Lace (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
threadsbare) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mistymansion2025-09-22 08:38 pm
threadsbare) wrote in mistymansion2025-09-22 08:38 pm
weaver queen au
Terrible things are behind this cut CWs will be added as needed.
CW: baseline toxic codependent relationship, dehumanization, suicidal ideation
[Why was she still alive?
Lace felt cheated. It had been the one thing to console her after she had lost yet again to the spider. Finally, finally there would be an end to all this. Her Mother would get everything she ever wanted, and the temporary replacements that were her and Phantom would be gone and dealt with. She had fallen unconscious with envy, resentment, anguish but most of all relief in her heart.
So why was it that she was still alive? Could she not at last be given reprieve?
The sounds of battle had drawn her upward to her Mother's waking place and she had watched from a distance as the battle went on. Hah. The spider still thought she could do it. At this point Lace supposes she shouldn't be surprised. Where did this confidence come from? Was it because she too carried pale blood? Yet she was only half of one and so much younger than her Mother. It would have been so much easier if she just caved in. One way or another, her Mother always got her way.
And yet...
And yet...
The spider was winning. Lace could not believe her eyes. She was actually winning.
The silk construct clutched her pin and for a moment she almost went in there to join the fray and protect her mother on instinct but then she stopped in her tracks, and fell back to the shadows. No. This was what Grand Mother Silk deserved. This was what she deserved after everything she had done to her, done to Phantom.
Lace stayed her blade and there came the final blow.
Her Mother's scream as she collapsed rattled her but still she stayed, but as she watched it was now horror that kept her in place as she watched Silk be devoured, her beautiful form being absorbed by the spider until her body came apart completely, and all that was left was the metal of her legs, and the bracers she once wore.
For all the hatred and resentment she had harbored for her mother, hearing those agonized screams as she withered away to nothing sickened her to her core. The spider was a beast of that there was no doubt, and as Lace looked up at the cocoon that looked so much like the one that had been her mother's bed, she wondered what sort of Queen the Weaver would be.
One Lace wanted nothing to with.
What was left to her now? Only one person, and Lace feared that they too were already gone. A journey to the Exhaust Organ confirmed this fear, and Lace almost threw herself to the muckmaggots then and there. Yet even now such a death was abhorrent to her and she eventually made her way back up to the Cradle. As she did she passed many pilgrims and she had to wonder: did they have any idea of what was coming? Would their lives become better or worse from here on out? Considering what she had seen of the spider during her ascent...it seemed she would be benevolent. Perhaps it was unfair to take into consideration what she had witnessed, given that it was a battle of dominance between two deities.
Hornet had always been kind--if anything, in Lace's opinion, overly so towards the people she encountered.
She had been kind to her, which was the most ridiculous thing.
Yet she still could not help but have doubts. She supposes she always would with those of the higher caste.
She didn't know why she suddenly cared about the fate of Pharloom's citizenry, she never had before but it didn't take longer for her to come to the conclusion.
It was because this was all her fault.
If she had just accepted her fate and not freed the spider from her enchanted cage both her Mother and Phantom would still be alive. That had been an agonizing realization to come upon and so many what ifs began to fill her mind. What ifs that were now an impossibility because of what she had done.
Once more she reached that platform where the spider's cocoon hovered and she sat down, pin across her lap. Lace had no illusions about how this would go. She had never bested Hornet when she was a half breed, there was no way she would be able to do so when she was reborn.
That was fine. She will have her death and it will come as any knight's should---in battle.]
CW: baseline toxic codependent relationship, dehumanization, suicidal ideation
[Why was she still alive?
Lace felt cheated. It had been the one thing to console her after she had lost yet again to the spider. Finally, finally there would be an end to all this. Her Mother would get everything she ever wanted, and the temporary replacements that were her and Phantom would be gone and dealt with. She had fallen unconscious with envy, resentment, anguish but most of all relief in her heart.
So why was it that she was still alive? Could she not at last be given reprieve?
The sounds of battle had drawn her upward to her Mother's waking place and she had watched from a distance as the battle went on. Hah. The spider still thought she could do it. At this point Lace supposes she shouldn't be surprised. Where did this confidence come from? Was it because she too carried pale blood? Yet she was only half of one and so much younger than her Mother. It would have been so much easier if she just caved in. One way or another, her Mother always got her way.
And yet...
And yet...
The spider was winning. Lace could not believe her eyes. She was actually winning.
The silk construct clutched her pin and for a moment she almost went in there to join the fray and protect her mother on instinct but then she stopped in her tracks, and fell back to the shadows. No. This was what Grand Mother Silk deserved. This was what she deserved after everything she had done to her, done to Phantom.
Lace stayed her blade and there came the final blow.
Her Mother's scream as she collapsed rattled her but still she stayed, but as she watched it was now horror that kept her in place as she watched Silk be devoured, her beautiful form being absorbed by the spider until her body came apart completely, and all that was left was the metal of her legs, and the bracers she once wore.
For all the hatred and resentment she had harbored for her mother, hearing those agonized screams as she withered away to nothing sickened her to her core. The spider was a beast of that there was no doubt, and as Lace looked up at the cocoon that looked so much like the one that had been her mother's bed, she wondered what sort of Queen the Weaver would be.
One Lace wanted nothing to with.
What was left to her now? Only one person, and Lace feared that they too were already gone. A journey to the Exhaust Organ confirmed this fear, and Lace almost threw herself to the muckmaggots then and there. Yet even now such a death was abhorrent to her and she eventually made her way back up to the Cradle. As she did she passed many pilgrims and she had to wonder: did they have any idea of what was coming? Would their lives become better or worse from here on out? Considering what she had seen of the spider during her ascent...it seemed she would be benevolent. Perhaps it was unfair to take into consideration what she had witnessed, given that it was a battle of dominance between two deities.
Hornet had always been kind--if anything, in Lace's opinion, overly so towards the people she encountered.
She had been kind to her, which was the most ridiculous thing.
Yet she still could not help but have doubts. She supposes she always would with those of the higher caste.
She didn't know why she suddenly cared about the fate of Pharloom's citizenry, she never had before but it didn't take longer for her to come to the conclusion.
It was because this was all her fault.
If she had just accepted her fate and not freed the spider from her enchanted cage both her Mother and Phantom would still be alive. That had been an agonizing realization to come upon and so many what ifs began to fill her mind. What ifs that were now an impossibility because of what she had done.
Once more she reached that platform where the spider's cocoon hovered and she sat down, pin across her lap. Lace had no illusions about how this would go. She had never bested Hornet when she was a half breed, there was no way she would be able to do so when she was reborn.
That was fine. She will have her death and it will come as any knight's should---in battle.]
no subject
How adorable. ]
I would.
[ She opened the door of Lace's cage, standing ready and alert with silk if she opted to pull any sudden moves. Then she coaxed Lace to the front and embraced her with all six arms, sinking into the plushness of her body. ]
no subject
And for a moment it felt good.
She felt so secure in Hornet's many arms. To be held in such a manner made her feel loved, it made her feel protected from all the things a sword could not fend off. She pressed her face into Hornet's chest and closed her eyes, turning away from the rest of the world and melted against her.
It brought Lace back to a time long, long ago. Some of the earliest years of her existence, the only time she could say she was truly happy. Her mother had kept her up here in the Cradle for so long, molding her to be a perfect little daughter--a child. She had been allowed little other than watering the roses, but her brightest days would be when Phantom was around.
Lace had always tried to please their mother. Phantom had always stood their ground. They had been the one to argue for her. Insisted that mother allowed her to roam, insisted that she be allowed a weapon after they'd seen how she always eyed theirs. They'd been the one to widen her world and teach her how to defend herself. They never gave into mother, and doubtless if that was not the primary reason, it definitely played a role in why they had been cast into Bilewater.
What would they think now if they saw her?
Would they be enraged that she was clinging to their killer?
Would they be disgusted at her weakness?
Would they be sad to see her being chained once more?
The latter would be the worst of all, and that realization was like surfacing after being stuck beneath the waves for so long. It felt like finally catching her breath.
She would resist this. It would be difficult. Hornet's words were like honey, her gentle touch addicting, but she would resist this. If she wanted any chance of freedom she had to play it smart, but ironically, the hug had given her what she needed to get her head on straight.
Finally she pulled away and cast her gaze meekly away, clasping her hands.]
Thank you.
[Even in death, Phantom was protecting her. She would do her best not to let them down.]
no subject
No matter. She would learn she had no reason to put up a fight. Her life would be comfortable and easy here and she would have nothing to think about. Hornet would love her and so would the home-bound Weavers.
And so too would Lace love and praise Hornet, for her constant battle with herself and her purpose could finally be put to rest.
All in due time. ]
I will take excellent care of you. Do not fear.
[ The cage door shut again as Hornet retreated. Then behind her a large silk cocoon began to form. Her resting place, for now. ]
I leave to rest just nearby. You may call if you need me, but do not be frivolous. I wish not to put anything in your mouth, for I enjoy your voice.
no subject
It was good timing. She could sort herself out, get her head back on her shoulders and out of Hornet's alluring words.]
I will not. [She assured. Even for something she needed, Lace would try her best to hold off. Now was the time to figure out some sort of plan.
So without another word she sat back down to rest among her roses.]
no subject
[ She double checked the latch of Lace's cage. Triple checked. It was shut as tightly as any lock could be. As she fiddled she caught a look at the nameplate again.
Weaver, in quarter part, last of their line, staked to service.
Tracked and taken beneath the City of Steel. Eight Choristors, twelve Envoys lost to task.
There was a small silence as Hornet said nothing, turning this over in her head over and over, and then a thread of her silk erupted from her cocoon, grabbing her and tugging her inside with lightning speed. She curled up tightly within it, comfortable, and stitched the opening shut.
She slept, though there were times where if Lace cared to look, she would see six eyes staring at her through the silk. ]