I was lying in the hammock, holding on to Velariah with as many legs as I could fit around her frame. There was no question about the love I held for her, even less now.

We had turned off the lights, but I didn’t need light to enjoy her presence. As beautiful as she was, just being this close to her already filled my heart and mind with joy.

I had completely surrendered to Velariah while we were bathing, transitioning us into the next step in our relationship. I thought back to the feelings she’d made me feel and couldn’t help but smile. I had truly blossomed.

My heart was all hers…

And I couldn’t help but love the feeling…

“You thinking, El?” Velariah whispered into my ear.

“Yes,” I replied with a whisper of my own.

“Did you enjoy it?”

I see the smile she made without having to see it.

I kissed her. “I loved it.”

I took her in a tight hug with a set of hands in her hair, my other set of hands was used to interlock our fingers.

“I love you, Vel. You’ve conquered my heart.” I whispered.

“Hm, and you mine,” The elf whispered back before kissing me again.

I could feel her heartbeat through my pedipalps which confirmed the meaning behind her words. Her heart beat faster every time we kissed. I felt flattered.

I was certain she enjoyed the hugs that I could provide. She practically begged me to use all my limbs to hold on to her. Little did she know, I enjoyed it just as much as she did. This spider body was truly growing on me, especially for moments like this…

“Good night, El,” Velariah said softly.

“Good night, Vel,” I whispered back, kissed her once more, and laid my head next to her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up to knocking coming from the door. My vision was groggy, even after turning on the light. I couldn’t see much. To make matters worse, I was feeling terrible. I was certain I’d slept well. How could I not when I had such a lovely person next to- well, beneath me?

No, I was feeling some kind of nausea. My problem, however, was that I didn’t feel it in my human parts. Rather, it was coming from my abdomen.

I moaned from the pain, causing Velariah to awaken.

“El? Are you alright?”

“No. I feel horrible.”

“What’s wrong?” She asked with caring eyes.

“Nausea, down… below…”

“Wait, where?” She asked.

I pointed behind me.

The knocking on the door was repeated.

“Are the two of you about to wake up? What the hell have you been up to, anyway? It’s almost noon.” Seralyn called.

While it was true we went to bed extremely late because of our little bathtub… adventure, I found it hard to believe it was this late already.

“Elania isn’t feeling well,” Velariah said loudly. “We’ll be there in a bit.”

“You go, Vel. I’ll stay in bed if you don’t mind.” I moaned again, the pain seemed to be getting worse.

“Ugh.”

Velariah jumped out of the hammock and quickly gathered her clothes. I stayed in bed and let my legs dangle at the sides.

“Your face is completely white,” Velariah mentioned. “This can’t be good. Shall I get Master Pylanor?”

“For what? I know exactly how this is gonna go. He’s gonna use his fancy magic on me and find out there isn’t anything wrong with me. You’re welcome to try, but ugh.”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence. I didn’t even know what to say anymore.

“I’ll go get him. I don’t like you looking like that.”

“Thanks, Vel,” I said with the last of my strength before I buried my face in the pillows.

I could hear the door close behind Velariah.

Could I not fast forward to the next day or something? This was hell.

As much as I enjoyed this body when it came to hugging the white-haired elf. I still didn’t know all the things there were to it.

Maybe it was the cookies from yesterday?

I would hate for that to be the case.

I let out a long moan of pain as I tried to get myself back to sleep. That would be the easiest way to ignore the pain.

It wasn’t meant to be…

Sleep wouldn’t come to me. My legs were restless and my spider half seemed to be on fire. My nausea intensified and had now spread to my human half as well. I wondered if I should turn myself around, maybe I could make it to the toilet faster that way if my body decided vomiting was in order.

I couldn’t be bothered to move.

I continued wailing in agony until I heard the door open again. I could see Velariah and two treemenders, easily recognized because of all the green they wore, enter the room through the blur. I believe I saw Seralyn and Draco behind them, but I couldn’t be sure. They closed the door after they entered.

“Truly fascinating…” I heard one of the treemenders speak.

I wanted to ask who this was. I didn’t recognize the voice.

Velariah walked up to me and laid a hand on my still bare back. It was only now that I realized I wasn’t wearing anything save for my underwear.

She took one of my hands in hers and soothed me.

“I’ve brought Master Pylanor and someone else, Master Endomir, on his recommendation.”

I was happy to hear her voice.

“Master Pylanor told me that Master Endomir specializes in insects and has some knowledge about spiders too. He appears to be behind a lot of knowledge that the guild possesses on insect-like creatures.” Velariah continued.

I simply nodded.

“Elania, I’m going to check for problems, okay?” I could hear Pylanor’s voice.

I nodded once more.

Something grabbed one of my legs. I spasmed as a reflex and hit the person who grabbed it in the chest.

“Endomir, stop that,” Pylanor called.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” The other treemender replied.

“Endomir has wanted to observe and inspect your… spidery parts for quite some time. I apologize for his eagerness.” Pylanor spoke calmly as he put a hand on my head.

I could feel his magic flow from my head, through my body, then back to his hand.

“It is as I thought,” He said, and removed his hand.

“Once again, you seem to be in perfect health.”

Great. Just great…

“However, Endomir may be able to help you if this is another issue related to your… species.”

This was getting better and better. Now I’d have a creepy, grabby scientist experimenting on me…

“Go for it,” I said in pain.

“Miss Elania. Where is the pain?” The other treemender asked. I could feel him having hold of one of my legs again.

“Everywhere right now.”

“Where did it start?” He then asked.

“My abdomen, about a third from the front, on the underside.”

“Fascinating…”

What the hell is wrong with this guy?

“Could you turn so I could observe the location?”

“You’ll have to do that yourself. I can’t even lift my legs.”

“I see. Pylanor, Lady Velariah, could I get a hand?”

Together, they pushed over my abdomen. I tried to help where I could, but my legs were far weaker than usual. I then felt a hand touch the underside of my spider abdomen and press against it. The pain subsided slightly, before returning.

What did he do?

They let go and caused me to land in the hammock again.

“What’s with her?” Velariah asked.

“It’s quite simple really,” Endomir spoke. “Her abdomen is swollen. There’s nothing physically wrong with her. I can only conclude she has to lay eggs.”

What the fuck?

How was that possible? I couldn’t be pregnant, could I? That just couldn’t be true, not with Velariah.

Or could I?

I started panicking.

“But how?” Velariah asked for me.

“If she hasn’t had a male fertilize them, I have to assume they are unfertilized eggs. Certain species lay them. It seems to be similar to the mechanism human females use.”

Oh God, please let that be true.

“If you are wondering where they exit the body, there’s an opening down there called the epigyne.”

“Thanks, Endomir. I think we should get going. Will the two of you be alright?” Pylanor asked.

“I think so…” Velariah said hesitantly.

I saw the two men in green leave before Velariah closed and locked the door again.

I sighed deeply.

Another struggle to add to the list of things I never imagined I’d go through.

“Unreal,” Velariah said as she took hold of my hand again. “I cannot believe the things you have to go through.”

“You have no idea, Vel,” I said softly.

I hoped with all my heart that this would be the last surprise I’d have to experience. I prayed that I wouldn’t have to experience the monthly issues with my human half in addition to this. This was bad enough as it was.

“Now what?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the elf asked. “We’re going to get those eggs out of you.”

I don’t know what made me feel more nauseous, the fact that I was in pain from those eggs, or that fact that I’d have to get them out. The thought of it disgusted me. Then again, this pain was not getting any less.

“And what do we do with them?” She then asked.

“Burn them. Toss them in the hearth or something. I don’t care.” I spoke with anger.

What was I supposed to do? Keep them as a souvenir? Wait until they miraculously hatch and fuck up my life?

Nope.

I very much liked my life as it was. I didn’t need possibly hundreds of children to ruin everything for me. Though, I did wonder what my children would look like…

I shook my head.

“Do you have any idea what to do?” Velariah asked.

“No, I do not. I had to figure out how to walk and whatnot by touching all those places before. It created some kind of connection in my mind which I then built upon.”

“So, you need me to touch you there?” She asked incredulously.

“Vel, you touched me in weirder places last night…”

“That is true.”

Velariah removed a few pillows from under me so she had clear access to the… what did that treemender call it again? I should have paid attention. Despite his… clinginess, he might be useful for more questions later on.

I simply lay down and let Velariah explore even more of my body. She gently pushed against my abdomen in the same manner as the treemender, causing the pain to lessen slightly. This time, it didn’t return.

“I don’t know what you just did, Vel, but it helped against the pain,” I said.

“Hum.” She said and pushed again in a different spot.

I could feel something moving inside me.

“What the fuck?” I let out.

I was such a freakshow on wheels, well legs, too many of them.

“Uh, hold on a second,” Velariah said.

She looked around the room and took a basket from the compartment cabinet. She took out the sponges and brush and laid them in the sink. She then disappeared below the hammock and I could feel her hands on my abdomen again.

“I’m going to put a finger inside, okay?”

“Gods, that sounds weird, Vel.”

“I’m sorry, okay.” She giggled.

Her mood seemed to be much better than before and it lifted my spirits as well. I even found the energy to make a terrible joke.

“You’d make an amazing midwife.” I grinned.

Velariah giggled in response before she entered the orifice that the treemender had pointed out with a finger.

As I had hoped, something clicked in my head. I now felt pressure building up instead of pain. The pressure bordered on pain, but it seemed my body had found a way to relieve itself of it. I pushed. I contracted muscles that I didn’t know I even had… until seconds ago.

Something came out of the opening, I couldn’t see what it was, but it was followed by the relief of pressure as I felt eggs being pushed out.

The relief was heavenly. All the pain and nausea I’d experienced disappeared in an instant. It was as if it was all pulled out of me. I couldn’t deny it felt… nice.

“Holy shit, El,” Velariah called as I laid my head down once more, exhausted. “I do hope those are not fertilized, for your sake.”

Panic shot through me again.

“They seem to be empty… although I have no idea how this stuff works.”

“What?” I asked as I was still recovering from my most recent adventure.

Velariah walked up to my head. I could see she had the entire basket filled, and then some. She held one up for me to see. It looked like a chicken egg, but a larger size, double the size maybe, it was completely transparent and didn’t seem to have a hard shell. It looked like some kind of gel. I didn’t dare to touch it to confirm.

“I’ll get rid of these. You should rest for a moment. You look as if you need it.” Velariah said, before kissing my forehead.

I pulled her in when she parted ways and gave her a deep kiss on the lips.

“Thank you, Vel.”

“Anything for you,” She spoke softly as she brushed my hair behind my ear.

Velariah exited the room and I could finally relax. With the pain gone, and exhaustion built up, it didn’t take long before sleep took me.

---------------------------------------------

“El?” I heard Velariah call out.

“Hmmm?” I said as I tried to turn my body around… to no avail.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I’m just… hungry?”

Velariah laughed. “Of course you are. Let’s get you something to eat, shall we?”

“Hmmm, sounds good,” I replied as I carefully stepped out of the hammock.

“How do omelets sound?” She asked me.

I looked at her with disbelief.

She burst into laughter.

I swear, this elf…

I sighed and smiled at her. “I do hope you have something else...”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

We entered the dining area. For some reason, our companions were still seated at the table and were playing a round of Yahtzee. Had they been here the entire time?

“Damn, girl. Nira’s got nothing on you, Elania.” Seralyn commented.

I could see Nira turn around with a blush and a wing raised up to her face. I, too, looked at the floor in embarrassment.

“Oh, by the way, that Endomir guy? He said this spider is a female. Apparently, you can judge it from the pedipalps. Who knew?”

That sounded too easy to be true.

“Nice,” Velariah said. “That means I get to rename it. Lucas won’t fit anymore… I’m going to call it Minia.”

What the hell was that name even?

I looked at her, questioning her choice of name with my expression.

“Mini Elania, Minia.”

Seralyn burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s a good one. I love it.”

“How are you feeling, Miss Elania?” Draco asked in all seriousness.

“Much better now, thank you. At least I know how that works too, now.” I sighed. “I’ll probably never stop learning…”

“What did you do with the eggs anyway?” I asked the white-haired elf.

“Burned them, as you suggested.”

Something about killing it with fire before it lays eggs. Although, I guessed it was probably too late for that. Besides, I’d rather not get myself burned.

“Thanks…”

I didn’t see Elly, but I did smell a wonderful scent coming from the kitchen.

“How late is it?” I asked.

“About halfway through noon,” Velariah replied. “You didn’t have any plans for today, did you?”

I shook my head. “I’m simply waiting until Grandmaster Ineus arrives.”

“Yeah, I’m hoping he will arrive tomorrow,” Velariah said.

“That’d be lovely,” I replied.

Elly entered the room with two entire chickens on an oven tray. She placed the tray on two coasters on the table before returning to the kitchen and putting a plate with cutlery down in front of me.

“You guys don’t want anything?” I asked my companions, flooded with guilt.

“We already had something for lunch while you were out,” Velariah reassured me.

I shoved two chairs aside and stood at the table. Velariah sat down next to me and laid a hand on one of mine. I liked how it wouldn’t prevent me from eating. I had more arms to go around!

I didn’t bother to use cutlery. I never used it when eating chicken legs or the like anyway. I didn’t understand people who did.

I enjoyed my meal and found myself revitalized. After finishing the second chicken and drinking some kingberry juice, I felt like I could use some adventure.

That was odd.

Elly cleaned up and brought the used plate and tray with chicken bones back to the kitchen.

“Man, I wanna do something,” I said as I stretched my arms.

“Heh,” Velariah chucked. “There’s not much we can do though, with the forest being off-limits…”

“No loose Bunbears or anything?” I asked.

“We were at the guild earlier, and there was nothing of interest,” Draco said.

Well, yikes.

“How about that plant pod thingy that you mentioned yesterday?” Velariah asked. “Caca or something it was called, right? We could look at whatever books we have together.”

I grinned. “Cocoa. And yes, that sounds fine by me, but I don’t know if the others are interested in digging in books.”

“What is this you’re talking about?” Seralyn asked.

“The best kind of candy you will ever eat in your life,” I said, not overhyping chocolate at all.

“Is it as good as coffee?” She asked.

“Oof, that’s a good question. I’d say it’s just as good, yes, better in some scenarios even.”

“Sounds good to me then,” The archer said. “Sign me up.”

“Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We need to know if a certain plant grows in this world first. That’s why I drew a picture of what it looks like. Even after we confirm it exists, we will still have to get it, and figure out the process to make the candy.”

“Sounds like an adventure,” Draco commented.

“It could be,” I replied.

“At this rate,” Seralyn said, “You’re going to do more than just help out Dawnleaf’s financial situation. I don’t even know what it is, and I already know it will cause cash to flow into the village.”

I nodded. “It’s another great export product for sure. It’s a gamble, though.”

“Enough talking,” Velariah interjected. “Let’s do what my father does best and dig in some tomes, shall we?”

She stood up and walked to the kitchen door. “Elly?” she asked as she knocked.

Moments later, Elly opened the door. “Yes?”

“We’re going to need your help.”