WE MADE IT TO 24K! I'M SO PROUD!

~Soul's p.o.v~

This was terrible. Well, we knew where ____ was, but we weren;t allowed to go save her! Arachne said that Mari was the only one that could go. That wasn't cool.

Mari was my friend, sure, but... she was unstable. What would happen if she went crazy when she saw Arachne? What if she started to hurt _____? That could be bad.

~Black Star's p.o.v~

This is so messed up. I should be the one saving ____! Why Mari?! Yeah, we're friends, and I still need to beat her in a fight, but she could hurt ____! Lord Death should at least send someone with her! Like me! Then I can be _____'s knight in shining armor~ yes. Yes. That would be perfect.

Hey! I wonder what Tsubaki's going to make for dinner?

~Kid's p.o.v~

Mari wasn't stable to go. She could hurt someone, like _____. This didn't have a good ending in it anywhere.

"Father, shouldn't we send someone to be Mari's backup?" I asked, glancing over at the girl as she shimmered and a black leather jacket appeared on her shoulders.

"Arachne's term were clear." Death said. He clapped his hands together. "Anyways, I believe she is perfectly capable of this! You guys should have a little more faith in her! After all, she didn't die when I beat her up!" he laughed a little, no one joining him.

He sighed, his mask shinning white. "But I am sending Stein as backup." He said, clapping his hands.

"No! Send me!" Soul, Black Star and I said at once. We looked at each other, grumbling.

"Nope!" Death said, turning to his mirror. "I made up my mind. Now trust Stein and Mari." He said, emphasizing Mari's name.

~Your p.o.v~

I looked up as someone said my name, shaking me from my daze.

"____?" Arachne said, sipping her tea. "I wanted you to meet someone." She said. She pointed into the darkness with one long finger.

There was footsteps and I looked as a form came into view. My eyes widened. "Asuka?!" I said, standing. She stood in front of me, a black dress adorning her form. I looked her up and down, wondering why she was here. "Why are you here?" I asked.

"I work for Arachne." She said.

My blood went cold. "What...?" I asked.

"My job was to get you away from your friends so you thought they didn't love you as much as the do. It was quite easy." She said.

"But, unfortunately," Arachne said. "Asuka fell for you, so things got... complicated. She told me she loved you, and didn't want to give you to me." She said, sipping her tea.

I looked over at Asuka, my stomach twisting. "What?" I asked.

She nodded. "So... Arachne made a deal with me." She said.

Arachne nodded. "I promised if she could get you away from them, even enough for a few of minions to get close to you, I would make you hers, or, let her have a chance." She said.

I looked back and forth from the two. "What are you saying? I love... I..."

"You love Soul? Kid? Black Star? Who is it?" Asuka asked. She held her hands out, her long red hair in short curls, the waves glimmering in the faint light. "I'm right here. You don't have to choose." She said.

Suddenly, the building rumbled, shaking and the ground felt like and earthquake. I stumbled, loosing my footing and falling. Arms caught me and I looked up into Asuka's eyes.

"I guess she's here." Arachne said, taking a bite from a small tea cake. There was yells and cried of pain from Arachne's minions, and the laughter of someone. Asuka set me on my feet, looking into the hallway where all the commotion was.

A form stumbled into the hall, hundreds of candles lighting up in an instant. The girls body was red, covered in blood, sharp claws replacing her fingers. There were long tendrils snaking out behind her, the twenty or thirty of them all out in the open, covered in red, just like Mari's body.

She looked up, her dark black eyes terrifying in the candle lit darkness. She was laughing, but tears fell from her cheeks, streaking the red blood on her face. She held her head, her body shaking for a second, then she broke out in a fit of laughter again.

I felt cold emotion run through my body. So this was insanity?

"It seems that you have killed over half of my minions in the castle." Arachne said, pouring herself more tea. "That's unfortunate for them." She said.

Mari's black jeans and leather jacket were red-tinted and as she stepped forward toward us, it showed stronger and stronger. "I came for ____." She said. Her teeth were normal, but her hands were still claws, glinting in the candle light.

"Oh, oh. I know." Arachne said. "But I need something from you." She said.

Mari shook her head, not meeting Arachne eyes, he shoulders shaking a little. "No. I'm not going to let you touch me." She said.

"But I have something of yours." Arachne said, eating another cake.

Mari smiled. "Oh, but it's so much better not to feel anything at all." She said.