The Skeleton and the Spider

The spider had been curled up in bed most of the day. Her injuries had taken a lot out of her and more than anything she just needed to rest. The girls had been taken by Malara for the last couple of nights, giving Pandora the time alone she needed to sleep and recuperate fro her encounter. She knew that they were safe in The Goddesses care, and were hopefully having fun. Of course, now that she was alone she was finding it difficult to relax. How many times had she gotten up to check on the girls, only to remember they weren't there?

She had opted for the bed today as web making was too strenuous a task for her. her abdomen had suffered some severe mutilation and she suspected the internal organs that produced webs had been damaged, if not eaten entirely. What good is a spider who cant make webs? The rest of her injuries were on par with her abdomen, in damage at least. Her right pedapalp had been chewed to the point of not working, it was heavily bandaged now while it healed. two of her legs, on her right side had been torn off. She shuddered thinking about having to listen and watch them being eaten. She had several puncture wounds on the pale skin of her torso. Two of which had turned black from the venom that had been pumped into her system. and finally perhaps the least of her injuries was the dislocated shoulder that she had suffered while she struggled with the centipede. never before had one enemy delivered such a savage beating to Pandora.

A knock at the door and a voice alerted the spider to company. She was groggy now, a combination of waking up, and the blood loss that still clouded her mind. After a moment though she was able to determine the voice belonged to Raheal. Her lover and reaper. He was here, he sounded worried. Where had he been? Something with souls, that's what he had said before he left last time. On that note, what day was it now? How long had she been resting? She couldn't tell anymore. "One.. One second... " She called loudly as she st up on the bed. Her voice was still raspy from her screams.

It took her a few moments to actually get oriented as she was immediately greeted with a severe head rush the moment she sat up. Once it cleared though a quick check of her phone revealed that it was already after 6 pm. Ugh it was so late. she let out a groan as she slid out of bed and made her way down the stairs to the apartment door. She had to be careful and hold the railing as she no longer had the legs needed to balance when at a downward angle.

All in all it took her several long moments before she was able to get from her bed to the door and actually get it open. The door had recently been replaced, and now rather than opening inward, it slid into the frame of the wall. AS it slid free she caught sight of Raheal in his human form. He had been lucky and received a rather handsome appearance. She smiled weakly leaning on the door frame. "long time no see." She said jokingly as she shuffled to the side and gestured for him to enter. She had not actually bothered to put on a shirt as she woke up to get the door, so her wounds would be easily noticeable to Raheal.

Pandora chuckled gently at Raheal's reaction. it was almost as she would have expected. He worried so much about her. But that's what happens when you spend thousands of years over someone's shoulder, you get attached, and you get worried. once he was in she quickly slid the door shut and locked it. despite that the door was new, and well greased, the effort of moving it was a lot for her, and she took a moment to lean on the closed door before turning around. "first thing. relax. Everything will be ok. the girls are fine. but the Doctors said I cant afford to get excited." Her voice cracked as she spoke.

After a moment though she skittered as best as she could towards Raheal and threw her arms around him. It was both to hug him and to help herself stay balanced. her hug was tight, as if she were afraid he might suddenly disappear if she let go. "Im just glad your here..." She whispered as a few teaars escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks. The hug itself was painful, the act of squeezing her body against him hurt her shoulder, and her torso. Still she held on for as long as she could, until her legs began to shake.

Mustering up her strength she led Raheal to the couch and settled down on the soft cushions. "There was nothing you or anyone could do. it was a Hellion... You know the rules... " The rules she spoke of prevented hellions from fighting each other in unfair circumstances. All fights needed to be one on one. it prevented one side from ever having too much power. it kept balance.

A wrath demon? If only it were that simple. Hell even if this was an orchestrated attack to remove her in a bid to gain power, would be easier to deal with than this. Nasci was a monster, much like herself. A killer with no pattern, no reason and no real need. Just Desire. On top of that she was fueled by hunger. She was exactly like Pandora, and that was what terrified her.

"it's not really that complicated or that simple." that in itself was an oxymoronic statement that wouldn't make too much sense. In truth she didn't even fully understand it. "it's a glutton by the name of Nasci. She knew me. knew of me rather. She wants me." Pandora froze for a moment as her heart raced. Suddenly in her own mind she was back there in the snow covered forest fighting for her life. She was reliving her memories all over again. To Raheal it would appear as if she had zoned out.

She sat for a few moments in silence, tears forming in her eyes as she fought through the memories. "She... She wanted to eat me.. She tried to eat me... She did... " So far she had only told Felix about how she had been forced to watch as the centipede consumed her legs. The irony was not lost on her, after all, what Nasci did to her, was what she had done to countless others. What hurt was that this is what happened since she had changed her ways. She had striven to be a better person, to abstain from her ways, and her reward was to be torn apart by another demon.

Pandora smiled weakly and shook her head. He wouldn't have been able to help.They both knew that. These were ancient rules. if she would have had any sort of help in the fight then it would have been considered unbalanced, and that would have been disastrous for her fathers kingdom. Alternatively, she had allowed herself to be baited into the fight in the first place. She knew that there were precautions in place to keep people protected. Everything from wards, to police presence. perhaps if others were there to talk her down...

She shook her head. No that was blaming others for her own choices. She was a big girl, thousands of years old. She knew better. She was smarter. "It's not your fault dear... I brought this on myself." She didn't actually think this to be true. yes she could have left, but even now, Pandora wondered if Nasci would have allowed that. had the centipede attacked her in the streets, how many people would have been hurt or killed. She might have even gone for the children afterwards. Leading her away was rally the only choice that the spider could imagine.

She adjusted herself on the couch, wincing with every movement. the worst pain still came from the blackened injection sites. The large black wounds had not started to heal, and simply remained open. whatever toxin had been pumped into her system had proven to be more potent than anything else she had ever experienced, and nagged at her even now as she tried to relax. "could you do me a favor? Start up a pot of coffee?" She gestured to the coffee maker in the kitchen with a large bag of freshly ground coffee beans next to it. Since the incident she had taken to consuming large amounts of caffeine to numb the pain. Lord knows the pills from the hospital were not helping.