure. Little hunter. That hardly answers my question. You’ve been roaming around for a while.” She crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

“I want to make a deal.”

The Spider Queen rolled her eyes. “I don’t deal in souls, little Hunter. What can you offer me?”

“My loyalty.” He said, without any hesitation. “You’re a queen, aren’t you? You need citizens. Guards. Someone to protect you.” He bowed slightly at this. “You’ve already seen my skills. You know I can keep you safe.”

She hummed, seriously considering his offer. “And what do you want in return, Hunter?”

“A new body.” He said.

“I can only do spiders.”

“Deal.”

Admittedly the Spider Queen had little optimism about this odd demon hunter who wanted nothing but a new body in exchange for utter and blind loyalty, but she didn’t see the harm in having more soldiers, and she was going to have a concoction made that could turn humans to spiders anyway, so she wasn’t exactly sacrificing much.

But to his credit, the hunter did exactly what he promised; anything the Queen asked for, it was done. Anything she needed was obtained. And when the formula was finally perfected, he was the first person given it.

Well, technically second.

He’s still mad about that.

But his anger has never stopped him from listening to every single command from his queen; especially when it was something he kinda wanted to do anyway. 

Like getting his clanmates to a more comfortable position, and cleaning up the mess that Miss Mystery left their home.

“Do you know what happened to her?” Huntsman questioned, while futilely trying to patch up her shattered helm.

“Don’t know.” She responded, still digging her way through the rubble to find what was left. Some things, like clothes, simple weapons, blankets, she could salvage. Other things like food were molding and definitely needed to be tossed.

Most of it however was tech that she couldn’t recognize, even before the ruin. Syntax would have to figure out if they could be used or not, if he woke up.

When he woke up.

“She’s dead.” The spider demon confirmed. “I don’t know how, but she has to be.”

“Hopefully that creepy servant of hers died too.” He snarls, the frail crown falling apart for the fifth time. He huffs. “Syntax would know how to do this.”

The Spider Queen raised an eyebrow at this. Huntsman must truly be upset if he confesses to missing Syntax.

Despite his cold demeanor the queen knew that her hunter didn’t hate his clanmate. No, he was just jealous of him.

Something the Queen learned about her huntsman was that he was possessive. Very possessive, and protective as well. Handy in a soldier, less so when Syntax was given a task only he could do, and the Hunter’s anger flared. 

Nor was it a good trait when he was in the field and inclined to act recklessly, just to complete the mission no matter how it endangers him. In fancy for this reason the Spider Queen made the decision to sideline him for a bit, at least for the most dangerous tasks.

That hardly helped his jealousy either.

Syntax, for his credit, could give as good as he got. He may not have been even remotely as strong as his clanmates, but his quick wit and snark more than made up for it, along with his genius.

The Spider Queen was quite fond of the scientist when they first met, and despite being a little scared he must have liked her as well. At least a little bit, or he would have left her services. 

Even then he was quite frail. The Spider Queen tried to be careful and gentle, but she forgot how very human he was. The demoness knows she’s prone to lose her temper, and her snapping sometimes had him shaking in fear, despite her best efforts.

It only took a few days for her to decide that she wanted him as a follower, once the formula was complete. She didn’t tell the human this of course, but all's well that ends well.

The transformation also came with a desire to serve her, a need to listen. In fact, they couldn’t deny and direct commands.

She tried not to abuse this power of course, but the side effects were clear; then needed to serve her, and in turning two soldiers at the same time, she accidently made the two rivals.

Goliath on the other hand, while a very loyal servant, wasn’t confrontational nor insecure. He knew he always had a place with his Queen, and so was more than willing to take a step back and let the younger spiders compete among themselves for her favor.

She tried to reassure them, but they didn’t always listen.

She loved her clan, and they were part of it; nothing was going to change that.

They just had to wake up.

It only took Goliath a few more hours to stir. At the sound of his groans both the Spider Queen and Huntsman rushed to his side, eyes filled with worry.

“Can you hear me?” She asked softly, placing a hand on his. Huntsman, as worried as he was, lingered behind and wrung out his hands.

He was never good at comforting.

“Huntsman, No,” He stuttered, eyes still screwed shut.

“Your clanmate is alright.” She reassured. “Right there, just open your eyes.”

It took a few seconds, but his neon eyes did flutter open. “My queen?”

She let out a sigh of relief. “It’s so good to see you.”

He seemed confused. “That man. Huntsman tried to fight him, but he hurt him. I’m not sure what happened, but he was gone-”

“I’m right here.” Huntsman answered awkwardly.

When Goliath saw him he sobbed, and it took a lot of comforting to get him to stop, but he was ok. That’s all that mattered.

Syntax on the other hand, took much longer to wake up.

It shouldn’t have surprised them; Syntax was the smallest out of all of them, the weakest by far. Even when he was changed to a demon that didn’t change. Anytime he fought he relied on his technology and weapons.

When he was attacked, he must have been alone. Goliath and Huntsman were at least together, were at least able to fight back. The Queen herself knew exactly what was happening when she was taken, already knew what had happened to her spiders.

But Syntax didn’t.

He was attacked when alone, completely helpless, with no way to defend himself. His soul was sent into the furnace before anyone else, it’s where it got power before the Queen was thrown in, and so he was even weaker.

None of them said it, but they weren’t sure if he’d ever wake up.

But on day seven he started to stir.

Huntsman was guarding him; he made a nest just to defend the small spider, and watched him constantly, protective instincts kicking in.

When the Spider Queen first heard him yell her name she was terrified; terrified that something had happened. That he’d taken a turn for the worse, or his shallow breathing stopped entirely.

When she rushed to his side, the queen found the opposite.

Syntax was waking up.

It took awhile; an hour at least, for him to finally get up. And once he was he was still very weak, needing almost a month to fully recover.

But it didn’t matter. Syntax was alive.

Her clan was alive.

Needless to say the Queen became very protective over them, even more so than before. Any time they wanted to leave the cave, even if just for a little bit, it took a lot of convincing for her to allow it.

Can you blame her? It was her job as a queen to protect her clan, something she’s already failed once.

She’s not going to fail again.

Besides, she could get everything they needed on her own. Food, supplies, furniture. There was little reason her clan ever had to risk leaving the safety of their cave, so why should they?

Goliath liked the cave. He likes the dark, and was only willing to ever go out at night because of this. He was also used to how demons ran things, and didn’t mind so much when the Queen took total control.

It was how demons protected their own; it means they were cared for and loved.

The ones that used to be humans, well, they didn’t adapt nearly as well to her protective nature. It feels like every week they needed something new and specific that only they could obtain.

Huntsman needed specific types of equipment for traps; only a certain kind of rope would work, a certain kind of arrow could be used for his bow. Things like that. The Queen suspects he’s completely making it up and often refuses, but occasionally she’ll relent.

Syntax on the other hand needs a lot of tech; tech she wouldn’t recognize if it hit her in the face. The Queen doesn’t like it, but she lets him go a lot more than Huntsman.

Though he often requests the Huntsman to come with, to protect him. Something that makes everyone happy. He has protection, Huntsman gets to leave, and the Spider Queen doesn’t worry as much.

She still worries of course.

On one of these rare occasions she sent them off in the morning, and didn't expect them to be back for a very long time. They were away from civilization, and even the quickest store trip took two hours, give or take. Once they were there they also tended to linger for quite a bit. Often they didn’t return until long after the sun set.

So when not thirty minutes later they came rushing back in the cave, the Queen feared the worst.

She rushed up to them, immediately grabbing Syntax and looking him over. “Are you hurt?” She demanded, hissing slightly.

“No.” Huntsman confirmed quickly, making her relax. “But we found that boy. The brown haired one with the headband. Something’s wrong with him. He’s not acting right. Keeps glowing and whimpering. He might be hurt.”

This made her tense up again immediately. She quickly rushed her clan to the nest, to where Goliath was. 

“Stay here. Don’t leave.” She commanded. A direct command; one they couldn’t refuse.

Both spiders shuddered, eyes glowing slightly, before nodding. Then the Spider Queen immediately rushed out the cave, to find out what was going on.

She hated using direct commands, but this was a matter of safety. They were just turned to demons; they had no idea how dangerous a situation like this could be.

The boy, MK, wasn’t a demon; he was something more. She wasn’t sure what, and honestly she suspects he’s also oblivious to his own nature, but it’s clear as day to a demoness as old and powerful as her. 

Him acting weird could be a very bad sign. The glowing huntsman mentioned all but confirmed it.

Glowing could mean a lot of things; A curse, loss of control, an extreme emotional state, possession; any number of things.

None of them good.

It wasn’t hard to find the boy; he was in a crater, a giant crater. But before the Spider Queen saw the creator, she saw a flickering golden light. Getting closer, she saw the boy curled up, whimpering, skin strobing between normal and… Something else. 

He didn’t look good.

She will admit, she doesn’t know him very well, but she’s fought MK enough to know how he acts and what he looks like. The boy was a fierce opponent, one with the power of the Monkey King, so she had to pay attention.

Enough to know that this, whatever this was, was very bad indeed.

The boy was thin. He wasn’t wearing his coat, so it was easy to tell. Last time she met him he had a comfortable layer of fat, and a bit of a stomach. There was probably a lot of muscle under it, but he definitely had a healthy layer of fat.

Now his shirt looked easily two sizes too big.

His hair was also always thick and shiny, and while he probably didn’t frequent salons, clearly it was well cared for, always tied up and kept out of the way.

Now it was a mess. Thin, dirty, and strewn all over.

It only takes the queen a few seconds to consider the options.

Could this be some sort of magical parasite? Something that clings to someone powerful and drains till there’s nothing left?

Unlikely. Gold is such a rare and powerful color; the odds that a parasite would have it is almost impossible. That also rules out possession.

But clearly this kid is unwell, and he’s likely been that way for awhile. What could have possibly caused this? Some sort of mortal illness that reacted badly with his powers?

Then the boy moves, lifting his arm and propping himself up.

The Spider Queen’s breath hitches at the sight of him.

Even, narrow cuts lined his thin arms, all still a harsh red. They didn’t look particularly clean or cared for.

She’s not exactly a therapist, but she knows what self-inflicted wounds looked like. If his mental state was that… fragile then he was definitely likely to lose control of his powers. 

The boy looked at her, eyes clouded, face sunken and pale. He looked ill. The boy narrowed his eyes, panting slightly. “You’re…. Alive?” The child mumbled.

She huffed, taking a step forward. Yes they were enemies once, but she’s hardly one to hold a grudge, and besides, all things considered, MK was never a huge rival. Really just a kid; it was Wukong she had a problem with, but everyone had a problem with Wukong, so that was hardly notable.

And honestly the kid didn’t seem to have an issue with her either. He was more interested in little Miss Mystery, something he turned out completely right on. Even at the end he tried to help her, tried to warn her.

It didn’t do much good, but, she’s still grateful.

“It takes a whole lot more than that to kill me little boy.” She laughs, stepping closer. MK didn’t seem scared, which was odd. Wasn’t he scared of spiders? Or was it because she didn’t have her prosthetics, that he wasn’t bothered?

“I thought… I thought I killed you.” Hemumbles, eyes still not quite focusing.

Was he feverish?

“No, that was little Miss Mystery.” The Queen responds, kneeling beside him. Even then, she was notably much bigger than him. “What happened with her.”

“The Lady Bone Demon.” He practically whispers, before screwing his eyes shut. “She’s gone. Dead. I killed her.” The boy sounded on the verge of tears.

Slowly, the Spider Queen nodded. “I’m sure you did well.” She hums, hesitantly reaching out to touch him. 

The boy was freezing.

Then she reached up and touched his forehead.

Burning up.

Whatever happened, clearly he wasn’t in a state to tell her, and clearly he wasn’t in a position to take care of himself either.

The spider queen isn’t nurturing, but she is a queen after all; it’s her job to take care of her people, and it’s hard to leave someone so young and helpless to fend for themselves.

Cautiously she leans down, looping one arm under his knees and another behind his shoulders. The boy shutters slightly, a small shiver, but doesn’t pull away.

The Queen knows she’s cold blooded, but can’t help but hold him closer to her. It might not be able to help much, but at least she could offer some protection from the wind and elements.

It takes longer than she would have liked to make her way back, but it was better to be careful than to rush.

When she does return all three of her spiders are waiting nervously by the door. Syntax is pacing quickly, and Huntsman is wringing his hands, while Goliath keeps glancing out the cavern door. 

They rush to her side when Goliath yells that she’s back.

“Are you alright?” Huntsman asks, completely ignoring the boy in her arms.

Syntax had other priorities. “You brought him back?” The spider asks, utterly incredulous.

“He’s hurt.” The queen says softly. “And showed no aggression; besides, he knows what happened to…” It takes her a second to remember what he said earlier. “The Lady Bone Demon, apparently.”

It takes him a few moments more to get over his shock, but he frowns and nods. “I’ll look over him.”

The queen hands him over to Huntsman; as a spider hybrid he was still warm blooded, so maybe his body heat would help. “Be careful.” She advises. His eyes are still open, but unfocused, and his breathing is heavier than healthy. She’s not sure how aware he is honestly, if at all.

As she hands him over the Huntsman see’s the scars on MK’s arms. He hisses, eyes going wide, before pulling the boy very close to his chest.

Clearly his protective instincts were kicking in, which is surprising. Usually his instincts get aggressive instead, especially regarding anything that could even remotely be considered a threat or rival.

He must not see MK as either.

Odd.

The Queen decides to leave it be, and let Syntax do his work. He hates being disturbed, and often even standing in the lab will interrupt his process, so no matter how worried she was, she knew to wait.

At least, until a few minutes passed and Huntsman hadn’t returned.

That was… Unusual. Even on a good day Syntax didn’t like the Queen in his lab. There's no way he would allow Huntsman to stay.

Nervously the queen knocks on his lab door. “Syntax? Is Huntsman in there with you?”

“He won’t leave!” Syntax groans, though it’s a little muffled through the door.

Confused, the queen cracks the door and peeks inside. Syntax is rushing around, gathering supplies, and seeming annoyed. Huntsman, however, leaned over the boy, hissing softly, eyes glued to the child, pupils dilated.

Oh. Shit.

Huntsman spiders, and in turn huntsman spider demons, were very protective parents. 

And it looked like, for some reason. Huntsman’s instincts saw the child as one of his.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to get him out of the room.” She laughs slightly, but that only lasts until she sees MK.

In the light of the lab he looks even more pale than before, but his eyes are shut this time. “How is he?”

Syntax huffs. “He’ll be fine. He needs a lot of rest, but after that there’s nothing else.” He tells her, while wrapping bandages around his arms. “I gave him a minor sleep aid, but it shouldn’t have kicked in so quickly.”

“Could it be caused by sleep deprivation?” The Queen asks.

“Oh most definitely.” He teases.

The queen sighs, and then looks at her other spider demon. “What’s with you?”

Huntsman growls. “He’s small.” He tells her, not looking away. “Why is he so small?”

“Human’s get small sometimes.” She shrugs.

He growls, and shakes his head. “They should have taken care of their spiderling better.”

This might actually be a problem.

“Huntsman I think the boy might be too weak to leave, at least for a few days.” She places a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you set up a little bed for him in the nest? He won’t be able to sleep in the web like us.”

It takes him a few seconds, but he jerks, and nods. “I’ll do that my lady.”

He leaves, and the Queen turns to Syntax. “Why did you really give him something to sleep?”

Syntax huffs. “The kid was delerious. Kept saying how he killed us. I did him a favor.”

“He said something similar to me as well.” She hums, brushing a hand though the boys haid, and grimacing. Yes, his forehead was still warm, but more importantly, his hair was greasy. Really, the kid was just a mess. He was going to need a bath.

“Well either way, some sleep isn’t going to hurt the kid. He’s a wreck.”

“Are there any more injuries?”

He shakes his head. “No, but his injuries haven’t been healing properly. My guess is that he hasn’t been sleeping or eating, and so his body just hasn’t had the energy to patch itself up.” Syntax explains. “None of the wounds are infected, so he’s had the forethought to at least clean them out. Not properly, naturally, but good enough.”

The queen hums. “What’s your… Opinion of MK?” Syntax has run into him one on one before, so he’d know the best.

“He’s fine.” The spider demon dismisses. “Easily confused, but not all that stupid.” A statement like that was the closest Syntax came to a compliment.

He was hardly the most affectionate after all.

“And what about you my queen? What do you think?”

“I think he needs to learn to hold a grudge; it would be good for him.” The spider demoness crosses her arms.

This earns a laugh. “Yes, that doesn’t surprise me. How he’s gotten this far being so naive I’ll never know.” It’s meant to be a joke, but the Spider Queen frowns.

The boy wasn’t stupid, but Syntax is right. He’s too trusting, too earnest. Wukong seemed to be his mentor, but the monkey wasn’t always there. In fact he was seldom there at all.

Why wasn’t he protecting his student better? Why wasn’t he trying to keep MK out of all these fights? Did he not notice the boy losing weight, or the obvious lack of care he was taking of himself?

What about those friends of his? How did none of them take note?

Or was he just good at hiding it?

The queen doesn’t know how deceptive MK can be. She doesn’t know him nearly well enough; all she knows is that he’s hurt and needs help.

Huntsman manages to drag in a king sized bed and a whole department store's worth of blankets into the nest; the queen isn’t really sure how he got all of that, and doesn’t particularly care either. “That’s quite the bed.”

Huntsman is panting slightly. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

The Queen sighs. “Demon’s brains work a little differently than humans do. We get… Possessive sometimes. It’s perfectly natural.”

This seemed to do little to comfort Huntsman. “I almost bit Syntax!”

She snorted. “You always say you’re going to bite him. How is that new?”

“I never actually do it.” He groaned, rubbing his head. “But something came over me, and I just had to.”

“You’ll get used to it.” She chuckled, not able to help but be amused about the situation. “It’s easier to deal with after a bit.”

This makes his frown. “Maybe, but… I’m worried about the kid.”

The Spider Queen sighs. “Me too. Something must have happened while we were away.”

“You think he’ll tell us?”

She scoffed. “Nope.”

While they waited for Syntax to finish up, the queen sent Huntsman out to get some food for the boy. Partially to keep him busy, but partially because they didn’t exactly have much food around that humans could eat. Spider demons ate raw meat, and had far stronger stomachs than humans. Even if they cooked the meat, which no one was sure how to, it probably wouldn’t be healthy for the boy.

Though when Huntsman returned a few hours later, he was carrying a huge bag filled with double his weight in food.

And no. That was not an exaggeration. 

Goliath raised a nervous eyebrow. “Did you… rob a Dicos at gunpoint?” He questioned, watching the smaller spider heave the bag on their massive dining room table.

“No.” He said. “I robbed a grocery store. And no weapons were needed. I just shoved everything in this bag and hissed when the employees got close.”

The Spider Queen rubbed her head. “Why? I gave you money.”

“Not enough.”

She sighs. “Because we didn’t need nearly that much food. I meant to just pick up dinner or something. Not a whole duffle bag of produce.”

“I wasn’t sure what he’d like. Besides, we have a fridge space.”

The Queen just rolled her eyes, before helping him and Goliath pack it all in one of their many stolen fridges. One of the ones without raw meat.

About an hour or so later Syntax came out, with MK stumbling nervously behind him.

Considering his fear of spiders, the queen expected him to be even more nervous. “You up now sleeping beauty?”

“Yep, yep, I’m awake.” He chuckled, wringing his hands. He was wearing a new shirt, a plain black tee that was still a little big and probably belonged to Syntax. It didn’t cover his arms, that showed off cleanly wrapped bandages. Mk looked better than before, but not exactly great. Still pale and thin, with dark circles.

“Yeah, yeah I’m up.” He chuckled nervously. “You, uh, don’t have your legs.” 

The queen raised an eyebrow at this.

Almost immediately the boy realized what he said, and started to backtrack. “I mean- I meant- Your spider legs. You have normal ones now.”

She had a feeling he was going to keep going on and on, so she smiled reassuringly. “I understand. Little Miss Mystery broke them, and we haven’t gotten to replacing them yet.”

He winced. “Right. Sorry about that.”

“You try and kill all of us and take over the world?” She questioned.

MK looked confused, and shook his head.

“Then don’t apologize. Now, sit. Let's get some meat on those bones.” The demoness gestured towards an empty seat next to her.

He hesitated, glancing at the table. Or more accurately, the very raw deer on everyone's plate.

“Huntsman is getting human food.” Syntax said, not even bothering to look at the boy as stabbed at one of the pieces of meat.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m really not hungry.” He tried to protest, which earned a snort from Goliath. 

“Don’t tell Huntsman that.”

This made him go even paler. “Why?”

“It’s a joke.” The queen tells him. “But you really should eat something. You’ve been asleep for a while.” She decided not to touch on how thin he looked, but they were all thinking of it.

Mk looked like he wanted to protest, but before he could Huntsman returned, plate absolutely filled, eyes dilated.

Hopefully he’d stay in control of his instincts, or this entire thing would be very hard to explain to the boy.

“Food.” He grumbled. The Queen didn’t really recognize what was on the table, but Huntsman used to be human, so it was probably fine.

“Oh. Thanks.” The child stuttered, making absolutely no move to eat.

Huntsman sits beside him, twitchy and anxious.

A few awkward minutes passed, before Mk cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, things are a little blurry. Why am I here again? I can’t really remember.”

All the spiders shared a look between them, before Syntax answered. “We were hoping you would know. We found you exactly eight minutes away, injured and in a state of distress.”

Huntsman mumbled something passive aggressive under his breath, but it was ignored. The Queen instead turned to the boy. “You were in a bad state. Something happen?”

He started to shake, shooting up from the seat he was in. “I-I lost control again. Oh no.”

“Kid?” She asked.

He shook his head. “I have to leave.” Mk said, turning to the cave exit and rushing to leave.

The Huntsman hissed, and grabbed his arm before he could run.

In shock the boy stumbled, tripping, and shouting is surprise. “Hey! Let me go!” He pleaded. 

“No” Huntsman growned, holding tight, pulling the thrashing boy into his arms.

“Huntsman…” The Queen started, her voice calm but stern. “Let him go.”

“Please.” The boy begged, still shivering. “I don’t, I don’t want to hurt you.”

This gave the demoness pause. “Why would you worry about hurting us?”

MK freezes in Huntsman’s arms.

Syntax steps in. “Huntsman, let him go.” He snapped. “MK, we’ve been underground for awhile, and missed a lot going on on the surface. We patched you up, now, just tell us what happened and we’ll be on our way.”

This made the boy pause. “That’s… All?”

Syntax nodded. “Yes. We’re just a bit curious. We don’t exactly get wifi down here, so it’s not like we can look it up.”

All of that was a lie. As soon as Syntax could stand he put together an entire set up, and looked into everything that happened while he was asleep. He probably knew more about the news than MK.

And, most importantly, none of them had any intentions of letting him go. Not in his current state at least. After a good meal and a solid rest, maybe, but right now? Absolutely not.

The Queen definitely understood why the Huntsman was so protective over the little boy.

“Yeah, um, I can do that.” He laughs nervously, slipping out of Huntsman’s grasp. Though the spider demon clearly isn’t happy about that, he lets MK go.

The boy sits down and sighs. “You remember the lady bone demon right? She… Hurt you.”

Syntax rolled his eyes. “Yes, it’s a little hard to forget.”

Mk winced. “Right. Sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Goliath questioned, seemingly genuinely confused.

The boy looked down in guilt, speaking softly. “I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry.”

Spider Queen couldn’t help but scoff. “Please. You’re not the one who trusted her, and you’re not the one who killed us.”

“We’re never letting you live that down by the way, my queen.” Syntax mumbled, though he was loud enough for all of them to hear.

Huntsman glared at him, but MK snorted at the comment, so he decided not to cause a scene about it.

The Queen didn’t mind being teased, or even insulted, but Huntsman was still very loyal and protective, and all too willing to go off.

“Well, I, I mean we, we killed her.” Mk continued, hands on his knees, not looking anyone in the eye as he spoke. “She was going to destroy the world, so, we had to.” His breath shakes. “We had to.”

The Queen… Doesn't really understand. Clearly it’s guilt, or shame, or something like that. Humans are so prone to those kinds of emotions. But as a demon she just doesn’t get it.

If someone or something tried to hurt them or their family, then demons killed the threat before they could kill them. Or if a demon wanted power, wealthy, or anything else, they’d just go and kill until they got what they want or were stopped.

Hell, the Queen isn’t even morally outraged or betrayed about Little Miss Mysteries actions. She’s more upset that she got the upper hand and that her clan was hurt. It’s just how things work.

For demons, at least.

Mk was just a mortal. Or used to be a mortal. She’s not so sure anymore but the point stands. He was raised as a human, with normal human morality.

And normal, healthy humans, feel really bad when they kill others. And MK was always more empathetic than most.

“It was her or the entire world.” The Queen pointed out, hoping it would help. “She didn’t give you a choice.”

Her comments seemed to do little to comfort him. “It wasn’t… Just her.”

Syntax purses his lips. “Are  you referring to the incident last month? Where the earth cracked open?” He questioned.

That was a genuinely terrifying day. The sky, the earth, all randomly started to split and scar. None of them had any idea what was going on, or how to fix it. Webs, magic, it all did nothing.

Then the splitting just… Stopped. The ground and sky pulled itself back together, and just stayed that way. As if nothing ever happened.

Of course Syntax immediately started to research what in the Heavens just happened, but even he couldn’t get a straight answer. A few details were consistent; The Jade emperor was murdered, something escaped from the underworld, and MK and his friends saved the world again. But beyond that details were inconsistent at best.

The boy nodded at Syntax’s question. “Wukong. He, uh, had a brother. The Azure Lion? I don’t know if you’ve heard of him. But he trapped Wukong, then… Tricked me into freeing his other brothers.” Mk sniffled at this. “They killed the emperor. Took his power. Tried to fix the world but only made it worse. Then Azure…” 

Saying the name has Azure breaking into sobs. Not just sniffled, but a full on wailing fit.

It’s so sudden the queen is taken aback. Then she looks at Huntsman with pleading eyes, silently begging him to help.

She might be able to fix wounds or patch someone up, but crying children were not her strong suit. 

Luckily Huntsman seemed to have a bit more experience. Calmly he placed a hand on the kid's shoulder and slowly started rubbing in circles. “It’s alright kid.” He said gruffly. “Whatever happened, it’s alright.”

He shook his head, still crying. “It’s not.” Mk sobbed. “I-I killed him. I couldn’t save him. I killed him.”

“Now those are two very different things.” Syntax chimed in, unhelpful as always. “Did you fail to save him, or did you actively murder him? Only one of those would make you guilty.”

Huntsman glares, before using his free hand to flip the younger spider off.

“I couldn’t save him.” Mk swallows. “He had to sacrifice himself to save the world, and all I could do was watch. Wukong… He held me back. Wouldn’t even let me try.”

This surprised the demoness. The Monkey King didn’t exactly have the best internal scale for when things were dangerous or a bad idea, and was far more prone to jump into something insanely dangerous before taking even a second to consider the consequences of his actions. So if even he considered the situation too dangerous to even try and help…

Then the poor boy didn’t have a chance.

“That’s hardly your fault.” Syntax scoffed. “Any demon worth their weight in dirt knows that the Jade Emperor's power is completely uncontrollable. He knew exactly what he was getting into, what he would do to the world. Yet he did it anyway. Honestly it’s his dumbass decisions that got him there. Nothing to do with you.”

MK finally looked up, a weak glare on his face. “Making a stupid mistake shouldn’t be a death sentence.”

Syntax sighed, and leaned down in front of the kid. “It shouldn't but sometimes the mistakes are too big to fix.” He pauses. “I’m just sorry you had to be there.”

The child is quiet for a long time, before finally mumbling “Thank you.”

The youngest demon nods, before backing off.

“I’m still confused.” The queen starts, hands on her hips. “I get all that, but how did you get here? Any why are you in such a bad state?”

He pouts. “I’m not in that bad of a state.”

Syntax rolls his eyes. “Take this from the person who had to patch you up. Yes, you very much are.” He then crossed his own arms. “So, whats the story.”

Mk pulls away from Huntsman, wrapping his arms around himself. “I-I lost control. After Azure… I got a new power. Some sort of monkey demon form. Not like Wukong, something… Different.”

This gives the Spider Queen pause. A human gaining a temporary demon form? That didn’t really happen. Sure, humans could turn into demons, like her clan members, but not the other way around, and there was no such thing as a temporary transformation. Maybe a shapeshifting spell, but that would hardly be uncontrollable.

“What happens when you lose control?” Huntsman asked, voice soft a low.

The child shutters. “I start to glow. Flicker really. My arms get covered in fur, my vision turns gold. Then I get… Angry. And somehow I’m so much stronger than before too. So I know I’m going to hurt someone. In that form I get hysterical, I’m a mess, and nothing can calm me down.” He’s shaking slightly now. “I was… I was going to hurt someone. So I had to get away. I wasn’t really looking where I was going.” He laughs nervously.

Then he stands. “I really need to get back.”

“Come now, do you even know where you are?” Syntax questions.

The boy pauses. “Well, no, but-”

“How on earth do you expect to get home in this condition?”

“I can just fly.” Mk protests.

The Queen raises an eyebrow. “You can fly?”

He nods. “Yeah. I can shapeshift into a bird and-” He cut himself off with a sudden groan of pain, as the collapses to his knees.

Huntsman rushes to his side, helping him up. “What happened?”

“I can’t, I can’t shift.” He stutters, eyes wide in fear. “My powers, they don’t work.”

Huntsman sighs, giving him a gentle smile. “You just overused them.”

Mk nods. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve done that before. I just didn’t realize how exhausted I was.”

Syntax hums. “I take it you don’t have a phone.”

“No, it's probably still at home.”

The spider demon nods. “Tell you what. It’s dark, it’s cold, and we’re miles away from civilization. Get some food, stay the night, and we’ll see if your powers are back in the morning. If not then Huntsman and I will escort you back to civilization ourselves.”

The boy hesitated. “Are you sure? I really don’t want to cause any issues.”

Spider Queen snorted at this. “What? Do you think we don’t have room or something?” She asked, gesturing to the massive cave.

Still, he seemed uncertain. “Are you sure?”

“If we weren’t we wouldn't ask.” Huntsman grumbled, seemingly a little more in control of himself than before. “We’ve already gotten food out. Just eat.”

This seems to make Mk cower slightly. He nods, and sits down, starting to eat.

Huntsman’s eyes flicker, before his expression hardens. “I don’t think I brought you a drink. Would you like soda? Or juice?”

This gave the queen pause. Why didn’t he offer water as one of the options? 

She shakes it off. It was probably nothing. Huntsman probably just picked up way too many drinks and wanted the boy to have some. The Queen remembers helping him put up three different containers of apple juice because they barely fit in the fridge.

“What type of juice do you have?” The boy perked up. “I seldom get it. It’s so expensive nowadays.”

“Apple and Orange.”

“Can I have apple?” He asks. Huntsman nods and leaves, returning with a dark glass oh juice only a few minutes later.

Wait, wasn’t apple juice light in color? Or did she just misremember?

Still, the boy grabs the glass and gives Huntsman a smile, seemingly completely unbothered. “Thank you.”

She probably just misremembered.

“What's with those scars on your arms?” Goliath asked. 

Immediately Syntax and Huntsman glare, but it’s too late. MK goes stark white.

Shit. Of course Goliath wouldn’t know about things like that. He’s only ever lived with a spider clan, not with other demons, and never with mortals. He wouldn’t know about these things.

Mk’s shaking now, but doesn’t make any move to respond. 

The queen quickly jumped in. “Mortal’s work differently than we do. So they can frequently have injuries that we wouldn’t get.” She explains, before leaning over and whispering “I’ll tell you later.”

Goliath seemed to take this for now, and nodded.

Mk took a deep breath, calming down slightly. “Yeah. What she said. Just some human specific injuries.” He jokes humorously, before picking up his glass and taking a sip.

And immediately breaks into violent thrashing.

For a few seconds the queen is suprised. But then she recognizes the symptoms. The twitching, the fear in his eyes, the glowing and fluctuating skin.

And her fear shifts to annoyance.

“Huntsman! What did you do?”

He doesn’t even pretend to be remorseful. “This cannot be a surprise to you.”

“A little warning would have been appreciated.”

The child's eyes go wide, as he violently tries to thrash away, hands wrapped around his neck like he was choking.

He wasn’t. It felt like he was, sure, but in reality he could breathe just fine.

A new set of arms thrusts out of his shoulders, and he screams, eyes wide in fear.

Huntsman kneels beside him. Terrified the boy tries to scoot away, but with the transformation, he can’t exactly get far.

“It’s alright. It only hurts for a minute or two.” He promises with a smile that just happens to show off his fangs.

The Queen has a feeling this doesn’t help.

Mk, still glowing, still trying to scream, only thrashes harder, trying to shove the other demon away.

Then, he stopped.

The child stopped thrashing. His eyes fluttered closed, and he rested his head on Huntsman’s thigh as the glowing finally stopped, revealing what MK had become. 

The boy wasn’t any bigger than before, which was odd. Even Syntax gained a few inches of height, but not him.Maybe it was because he was so young, or maybe it was whatever type of spider he was.

While his height didn’t change, everything else about him did. He had two pairs of arms, both wrapping around his chest. His previously tan skin turned to the same lavender the rest of them had, but his brown hair lightened to an almost shimmering gold.

Huntsman smiled widely. “He’s a little spider monkey.”

Syntax rolled his eyes. “Please don’t be ridiculous. A Spider Monkey is a monkey, not a spider.” Then he leans in closer to examine the new demon. “I’d have to guess he’s a Paraphidippus aurantius .”

Huntsman gives a half hearted glare. “We get it, you’re smart. What does that actually mean?”

In response the smaller spider grins mischievously. “A golden jumping spider.”

The queen softens at this.

A jumping spider.

How fitting.

Then MK wakes up with a gasp, all four eyes opening to reveal their new color.

A vivid, glowing gold.

“My queen!” He stuttered, shooting up. Eyes no longer filled with fear or pain, but just pure adoration.

Spider Queen loved that part the best. When a new member of her clan woke up, when they saw her for the first time, when they practically worshiped at her feet. When they trusted her.

When they loved her.

The young demon shoots up and stumbles, struggling to balance and stay upright with his new arms. He starts to fall only feet from her. The Queen reaches down to catch him just in time.

She chuckles, pulling him close to her chest, cradling him tightly. “Hello little one. You were quite a surprise, weren’t you?”

His four eyes blink slowly. “Shouldn’t I… Bow?”

The Queen laughs. “No no, you need to rest little one. You didn’t exactly have much energy in the first place for this transformation, so you must be exhausted.” While saying this she slips Huntsman a slight glare.

He doesn’t look even the slightest bit ashamed. “I don’t regret it.”

She sighs, and looks back down at the boy. “A golden jumping spider, huh? That fits you.” He was always friendly after all, and gold was always his color. So it makes sense.

“Gold… How about that? I think I’ll call you Gold, little one.”

He smiled, showing off tiny, adorable fangs. “I like that name, my queen.”

Oh he was precious.

Gently she unwraps his arms from her torso, and hands the small demon off the Huntsman, who eagerly took the little boy. “Huntsman, he must be exhausted. Get him into the nest to rest for a bit.”

His smile grows even wider, as his arms wrap tightly around Gold, who already seemed to be dozing off. “Of course my queen.” He says, not even looking away from the boy in his arms.

The queen knew she could probably scold Huntsman for what he did, but honestly she couldn’t bring herself to be too angry. Gold was a darling kid, and clearly he needed help. She’s not sure they were the best option, but at the very least she could make sure he was happy with them.

Which seemed to be more than he had before.

Syntax hummed as Huntsman left the room. “This action will have consequences. Before this MK was not only a famous figure, but also in charge of protecting the city from demon attacks.” He notes. “His absence will be noticed quickly, and in response the humans are going to be attacked with unprecedented frequency.”

“So?” The queen snarled. “Why should I care about some humans?”

“I’m not saying you should.” Syntax shrugged. “With how far we are and how deep underground our lair is, it’s unlikely that we will be found, but either way, they will search for the boy. It’s something that must be considered.”

She smiles viciously. “Let them try. He’s one of us now, they can’t have him back.”

Syntax grinned at this, matching her own feral expression. “Shall I upgrade security again, my lady?”

“Of course.” She nods. “You have permission to search for materials, as long as you’re safe. Get whatever you need, do whatever you need, to protect the clan.”

To protect their child, more accurately.

Maybe Gold could protect himself, but for now he can barely stand, stumbling like a newborn deer. Syntax and Huntsman, both got stronger, bigger, tougher, when they transformed. There was no struggle to stand, only pure muscle, pure grace.

Gold seemed to be the opposite. He used to be strong, used to be a fighter, but now he’s weak. Now he needed to be protected.

Good.

A child that young should have never had such a burden on his shoulders, who should have never had to fight enemies so much stronger, to kill.

He was a child that needed to be protected, but either those around him didn’t know, or he didn’t let them help. It hardly mattered.

He was one of them now. He was part of the clan.

And the Queen will make sure her clan is safe. After all, she made the mistake of putting them in danger once already. Of trusting the wrong person, of almost getting them killed.

No one will know where they are. No one will know who they have.

No one will ever hurt them again.

And that is a promise.