Lucas spoke into a communicator. It was a mobile phone, with a picture of Wings on it.
"...Yeah... I kind of noticed," she said, her wings rising slightly, like the heckles of a cat.
The Angel looked up and saw the Earth in its entirety. However it wasn't as an orb in the sky, or as a beautiful planet in the depths of space. It was not at all as she would have expected their planet to exist in some form of orbit around as a star or moon. The realities of this strange universe didn't exactly allow for that.
No... instead, The Earth was the sky itself. Lucas looked up, and saw America... Australia... the oceans, all overlayed upon the sky, drifting through low clouds. Earth and this other world, shared two sides of the same clouds! Earth was.. upside down and much too close... yet at the same time, so far... so very far.
"This... is disturbing, " said Lucas. "... Astra... can you tell me what happened?"
"Not sure... just... er... we'll try to figure it out."
Shawn tensed as Arachne arrived, and threw just about every web into tatters. The spider queen was angry, so very angry. Nothing was safe from her wrath as she tore at the lovely silks, and curious art works spun of her natural fibres.
The spider-girl-princess didn't really know what to say to her besides plead to calm her down. "Arachne? What's wrong? Talk to me!"
Something was different about her. Her ears were pointed and her hair was a brilliant white. It was... unsettling. Shawn wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
"An Enemy I can not beat!" She said angrily. "All my threads tell me the same thing. No matter what I do, if I go against this angel... this new guardian, I will lose. She is aware of the rules, and can change them. There is nothing I can do. She acts as a goddess defining my future! I am to lose before I can even play the game!"
Shawn frowned. She didn't care about this...she just wanted to get home. "So... what about getting to back to Earth?" She ventured carefully.
Arachne shot Shawn a look that made the smaller spider-girl tense. Then for some reason... the spider queen paused. "Impossible... I feel... The Earth? Earth is walking amongst us!" Arachne was practically jumping with glee. "My army, find 'Her'"
"Find who?" asked Shawn.
"Don't you feel it? Earth itself... look!" The spider queen took Shawn outside the cave to see the sky... and there it was.
Shawn looked at the strange position of Earth. She knew the landmarks and could just about figure out where America was. The entire Earth seemed to be rotating slowly, like a map turning clockwise. But once she had positioned herself, scuttling on her spider legs, she understood where her home was.
She felt sadness and tension. "Home," she said longingly. So close... so far. How to even get there? A rocket? Would that even work?
"If you want to get to the Earth, you have to find the Earth." Said Arachne. "She walks amongst us..."
Shawn looked reluctant. Was Arachne going crazy now? How could an entire world start walking around? "I... I don't know..."
"Listen to me daughter! If we get her... we are not just back home... we can make home into whatever we desire! We can re-shape her... just as easily as you were changed by that special light."
Now Shawn was very concerned. "Arachne, we can't do that! People- my world has only just got used to everything being different! If we go about changing the Earth... it could hurt people!"
Arachne looked a little lost at those words. Empathy... feelings of... No! She was Lolth now! "Daughter... I do this for your own good."
Suddenly Shawn felt her clothes tighten, as it bound her tight. Shawn became unable to move. "W-what's going on!"
"I'm changing your destiny, of course. I can't do anything about that angel's but I can weave an interesting tapestry for you..."
Shawn felt strange as she felt something change in her. "M-Mother please..."
"I'm sorry my daughter, this is necessary. I didn't spend centuries in exile to allow any one person to stop me... even one that can change the rules."
Shawn felt like she was going to split apart. Her spider body was glowing. It was painful, so very painful...
Arachne gently touched Shawn's hair, looking at her with sadness. "I will have my revenge upon the gods... even if I must break my own rules. You will have this destiny Princess Shana... to kill Lucas, we require the power of the Numbers.... You will find The numbers, as they exist in this world... we will unmake the angel, from the dawn of resistance..."
"I ... won't... hurt... anyone!" Shawn spat. "Don't do this! Arachne I know the gods have wronged you but-"
Arachne slapped her daughter hard. "Do not question me child! I am your mother and know what is best for us all. I can not change my own destiny... but I can change yours. It will now be your destiny, to get the numbers.. you will achieve this weather you wish to, or not. That's the curious thing about destiny..."
Shawn felt the magic end, she could finally relax.
"Now... find the Number Three first..."
"I'm not going anywhere," said Shawn defiantly.
Arachne sighed. "I don't think you understand what destiny is like my daughter. You don't get to refuse your destiny... none of us in this world can. It's all part of the game. You are on the chess board and guess what... it's being moved."
Shawn felt her body just move without her violation. She felt Arachne's web around her, as if she were a puppet on a string. THe spider girl struggled as best she could, but it was hopeless. "Arachne stop please stop!"
"I can not my daughter... just... don't struggle. This will be over soon... Destiny will guide you and you will do exactly as you have to... do not fight it. Just.. try not to be removed from the game."
Shawn was going to find out what happened... to the power of Three... and take it to Arachne. That was her destiny... there was nothing she could do to stop it!
Once Shawn left, Arachne felt tears well in her eyes. She cried for some time. "God of gods... this is what you have driven me to! To use my own daughter to escape exile... if I must now defeat a champion as this... I will break all the rules I can as well."
Arachne had her own mission though, while princess Shana fulfilled hers. The spider queen had to find Gaia... while she could still be contained.
