“Heyyyyy Kissss, I’m sorry i’m late but", Jess paused to stare,"… but what are you doing?”

He was lying down on the rooftop, face up with a small flame burning above his face.

She could hear him gently growling, like a snore. Him or the dragon. Auntie was nearby, curled up in their comfortable dent, enjoying a nap.

“Kis?”, she tried again.

He coughed and sputtered, the flame vanished.

“Hi sis”, he replied sheepishly, still lying on the floor

She stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Auntie told me to practice. Breathing exercise”, punctuating the end of his sentence with a fiery growl.

“Coooooolll. Don’t let me stop you, I have to run to a meeting. It’s about the missing tutors. Will you make me dinner tonight?”

"Sure"

Jess grinned, "Thank you", and left Kis to practice.

He went back to the breathing exercise, it was helping to clear his thoughts.

His first day of school had gone reasonably well, but the second had gone better. Without auntie slung over his shoulder, the other students began to approach him. No friends yet, but at least people weren’t afraid to say hello. One had confused him for Jess, jumping onto his back before realising she’d made a mistake.

The third day went reasonably well too. The history lecturer held no grudges, Kis was relieved to discover. One more day and the week would be complete. The various clubs and societies would be holding recruitment events, now that the students were settled in.

He was still hopeful about making new friends. He tried to clear his mind and focus on his breahing.

In. Out. In. Out. The practice helped him regulate his mana too.

He was midway through a daydream, wondering how to convince Auntie to take him flying again, when Jess returned.

She slumped onto the ground next to Kis, face down, sighing loudly. Sadness with a hint of frustration. Kis dismissed the flames, rolling onto his side to talk.

The last missing tutor hadn’t been found. Most had been late arrivals, the other was ill, but the last tutor had vanished. She'd been seen arriving, and people had seen her a few days before the opening, but no sign since, or even a trail.

“… and they found her wand too.”, Jess sighed.

“What?”, the dragon awoke, “Where is the wand?”

Jess explained what little she knew, passing on what Val explained at the meeting.

“[Cthlc], come, bring the wand”, the dragon roared.

Within a minute, Val appeared before them. “Auntie? You’ll help”

“Consider it a freebie, now, bring it over”, they growled.

They examined the wand in their claws, closed its eyes to focus, then roared again.

Kis recognised it as an unfamiliar name, but far more human sounding. Bits about the third daughter of the something-or-other.

“I’ve found her”, it looked over, “not too far away but...”

The dragon had felt that something had been carefully avoiding it all week.

“... If I move, whatever it is will run”, it growled

“You’ve done enough”, Val cast a barrier, a long thin sheet appeared in front of her, quickly moulding into a map of the city, offering it to the dragon.

It lifted a claw, “I felt something over here”, pointing towards the industrial area of the city.

“Val! I'm coming with you”, Jess declared.

Kis picked himself off the floor, "Same"

The three quickly hurried across the city. They found an abandoned house, cobwebs covering the windows, and a solvent like smell.

Val was nervous, “Something just doesn’t feel right here”, and told the other two to wait while she investigated.

Val cautiously approached the front door, taking a step back when the handle rattled.

“Lisa!”, Jess shouted.

The missing tutor slowly leaned out of the door. Her face was frozen stiff.

“Jess! Stay back!”, Val shouted, and gesturing towards the tutor, “Where is she? One chance”

The tutor rocked back and forth, like a mannequin.

With a sigh, she cast a barrier around the torso of the tutor, and began to drag it out of the door.

The mannekin like figure was only half formed. The top half looked like Lisa, but the rest was made of a clear slime, oozing and dripping underneath.

“Again. Where…”, Val tried once more to get answers, stopping as another head appeared in the doorway.

A pale face, black hair, poking out from under the top of the door frame.

With another barrier, Val dragged them outside.

They finally got a good look at what was hiding inside the abandoned hoouse: An arachne, a gigantic spider with a human torso, and a slime, possibly a queen, both frozen in place with a barrier.

Val mumbled under her breath, “I hope she’s still ok”, and went inside to search for Lisa.

She found her in the basement, unconscious and wrapped up in silk. She began to wake up as Val disentangled her. A few minutes later and Lisa was back on her feet, if a little woozy. Taking Val’s arm, she gently walked outside.

Outside, Jess and Kis sat staring at the monsters trapped within the barriers. The slime had reverted, transforming back into a smaller, unassuming form. The arachne on the other hand was screeching away, waving all of its legs in a panic.

Handing Lisa over to Jess, she asked her to take her home to rest.

"She seems unharmed, and mostly needs to rest", Val spoke with relief, "Take her back to the dormatories, someone there should be on-call to check."

Jess nodded, leaving Kis and Val to handle the unwelcome guest.

“Now, what happened here?”, Val asked rhetorically.

The beasts, a queen slime, and an arachnid, were unlikely allies. Neither of them were noted for abductions. She tried to imagine what caused them to pair up. Kis had been staring at the monsters, especially the arachne. It seemed to want his attention, yelling constantly.

“Hrm”, Val tightened the barriers a little. The slime didn't change, but the Arachnid kept trying to speak.

“Kis, this sounds stupid, but do you know a slime, and a spider, wait..”

“Legs and Jelly?”, Kis was dumbstruck.

The arachne paused, then began excitedly struggling. Val had locked down most of their movements.

“Should I let them go?”, she asked Kis

“I don't know, but, if it's those two we'll know quickly", he replied

Val nodded, and dispersed the barriers. She expected them to either run away, attack, or rush over to Kis.

Instead, the spider rushed over to the slime, pulling it over its forelegs. Val choked with laughter as a pair of human legs began to form around the arachne, covering the torso, then spreading out to form a black dress, and a large skirt, with four spider legs and an abdomen poking through the back.

Val noticed a few drops of slime emerging from the abdomen, wobbling over to bulk out the clothing. A spider normally had hydraulic legs, an arachne was similar, but infused with mana. The arachne before her seemed to have a slime inside of them.

A symbiote, she figured. The spider seemed to be acting like a replacement nucleus, or perhaps a container for the slime.

It pulled out a wide white ribbon, wrapping it around its abdomen, finishing it with a bow, neatly concealing its spider appendages with magic. Val did not expect to see an arachne using a slime for leggings, or space magic to conceal its abdomen, but she was impressed.

The arachne, now far more human like, carefully walked over to Kis, pausing a few feet in front of him.

“Legs?”

It smiled, and began screeching again.

The arachnid rushed towards him, grabbing him tightly with two human arms, and four spider legs.

It released him but continued to squark.

“Kff! Kff!fjfj! Frggjsss!”, it hissed

Val smirked, “I think it likes you, Kis”

"Legs?", Kis repeated.

Val wasn't sure what to do about the arachnid, but it wasn't hostile. The missing student hadn't been harmed, but incapacitated.

She figured Auntie would know what to do.

Back at the penthouse, the dragon peered at the arachnid, who had stared to shake under its gaze.

The slime parts had started to loose shape, collecting into a puddle underneath them. Kis watched the droplets roll back towards its feet before being re-absorbed.

“So, Auntie, what’s the story here?” asked Val

“Your student, Lisa, followed the arachne back, it panicked and is sorry for knocking her unconscious.”, the dragon replied. It had growled at the arachne to explain itself.

“Is it Kis’ Pet or Not”, Val asked

“Oh, it’s his pet. Well, the spider was a young arachne. The slime was a queen, the remnants of one. Nothing else could have survived under those barriers around [Kyzr]"

The dragon had interrogated the arachnid for answers, and it had eagerly explained itself.

"It seems that in their escape, the arachne hit puberty, and went into a cocoon. The slime got mixed up somehow. It’s been tracking his scent since then. I think it is safe to say it means no harm”

Val sighed with relief, Kis too.

“Auntie, can they stay?”, he asked

“If you’re willing to take responsibility young man.”, the dragon replied

“Yes!”, Kis was overjoyed.

Auntie grinned. Turning back to the arachne, it growled “I think you’ll make a fine assistant for him.”, leaning closer, “Do you understand?”

The arachnid nodded vigourously, happy to have the approval of the dragon.

“I don’t think I can teach him arachne, but [Kyzr], come over here”

With a claw, it scratched a crude circuit around the two.

The arachne had grabbed his hand, and began to talk at him.

“You are going to give them a name, like I have done for you.”, the dragon interrupted.

“and a name will ensure you can find it Kis, if it goes exploring without you”, Val added.

“Ha”, the dragon snorted, “they like him. They wouldn’t have been so strong without him regularly draining their mana as a child.”

“... and you", the dragon spoke to the arachnid, "All you have to do is accept when he offers you a name”

It nodded back.

“When you’re ready, [Kysr]”, Auntie asked.

He growled back

“Good”, it grinned, “cut your palm and offer it to them”

He sliced open a small cut, offering it to the arachnid.

The arachnid did the same, oozing slime from the wound.

He spoke quietly. Two small flashes of light.

“It’s done.", the dragon growled.

"I still can’t believe it fused with a slime. Looks convenient”, Val giggled.

“Val, Auntie, this is Light”, Kis made an introduction.

The arachne in question had become a little more human like. Small details, eyebrows, poise. They seemed to be walking far more naturally than before.

“Hello Light, I’m Val.”

“Light, huh? I guess I should have taught you more words, it fits though”, the dragon grinned. Are you going to take good care of my human for me?”

They nodded vigorously, pointed to their dress, and with a wave, a white apron appeared. With begging eyes, they stared back at the dragon, waiting for acknowledgement.

“Young man, by any chance, did the church clean your room?”

He nodded.

“How do you feel about an arachne maid, I’m sure ...”, the dragon growled at the arachnid.

They hissed back.

“I’m sure they’d be quite handy with the extra legs, no?”