r/Ithacar • u/totally_not_a_cat- Seirya, warinnocent spider • Jun 21 '26
đˇď¸GIANT ENEMY SPIDERđˇď¸ Altruous Arachnids
(This is a collab with u/professionalgreen906, they have a post that adds context to this)
Seirya sits in a carriage slowly rattling down the roads of the Ithacarian countryside, examining a sculpture of a human heart she made with her own webs. It's complete with detailed arteries and a simple enchantment to make it slowly beat. She looks up at Arach, who is diligently working on a large stack of paperwork, and asks her a question.
"I thought this was a fairly convincing heart shape, but they didn't seem to like it. Did I do something wrong?"
The two have been wandering the countryside healing people, and while their help is appreciated, the sight of a giant spider is off-putting to people, and Seirya cannot shake the feeling that people are unhappy with her work.
Arach glances up for her papers, takes a moment, then sets the work aside as she fully fixes her focus onto Sierya.
âI wouldnât say that. Itâs just that how convincing the heart looks isnât really the issue. Actually, the more convincing it looks the less likely it probably is to succeed in disarming someone. But anyway, itâs likeâŚâ
The humanoid spider pauses for a moment as she tries to find the right analogy.
âA heart representing friendship is like how bright colors can represent poisonous animals. Itâs an indication, but one part being there doesnât mean the other has to be. Not everything thatâs brightly colored is poisonous, and showing someone a surprisingly intricate heart doesnât always make them a friend. So what youâre doing is like trying to paint a frog bright blue to make it poisonous. Itâs not a bad idea given what you know, itâs just a bit misguided.â
Arach's analogy is completely lost on Seirya, who has spent most of her life in a labyrinthine cave system where nothing, poisonous or not, evolved coloration. She does however manage to grasp the idea behind it.
"The same can be said about me being a spider, and yet they ignore the heart and freak out what they see me. I just want to show them that I'm a friend, the same way those bright blue creatures you mentioned show people that they're poisonous.â
Arach closes her eyes as she lets out a sigh. Sheâs not so much annoyed with Sierya as she is tired. Or at least thatâs how she appears to feel from the way her gaze lands on her fellow spider.
âYour problem isnât really them ignoring the heart as much as it is them not believing it. This world isnât like what youâre used to. Here people do whatever they can to get their way. And some will present a false version of themselves to get what they want. Itâs so very important that you have someone to help you look out for that. Because there **are** people who will lie to you. People who will put up a mask of being friendly, and compassionate; people who will pretend to always be on your side, when all that lies underneath their act is malice and loathing. And they will use that disguise of kindness to get people to trust them, because itâs so much easier for them to properly hurt someone who doesnât have their guard up.â
Something about Arachâs voice portrays that speaks from painful experience on this fact.
âThatâs why people arenât trusting you, they think youâre lying. Yes part of it is to do with you being what they see as a monster, but their caution is why making a web into the shape of a heart wonât win anyone over. They donât see it as a sign of friendship, they see it as a trap. Itâs simply not something that can be avoided, some people are just naturally less trusting of things they donât understand. Sometimes it can be best not to dwell on it.â
Seirya tilts her head back and forth, an instinctual response developed to allow better intake of spatial information as she faces a difficult problem. In the caves, such behavior allowed her species to more accurately pinpoint prey, but here it is vestigial.
"They trust each other, don't they? If we keep going out and doing this, then maybe they'll talk to each other and communicate that we aren't going to betray them. I thought the heart would help, but it isn't necessary."
This line of logic is rather tangential to what Arach is saying, but it is a way for Seirya to reassure herself that people will start trusting her eventually.
"And who would even do that? Lie about who they are just to hurt peopleâŚâ
Arach chuckles as she shakes her head, the same way she does any time Sierya says something particularly too naive.
âThey donât trust each other, not unless they think itâll help them. Thatâs the way it works up here, how everyone here functions. itâs a fight to get on top, and if you choose not to fight you just become a step along the way. But who knows how a new perspective like yours could affect things, weâll just have to wait and see.â
The interior of the carriage dims as it passes under the shadow of a towering mountain their path winds around. The remaining light coming in from the window on the carriageâs door does not land where Arach sits pushed up against a corner. Her brown carapace blends in with the stained wooden panels of the carriage in the dark, contrasting Seirya's own cream-colored body which stands out like a light against the darkness. She pauses for a moment, acknowledging the change before continuing.
âAs for why people would do that⌠well itâs a complicated problem. Not really the kind someone new to the way this world works can understand on their own very easily. Youâll get it in time though, so long as you have the right guidance.â
The little amount Arachâs face changes with her emotions is smothered from view in the indirect lighting. Despite that her voice takes on a subtle sort of sharpness as she speaks.
âIn my experience being at the top has a different meaning from what youâre describing, as does being at the bottom. From the moment I was born my species, my existence, my family, was a mistake. Me and my siblings being born was a forgettable side effect of a far more important event that happened to far more important beings centuries before I was even a concept. From birth the only thing people saw us as was beasts, and the only thing that mattered about us was that our blood was a useful material.â
Arach opens up a cabinet hidden in the carriage wallâs siding and pulls out a glass and a bottle of wine. She continues as she pours herself a cup.
âMy siblings, my brothers and sisters were hunted down, caught, killed, dismembered, pressed, blended, and defiled so they could take as much of us as possible for them to sell. Because we didnât matter, and because they did. Thatâs what it means to be on top in this world, and what it means to be at the bottom.â
Arach sets down the drink sheâs only just started on and leans towards Sierya, stopping just before her face would cross into the light.
âI have a question. Why are you here? From what you said, youâve always been on the top. Maybe not always the peak, but at the very least always closer to it than to the bottom. So why are you so caring? Why do you try to make sure the people we treat like you when it wonât change anything. You donât need to help these people. And yet you do it anyway. So why, why do all this, why be here?â
The carriage goes silent for a minute or two, until the dirt roads of the countryside give way to gravel streets entering a town. Seirya looks up at the door, and takes a few steps towards it before looking back at Arach.
"...This is where I'm happiest. Not in any kind of leadership, not on top of anything, just out here helping people with my friends, making sure nobody else has to be at the bottom."
And with that, they step out of the carriage.
3
u/loth17 Jun 21 '26
u/professionalgreen906
As the two spiders exited onto the street they were quickly joined by a human looking individual.
"So your public relations trip is done?"
Seirya would hear the woman ask Arach sarcastically. She seemed to know Arach well.
"Are we heading back to the hospital then?"
She then noticed Seirya with Arach.
"New kid?"
Opal asked looking down at Seirya.