“Well?” The arachne moved a little closer to Sana, her body filling the tight corridor, so much so that her legs were practically squished into the wall, just so she could move. “I asked you a question, snake?”

Sana tensed. “I… uh…” She hesitated. What could she say that wouldn’t get her killed on the spot?

The arachne studied Sana’s face before sighing. She placed a hand on her chest. “My name’s Tomoe,” she said a little more gently.

Sana blinked. “Oh, my name is Sana,” she introduced herself without really thinking about it.

Tomoe frowned. “You’re a lamia from the desert tribes aren’t you?” she asked.

Sana blinked. “How did you know?” she asked curiously.

“I’ve… acquired a fair amount of books during my life,” Tomoe explained with a lazy wave of her hand. “I’ve read about the lamias that live within the desert. Dark skin, pure black hair… you match the descriptions given within a couple of books.” An awkward silence fell between the two, as neither one could think of what to say.

Finally, Tomoe coughed into her head and asked, “So returning to the matter at hand… Could you tell me where I am?” She looked around. “This doesn’t seem like the hovel of desert lamias.”

“Um… that’s because it’s not.” Sana winced. “We’re actually in space.”

Tomoe stared at her for a moment, before rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry,” she replied. “I must’ve misheard you. You see, I found this strange button within my home and I pressed it, after which I found myself here. So, I’d just like to know what exactly is going on?”

Sana blinked. “A button?”

“It was a grey box. A large red circle on one side.”

“The same thing happened to me!” exclaimed Sana with a gasp. “I found something like that too!”

“Oh really?” Tomoe sounded unimpressed. “Who could’ve guessed?”

Sana didn’t really hear her, as, at the moment, her mind was racing. “If you and I both came here by finding this button then… then the same thing must’ve happened to that centaur.”

“I’m sorry?” Tomoe blinked. “There someone else here? A centaur?”

“Ah… well…” Sana scratched her cheek lightly. “Well you see, I might’ve accidentally… knocked her out?”

Tomoe stared at her. “You?” she asked in disbelief. “A lamia took out a centaur? Were they a child?”

“Um… What happened was…”

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

“My daughter, Charlotte la Brienne.” Her father’s low, but strong voice reverberated through the marble chamber. Charlotte practically felt forced to kneel from the intense pressure from the voice.

“Yes, father?” Charlotte said, keeping her eyes trained to a spot on the floor just below her father’s body, unable to look him directly in the eyes. She was dressed in full armor, with only her helmet tucked below her arm. It was customary for everyone to show this much respect to the king, even the king’s own daughter.

“You are to meet the humans on Hedge Hill and defend our land,” her father ordered. “If you fail our kingdom will be doomed and our people will be turned into slaves like our brethren down south.”

“Of course,” Charlotte only lowered her head more, feeling the pressure only further increase. “I’ll do as you command, fa-!” She quickly corrected herself. “Your majesty. I will drive back-!”

“Your majesty!” A door slammed open behind Charlotte, as she felt herself rouse from her memories.

“Ngh…” Charlotte’s eyes fluttered open. Her body still ached, but she managed to raise her head so that she could see above her. Two faces were looking down at her. One was of the lamia she recalled chasing and the other, one more terrifying, was that of an arachne, her features into a sort of terrifying curiosity.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Charlotte immediately snapped and attempted to get back up on her hooves, but found her legs and arms restrained. She looked down at her body, finding that her arms and legs were wrapped together with spider webbing. She gritted her teeth and tried to free herself, to no avail. “What have you done?!” she snapped to the two.

The spider looked unimpressed. “Nice to meet you, too,” she greeted. “My name’s Tomoe.”

“I’m Sana,” the lamia added unhelpfully.

“I didn’t ask about your identities!” snapped Charlotte. “Untie me you fiends and then you’ll taste the sharp edge of my blade!!”

Tomoe turned to Sana. “You were right,” she said simply. “She is dumb as a pile of bricks.”

Charlotte snapped her head in Sana’s direction, as the snake quickly waved her hands in front of her. “N-No that’s not it! That’s not what I meant at all!”

Tomoe continued to talk as if Sana hadn’t said anything at all, so Charlotte turned her attention back to her. “If you promise not to try and kill us then I’ll undo your bindings. Is that alright?”

Charlotte gritted her teeth. “Fine,” she spat out.

Tomoe studied her face, before snorting. “You’re shit at lying.”

Charlotte immediately began to struggle again. “Let me go!” she shouted.

The Arachne ignored Charlotte choosing to focus her attention on Sana. “You said that we were in space,” she said. “Do you have any proof of this? I don’t believe this horse-” Tomoe poked her in the side, just below her waist, with one of her legs. “-will calm down until you show us the truth.”

“Uh… yeah!” Sana nodded rapidly. “There’s a room with windows where you can see outside!” She headed for the door. “I’ll show you!” she exclaimed excitedly, like a small child.

Tomoe glanced down, giving Charlotte a devious smile. “I’ll take off the restraints on your legs so you can at least walk. Promise not to try to kill me… at least until we both can confirm the situation?”

Charlotte blinked. Was the spider woman also like her?” Did she, too, not trust Sana? Charlotte chose to slowly nod her support. At the very least she didn’t want to be dragged across the floor like some piece of meat.

With a leg, Tomoe slashed through the bindings on her legs and Charlotte managed to stand up. She fought the urge to attempt to kill the spider woman right then and there and instead let herself be led down the corridor with Tomoe pulling her along. “Fine,” she said irritably. “I’ll listen, for now. What’s going on?”

Tomoe glanced back at her, before quickly averting her gaze. “I don't suppose you remember the last thing you experience before arriving here?”

Charlotte frowned. “I was in the middle of a battlefield,” she recalled. “I killed a human and when he died, he dropped a strange button. I pressed it and…” She fell silent, as her mind put the pieces together. “Don’t tell me the same thing happened to the two of you?!”

Tomoe nodded. “At least in regards to encountering a device that, when interacted with, brought us here.” She shook her head. “However, I do not understand where we are. Only Sana seems to.”

“She mentioned it when I was…” Charlotte suddenly swallowed. “I mean… um… she said I was in space.”

“Hm. Do you know what space is?”

“Er…” Charlotte scrunched her eyebrows together in thought. “I think it’s where the stars and the moon live.” She rolled her eyes. “At least that’s what my mother used to tell before bedtime. When I was a child.”

“You’ll see!” Sana suddenly called out from in front of them. Apparently, she had been listening in. “We’re almost there!”

“I’m surprised you know you’re way around already,” Tomoe noted. “This place is like a labyrinth.”

“Oh.” Sana shrugged. “I just have a really good memory. That’s all.”

Tomoe raised a brow. “Is that really-?”

“We’re here!” interrupted Sana, though Tomoe had to wonder if it had been on purpose. Nevertheless, Tomoe and Charlotte followed Sana into a new room, marked with a small plaque naming it the “Cockpit.” When they entered, their mouths fell open.

“See! See!” Sana pointed to the giant ball of gas and fire that shined through the windows. “I was telling the truth!”

“Yes…” For the first time, Tomoe felt as though she was at a loss for words. “W-What is that?”

“It’s a star.” Sana looked proud of herself for knowing something that Tomoe didn’t. “The silver in the night sky. This is what they look up close.”

“That’s… incredible,” muttered Charlotte, transfixed by the sight.

However, Tomoe had moved her attention over to the panel of buttons and levers. “What do all these do?” she asked curiously.

“Oh…” Sana looked a little deflated. “I dunno.”

“Hm.” Tomoe pressed a couple of the buttons and pulled a lever. When nothing happened, she stepped back and folded her arms. “I suppose they are just here for show-” she started to say, only to suddenly be interrupted.

“Rebooting… Rebooting…”

All three of them tensed. “What was that?” Charlotte asked, wildly looking for the source of the voice. It sounded like it was coming from all around them.

“Reboot successful. Retrieving memory… Memory retrieval failed.”

Tomoe glanced at Sana, who gave her a helpless shrug. She had no idea what was going on. All Sana could do was slither closer to the panel that Tomoe had just messed with, where the voice was the strongest. “Um…” she said tentatively. “Hello?”

“Hello.” The response was swift, resembling a woman’s except monotone and devoid of emotion. “I am the AI of this ship, the Eldridge XIII. You may call me Coraline.”