Ch.5 "Lost Souls" / Kell and Sigrlinn

[tbgg]

Kell takes a moment to get used to being in her body again, reaching out to squeeze Aphrodite's hand. "We found Heph," she tells the goddess with satisfaction.

She tells Heph, "You are needed here. We had to go find you."

If Kell sees Sapphire or Phoebe among the fairies, she tells her, "We brought you a new friend."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

You see no sign of Arachne.

Sapphire says, "A new friend?"

Phœbe smiles meekly, but doesn't say anything for now.

Penni also seems very excited by this news. "Oh! Do not keep me in suspense!"

 

[Ireth]

"Her name's Arachne," says Sigrlinn. "She's a weaver and tailor. Hera turned her into a spider, and stabbed her with... you know, that knife. We brought her out with us, but I don't see her anywhere."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

When you point out the knife, it seems ordinary. No light-eating blackness, no pinhole sun. Just dull gray metal. Even the blade is dull.

Artemis says, "I hate to be the one to say this. If Hera killed her, her body is wherever Hera disposed of it. Without a body, you shouldn't expect to see her."

Everyone else is awkwardly silent--all but Penni, who is eager with anticipation. "New friend!" she says to no one in particular.

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn lowers her head, guilt prickling through her. Quietly she says, "This was my idea. I thought I'd be helping her by bringing her out. So either I've doomed her to live as a crushed spider, or I've let her soul free to go to the afterlife, whatever that would be. I hope it's the latter, if those are the only options. I'm not sure how likely it'd be that we could find her spider-body, even with the hope of making it whole again."

 

[tbgg]

Kell begins systematically searching the walls and black and forth across the ceiling to see if by chance Arachne has started spinning a web anywhere in the room.

If she doesn't see one, she tells Artemis, "She told us she wouldn't be able to keep her human form here. I can't remember now at what point she was changed."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Heph says, "I suspect she knew that leaving would mean not keeping whatever body she had in the knife world. But out here, the afterlife means seeing your family and other loved ones that passed."

He's about to say more, but Penni shouts, "New friend!"

You hear loud footsteps approaching.

Sapphire says, "That doesn't sound like a tiny spider."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn looks up in confusion, turning toward the footsteps. Is that two feet or eight? "...Maybe she's a big spider?" She calls out louder, "Arachne? Is that you?"

 

[tbgg]

Kell adds, "What about Mile-High Five? Don't they need to disconnect, or something?"


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[Ireth]

"Ah, that's right! It could be the other maidens." Sigrlinn keeps watching and waiting...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nikki tells Kell, "They're stuck together. Because of all the damage they took, separating would kill Patti. They were just going to stay like that forever, but now that you got Heph back, he'll be able to fix them."

A female voice replies to Sigrlinn with a "Yes." But the voice is not Arachne's. It is metallic and familiar.

Enter a golden maiden with a red face and breastplate, green eyes, and a green cannon mounted to her right arm.

"S4M-U5!" Penni cries out. "You're active!"

"Samus? I'm named after Heph's maid?"

Heph assures her, "You don't need to sweep my library or swat flies."

"I appreciate that, though weaving won't be easy like this."

Heph says, "Give me three days. You'll weave. You'll weave anything that a spider can."

Samus-Arachne turns to you. "Well... Hera won't be able to stomp me flat in this body."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn tilts her head at the answering voice -- not the one she expected at all -- and her eyes widen as a metal maiden comes into the room. Then she smiles as it's made clearer what's going on here. "You look good, Samus! Or Arachne... whichever you prefer, I guess."

 

[tbgg]

Kell walks over to Samus-Arachne and gives her a hug. "I'm glad," she tells her simply.

She tells Nikki, "And I'm glad about the others not having to stay connected forever, too, if Heph can help Patti. Kell-Pi at least has work to do in her own body. Not to mention all of the fairy fans who enjoy her stories - she'd probably have less time for writing if she had to go everywhere the others need to go."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Arachne returns Kell's hug, and--trusting her ability to control her new body--offers one to Sigrlinn.

"I Was always Arachne... but there may be an upside to having a new name. Hera could look me in the eye, I could say 'hi I'm Samus,' and she wouldn't give me a second look."

Aphrodite says, "My mother-in-law hasn't arranged any visits as of late." She jerks her thumb at Artemis. "Her fault."

Artemis says, "I started a rebellion." She looks like she has more to say, judging by a remorseful look.

But Samus-Arachne chimes in, "It's strange Hera didn't take your side. I know Zeus broke her, but he has a weakness too. Someone's going to exploit it, if not an Olympian, then an Asgardian will."

 

[tbgg]

Kell asks, "And what is Zeus' weakness? Besides needing to sleep around on Hera?"


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Samus-Arachne replies, "When I was Hera's weaver, I saw her and Zeus fight a lot. Verbally, I mean. She would say in anger, 'don't make me put another hole in your head.' She didn't mean like a third nostril. Zeus' forehead actually does have an open wound from when he gave birth to Athena--out of his forehead, of all places!"

Artemis mutters, "You don't have to be the goddess of birth to know why THAT was a dumb idea."

Samus-Arachne goes on, "A lot of his ideas are probably dumb now. Maybe being a tiny spider woman who lived in the ceiling gave me the vantage point you'd need to notice... the wound is festering. I guess his brain's been rotting since Athena was born. Only, it wasn't until recently the wound started to... to stink!"

On his chalkboard, Heph draws a timeline and labels it 'logarithmic progression,' but Aphrodite gently suggests he save this topic for Condi and Minti, "who would just die if they missed one of your hours-long lectures on temporal... science stuff."

"Right! My maidens are still stuck together!" He instead jots down a schematic with instructions, hands Icarus a tool and says, "Her life is in your hands." Icarus swallows, then starts finishing repairs on Dimki while Heph heads out to work on MH5.

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn returns Arachne's hug, then listens to the exchange between her, Kell and the goddesses. After Heph runs out to fix Mi-Hi5, she asks, "How was Athena born out of his head? That sounds strange even for gods." Even more than Loki shapeshifting into a woman and getting pregnant with an eight-legged horse.

 

[tbgg]

Pondering for a moment, Kell finally asks, "Then I wonder how much of Zeus' apparent evil is due to the rotting in his brain and how much is actual, willful evil? If his head wound is cleansed and allowed to heal, would he act differently? If he is killed, would a new body allow for proper brain function? Or do we need to find a way to permanently block him from coming back in a new body, something like Loki's knife?"

Then she asks, "Does anyone here have a take on any of these questions?"


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Artemis replies, "It's kind of you to try to seek the good in my father, but he thought nothing of torturing those who crossed him. He even led my brother down that path--which is why I shed no tears for him. We were close... but my father made my brother too much like him."

Aphodite adds, "My husband is the result of Zeus taking his own sister by force. As the goddess of marriage, Hera hoped that some good could come of what happened. Failing that, she led a rebellion. Failing that, she led another. After Zeus hung her from the sky, she started directing her wrath toward easier targets--Zeus' women."

Artemis says bitterly, "Not like his women had a choice."

 

[tbgg]

Ch.5 "Lost Souls" / Kell and Sigrlinn

Kell crosses her arms over her chest and says, "I am not questioning the evil of his deeds in any way, but at what point did Athena's birth take place with respect to all of the evil Zeus did? It's not like it's obvious how a male gets to the point of giving birth FROM HIS HEAD. If Athena was birthed before Zeus raped and then married Hera, should we not consider the possibility that the hole in his head has twisted his thinking so he is not himself? On the other hand, if Athena was birthed from his head AFTER his marriage to Hera, then he was doing evil before the damage to his head, and possibly the hole has only made things worse."

Uncrossing her arms, she says earnestly, "I cannot in good conscience write him off as irredeemable unless I am clear on the exact sequence of events. Somewhere deep down, he's got to be miserable, even if he won't admit it. The question is, is there any chance at all of breaking through to that miserable part of him? Are his evil deeds entirely the product of his choices, or does the head injury exert any influence which causes him to act in a way that he otherwise might not? Are the effects of his injury outside his ability to control consciously? Is he truly evil or does he do evil because he can't help himself?"


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