Chapter 4 - My sails are set - P1

Despite being long-lived, or as some humans would call it "immortal", I had only a surprisingly short time window to find Medusa. I knew that she was located somewhere on the mainland near a mountain named Athos. Going by the information from Sappho's student who proclaimed Medusa her muse, she was something of a traveler, never staying too long in one place. With only exception was this time, when Medusa decided to stay near Sappho's student. I could understand, the need to communicate with other sapient beings after hundreds of years of isolation. Especially if the said being was not afraid of one's monstrous appearance. And therein lies my problem. Where I decided to stay in one place and build a fortification here, Medusa chose a different approach. Namely traveling, from one place to another, never staying anywhere for too long. Thus minimizing the chances of being chased by an angry mob of people.

Because of her different approach, to staying anonymous and unbothered by religious fanatics and superstitious idiots, I now had to act as fast as possible, if I wanted to aquintince myself with Medusa. I needed to procure supplies, that would last me until the mainland was reached and most importantly I needed a boat or ship. One, which could be operated by a single person but large enough to accommodate my whole being. Such a ship, that could travel over deep sea and not just near the coasts. The navigation was not a problem. Formulae magic suite from my previous life included a navigation spell, which worked like a compass using Earth's magnetic field, pointing in a single direction. But unlike a normal mechanical compass, this magical one was pointing to the south, due to particles produced by magic, used for measurements, having an opposite charge.

And while supplies were no problem to acquire since I could proactively hunt big game instead of laying traps in the form of webs. Procuring a ship would be a problem. For one I was unable to buy the ship, I had no money and even if I did, no sane human would sell their ship to a half-spider monster. This left me with one and only option and that was to get a ship without buying one, in other words, I had to steal it. Which would certainly anger the original owner, if not ruin their livelihood outright. And given the nature of the local economy and my requirements, I'm most likely going to "liberate" a fishing ship.

Thus my plan for procuring a suitable ship was threefold. One, observe the potential ship and its owner. Two procure a suitable amount of goods to exchange the ship for, even if this part was involuntary on a ship owner's side. Three, leave the said goods at the ship owner's home and set sail during the night when everyone is asleep. This was not a good example of the free market, as the ship owner had no say whenever they wanted to go with such a transaction, but realistically, there was no other choice for me.

For several days I observed, ships come and go to and from the harbor, from a safe spot using magnifying magical formulae. This extended use of magic was the first time in probably hundreds of years that I was using my magic so extensively. I did notice that my magic reserves were vast. This must have been another perk, besides longevity, obtained by being turned into a half-spider monster. What else about myself was now monstrous, without me noticing before?

With the ship selected and a ship's owner's house found, I was prepared to leave the island of Lesbos. Now, I just had to wait until it was night and people went to sleep.

"Lady Arachne?" I was interrupted from my musing by the familiar voice of a young woman.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the young woman who used to be Sappho's assistant, until just recently, when Sappho passed away.

Why was she here, if she was so obviously afraid of me? Did she want something from me? Was Sappho not paying her enough, for the girl to come here, despite being scared, just to inquire me for monetary compensation? I don't think that Sappho was someone who would extort her employees. I'm very sure of that, I knew her very well. I knew her for most of her life, she was not someone like that. If not money, then what was the young woman doing here?

"I-I came to keep you company, lady Arachne," she said.

That was unexpected. She looked so afraid, that she was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes were darting around, looking for any form of danger. This was not good, so I cast an illusion that made my spider rear invisible and human legs appeared instead. The mana drain was practically non-existent.

Noticing my now more human look, she calmed down a little. Must have been a fear of spiders, an arachnophobia if you will. How fitting given my name. Thinking about names, I realized that the girl's name was unknown to me. The old me of an HR manager would scold my current self for not learning her name way sooner, during our first meeting.

"Very well. What is your name?"

"C-Cynane, my lady," she said calming slightly.

"That is a nice name. I'm Arachne, but you already knew that," starting with flattery and a light joke should ease her nervousness, thus making it easier for her to communicate with me.

Or so I thought. The girl, Cynane, was still nervous, not scared just nervous. She just mostly stood in her place or occasionally avoided me, when I moved near her to collect some of my things. This made me wonder what she knew about me, did Sappho perhaps tell her something unsavory about my person through some of her ravings? Was it the sensual poems that Sappho produced about me and her, that scared the girl? If so, then Cynane would most likely not come here ever again. Yet despite obvious fear she was here, with me, so what was her motivation? To just keep me company, as she stated? Did she perhaps though I would feel lonely, with Sappho's passing? That would be illogical! Yes, I was going to miss a supply of new poems and our conversation and Sappho's quirky personality and her smile. But I had her purple Ampechone, so I could easily remember any of those times spent with her whenever I so desired. How could I ever be lonely?

Having most of my things and supplies packed in a version of a horse saddle bag that fits my spider rear, I was almost ready to depart. This invention was indeed a brilliant idea of mine. Since the spider rear would not go anywhere, or rather, it would go everywhere where I went and since it was part of my body if not the biggest part of my body. I decided to use it accordingly. Where humans could carry maybe a single small backpack on their back, I had no such limitations and could carry several times more and with the range of motion and prehensility of my spider legs, I was able to fasten it to my body in such a way, it would not fall off under any circumstances. Hurray, for being a spider centaur! Poor bastards horse centaurs, if they existed.

But to be able to leave with all my packed belongings I would need to drop my illusion and fasten the bag, which would greatly unnerve my guest. Looking at the girl I noticed that she was biting her lips, stepping from one leg to another. Was she nervous, or uncomfortable or perhaps impatient? Did she expect me to order her around to help me with whatever task I was currently doing since she was Sappho's assistant? I did notice her mouth open shortly and then instantly close again. This could mean only one thing, she wanted to say something or perhaps ask. Did she need to be instructed to do so? I wondered if this was a sight of incompetence or something else.

"You can speak freely Cynane,"

"L-Lady Arachne... Why-Why are you packing things?" she asked, still nervous and uncertain what to think.

"I will be leaving the island for a while," I answered, if she did not know details from Sappho, then it was not necessary for me to explain.

"You are leaving?!" she sounded very distraught.

"Yes, but do not worry, I will return, within a decade at most," I answered with some details, in an attempt to calm her down.

In reality, I did not know, whether I would be returning to this island at all. It would be a preferable option, as the local human population seemed to be quite neutral to my being and mostly ignoring my existence, but the final decision could be made only after finding Medusa, as she was the main reason I was leaving in the first place. Alas, this was not necessary information to be divulged to the girl.

She did not seem to get the clue, as she was still standing in her place. I needed to put on my bag and that could be done only with an illusion cast over my spider parts, but those disturbed the girl and I had no need for a panicking young woman running around my abode causing a ruckus. That is why I needed her to leave first, but sadly, she does not seem to understand. In that case, I had to tell her directly.

"You should leave, I need to finish my preparations for departure," I said and the girl started to cry.

Why?!

Why did Cynane start crying out of nowhere?! I could not understand! It made no sense to me. Was she overly emotional as all teenagers were? I would know, I was a teenager three times already, and it was hard to keep my emotions in check during those years. Or was she perhaps happy, that the spider monster, would be leaving her island? Probably not, she did not look happy at all. Then why was she distraught, when I said I would be leaving, why did she start crying when I sent her home? She was clearly afraid of me, so then why?

Why did she come to me in the first place, if she could not handle my real appearance? She said that she wanted to keep me company, did she not? But keeping someone company was an agreement between two or more sides. Was she distraught, because I decided to leave? If that was the case then this was my fault. Such an oversight on my side. Clearly, the young woman must have been lonely, could it be because Sappho was her only social contact? Being orphaned at a young age in this era would not be uncommon. Then why did Sappho not mention anything about this? She was very old and dying, I could not blame her for something slipping her mind. But I, as a monster, was not a great company for a young woman. Either way it was me who caused her distress.

To calm her down I put a blanket, made out of spider silk, over her. The reason was twofold. One, it should made her feel safer and two it obstructed her vision so I could drop the illusion and fasten my bag.

"I'm sure that a brave young woman, like yourself, will have no problem finding friends. You won't be lonely for long. If the money ever becomes a problem for you, take any of the silk from here, it's yours and should fetch you a decent amount. But don't let anyone talk down to you! And don't worry we will see each other again. Thank you for your company, Cynane,"

With that, I left. I had no idea, how to present parental advice while also calming down an emotional teenager. I tried to boost her confidence, by telling her to be brave, after all, it was important to be able to take care of herself. And my old blankets, which I had no use for, should be able to get her a decent amount of money. There was nothing more that I could do for her.

"What do you mean, she left the island?!"

"Sappho did pass away, did she not? There is nothing to bind our lady to this island,"

"We can't let her leave High Weaver!"

"We can and we will,"

"No, we can't! We are nothing without our lady!"

"Silence!"

"No, I won't stay silent! Lady Arachne is ours, she belongs to the island Lesbos and here only!

"You will! I'm the High Weaver and you must obey me!"

The younger man arguing, to keep Arachne bound to the island, swiftly moved to the High Weaver and stabbed him in the chest.

"No, I won't you old goat!" he said letting the old man's body fall to the ground.

Now staring daggers at the shocked crowd, he took the old man's mask and replaced his own with it.

"Get a ship and bring our lady back here at any cost!" he ordered.

"Yes, High Weaver!" the crowd echoed and then dispersed.