Web of Blessings: Chapter 2

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Summary: Sier is surprised to find an enormous arachne, Vanelope, hiding out in his greenhouse. She intends to raise her clutch of spiderlings inside over the cold winter, but they have to elude detection first.

[Story Listing]

[First Chapter]

Web of Blessings

Chapter 2

The greenhouse was a bastion of natural beauty, nestled in the middle of Agnes' industrial district. Adjacent to a small part that offered a place for a family picnic, an expanse of green for the best kind of dog walks, and a welcome respite for the destitute and the homeless to get their bearings. 

The well-lit park offered security and welcomed all sorts... and the adjacent greenhouse, owned and operated by the Fleurs family, was a city icon in its own right. It was much, much bigger in scale and scope, compared to an average greenhouse; it was comparable to the buildings of the industrial district, its wide based covering several blocks, and its roof jutted skywards, as if reaching out to the sun. The way it stood pat, apart from the rest of the built-up society, it gave the impression of a religious institution... of course, with fewer stained glass windows.

...Though perhaps the greenhouse had seen better days. While the exterior wasn't necessarily falling apart, Sier could make out some spots where the paint was beginning to peel, or where patches of grass were uneven. There was so much to do around the estate that it was hard to make time for the niggling details. Of course, Sier mentally braced for having to deal with this. He imagined his grandfather was just about wrapped up inside. 

The door was still unlocked, so Sier let himself in. It was easy to tell at a glance that, with the hours growing later, the place was almost empty. Of course, his old man was around here somewhere...

Sier took a look around the interior of the greenhouse. Through the earnest efforts of the Fleurs family, the greenhouse truly thrived, despite its location in the middle of a developed urban area. Small trails weaved through flowering canopies and underneath the foliage of tall trees. A picturesque fountain dominated the center of the greenhouse. There was a relaxing aroma in the air, produced by rows upon rows of exotic flowers. Amidst the trees above, rare fruits grew in small bunches...

"Ah, blasted webs!"

Sier perked his head up, hearing a familiar grumpy voice holler off in the distance. He grimaced, and hurried his pace, not stopping to take in the sights as he headed towards the direction of the voice. 

"Grandpa! I'm here!" Sier hollered, slowing to a halt. He slowed to a halt, his eyes widening at the strange sight.

His grandfather—Lyle Fleurs— was somewhat on the short-side, yet he was putting his all—rather futilely—trying to smack a broom at... perhaps the largely spider web Sier had ever seen! It was almost three feet across. He grimaced, his mustache rustling, before he turned to Sier. 

"Ah! You finally made it!" Lyle cheered, using the broom to point at the web. "You're a big guy, take a swat at that web for me!" 

"U-Um... I dunno, I don't think we should." Sier looked up to the web. "Spiders... help deal with the more harmful pests, yes? That's its home, so..."

"You don't gotta lecture me on the circle of life, kid." Lyle shook his head. "We got pesticides for that."

"But spiders are nature's pesticides!" Sier pointed out. "I don't see the harm letting bygones be bygones." 

"You might not see, but the patrons notice." Lyle squinted. "Couples today are all about those aesthetics and junk." 

"Aes... thetics?" Sier blinked. "This... is a facility for study. The study of... plants. And insects. I don't understand." 

"Y'serious? We got lovey dovey couples walkin' the aisles every day. Now, I dunno about you, but I don't reckon cobwebs are particularly romantic." Lyle scoffed.

"Ro... romantic?" Sier scratched his head. "I-I know Mom and Dad... had their fair share of dates in the greenhouse, but..."

"S'politics, kid. Government subsidies are getting slashed too. Mayor talks big about advancing the sciences, but I guess he ain't a fan of flowers..." Lyle muttered, toxic indignity laced in his tone. 

"...Y-Yes, I... read that much in the paper, recently." Sier's eyes lowered. His grandfather still treated him like a doe-eyed teenager, even though he was a university student. It was frustrating, but he could tell his grandfather was already in a bad mood; better not to push the issue. 

"Gonna have to tighten our belts a bit. Figure out how to get some extra income in. People like clean settings, you see how pristine they keep the park? You could eat off the statue if you wanted." Lyle muttered., shaking his head. 

"I've been... very thorough with the overnight cleaning." Sier affirmed with a slow nod. 

"Good! You don't gotta deal with it right this second, but sometime tonight, I'll need you to smack down these cobwebs, dern things are pretty much everywhere lately. Make sure the irrigation pipes are flowin' good too."

"Y-Yeah, I'll... do that. It's getting late. You can go home, I.. I got this." Sier smiled earnestly. 

Lyle nodded, passing the broom into Sier arms. "'Preciate it. Gonna be relying on you a lot over the next while. So let's grit our teeth and bear it together."

"W... wouldn't have it any other way!" Sier forced a smile. It seemed to convince his grandfather; or maybe he was just ready to pack it in, and he was in a mood not to press Sier on any niggling details. 

Sier's eyes followed his grandfather as he made his way toward the front door; the hinges creaked loudly, echoing through the room, as it closed behind him. Sier stood pat, before hurrying along to lock the door from the inside. 

Sier sighed, looking around the greenhouse. There was a lot to do on a nightly basis, and he'd have to work quickly if he wanted to have any time for studying. He understood that most of the maintenance had to be done at the dead of night; when you had to push your establishment as a tourist attraction, there wasn't much tolerance for ongoing construction. And with his day classes, there wasn't a good way he could do that in the day, and handle maintenance. 

Sier did a walkaround of the grounds to determine what areas needed the most work. Part of his work involved properly pruning, trimming, and disposing of the dead leaves. He was usually cautious around handling the dead leaves; bugs usually used them as cover and hiding spots, making their own little homes in the dirt. 

It was nice to work around the greenhouse alone; it means he could pretty up the greenhouse without disturbing the local insects that populated within. Sier understood the vibrant ecosystem that took place within the walls of the greenhouse, and he didn't want to disturb any of that. Thankfully, he was able to work in a way to avoid tipping off his grandfather of his intentions, but the cobwebs would prove to be challenging. He definitely wasn't exaggerating when he said that the cobwebs were more or less everywhere.

The further into the greenhouse Sier went, the larger and thicker the cobwebs got. Sier slowed his pace, taking in the sights. Some of the webs were as big as he was! 

"This is a recent development..." Sier muttered, his eyes narrowing. "...Ah! Are the spiders making a shared network? Combining their webs into a single home..." Sier rubbed his chin, his eyes sparkling. There were interesting possibilities to be sure. He wanted to investigate closer...

"...!" 

Sier felt a chill. There was a draft in the greenhouse. His face went pale as he ran to check out the source. 

It wouldn't take long to find the source. One of the windows in the greenhouse had been completely torn from the hinges; the unhinged window, now separated from the wall, was carefully suspended from a single, strong strand of webbing. 

That... was strange. And unsettling. Even if the spiders were working together, Sier doubted they could manage a feat like that.  Wouldn't spiders simply squeeze through a smaller crack? Why take out the window entirely? Was there someone here? But then why was the webbing arranged like that? 

Sier grimaced. Whatever happened, Sier would have to make this window his first task of the night; the cool night air disagreed with the tropical plants that populated the greenhouse, and every breeze that passed endangered the plants of the greenhouse... and the bugs that called the greenhouse home. 

Sier would have to cut through some of the tall palms to get to the window; there was a ladder and some scaffolding nearby for the sake of maintenance, but he'd have to reach it first. Sier hurried along, weaving between the trees...

"...W-What the heck??" Sier slowed to a stop, his eyes landing on the strangest sight yet. 

Affixed to the trunks of various trees were large, white... orb-like things. Sier could only describe them as egg sacs, but... they were huge. Even the largest, most exotic spiders didn't make sacs the size of beach balls! 

It was just the one egg sac in this clear, but its size was monstrous. Sier was drawn to the discovery. It was still. If the spiders really were working together, then... no, no, an egg sac of this size was insane! Sier stared, transfixed as he slowly approach to examine it more closely. He reached a hand forward to feel the material...

"Hands off!"

Fwip! 

There was a sudden sound that came from the canopies above, and Sier felt his outreached hand slam into the nearest tree. 

"Gah!" Sier exclaimed, his body jostling to the side. He glanced at his unmoving hand. His palm was completely enveloped in thick, web-like material. It quickly hardened upon exposure to the air, affixing him to the tree with no room for movement. 

"Wh-what the hell is this stuff!?" Sier wondered aloud. He reflexively reached for his entrapped hand...

"I said hands off!!"

The voice called out again. It sounded like a young woman. And without any delay... Fwip! Another shot from the trees wrapped both of his hands together, and Sier struggled to free them from the tree. The colour drained from his face.

There was someone here; he could feel like he was being watched. In this moment, Sier felt the most vulnerable he had ever felt in his entire life. He grimaced. 

"D-Damn it!" His eyes rose to the canopy above. His eyebrows furrowed in anxious indignation. "Whoever you are, stop this! G-Get me out of this stuff, please!" He was shouting, pleading for help. "HEEEEEEEELP-"

FWIP! One more shot of the webbing substance spread across his face, covering his mouth. Sier couldn't speak! He couldn't even holler; every sound he made was horribly muffled.

There were strange sounds of scuttling from above; black, chitinous arachnid legs descended down the base of the tree, belonging to a spider... no, a creature of enormous scale. It was hard to tell from Sier's angle, as he could only see the front legs, as it slowly descended. From the shadows, the creature hushed him. 

"And be quiet. You're upsetting the children." The creature hissed in a womanly voice. Long, powerful legs pressed into the tree, the creature quickly, gracefully descending as it came into view. Sier could only watch in terror as he was at the creature's mercy. 

...But there was something strange. He expected to see a giant spider, unlike any he had ever seen. And this was the case, but... where the creature's head should've been, there was the slender torso of a human woman, pale skin standing out against the jet-black chitinous plating of the spider. Her hips seamlessly blended into the cephalothorax, as Sier silently noted to himself. Sier was transfixed on the spider-half of the equation; each of those legs could gut him in an instant.

Sier realized in that moment that he was at the mercy of a spider monster that towered him in size and stature. And he was helpless to resist her. He had a feeling he was about to die a terrible death...

[Next Chapter]