The Spider's Web

What!?

I froze Infront of Taylor's doorway. How? I let my much taller neighbor drag me into the room and set me on her overstuffed couch. Thoughts whirling and jittery panic making me tremble.

Again, how? Have I just been imagining the Ring this whole time? Did I run around in a skirt and crop top in my old body? I shook myself and breathed deep. No, I'd be in another psych ward by now. If I was that delusional it didn't matter what I did anyway.

I examined Taylor as she rummaged in her kitchen, making tea? It had to be something about her. Was she a witch? Secret government agent? Assistant to the tooth fairy? I couldn't rule much out at this point.

I considered everything I knew about Taylor Weaver. Thirty-ish and very slender with luxurious black hair kept in a braid that reached her waist. She was a weird mix of friendly and standoffish. She helped me move in two years ago and we spoke regularly but this was only the second time I'd seen her apartment.

She'd never mentioned a partner of any kind or what she did for work. She had no pets and her only hobbies were crocheting and reading classic literature and historical fiction. We'd actually argued several times over whether fantasy and sci-fi deserved to be taken as seriously as more traditional literature.

She wasn't an asshole exactly, but she was very certain she was right and wasn't afraid to show it. This grated on me a bit but she did apologize when proven wrong, eventually. She also enjoyed mothering the other residents, keeping tabs on us without being controlling.

She dressed well with fitted blouses and slacks or skirts in subdued colors. The only jewelry she ever wore was a simple silver necklace with a spider pendant.

A steaming cup of tea was placed in my hands, I raised an eyebrow at the shimmery purple liquid and took a whiff. I relaxed instantly.

Taylor sat across from me. Her examination was detached, almost clinical. Like she wasn't solely looking at my body.

"How did you recognize me?"

She smiled slightly, it didn't reach her eyes. "Your Aura is almost the same, brighter, more free, but the core is unchanged." I felt like a bug under a magnifying glass. She smirked and the pressure I'd barely noticed left. "I also saw you leave and then come back like this," she glanced pointedly at my tail, it slinked behind me.

"You found an Artifact and it has corrupted you." Her eyes bored into me again, looking at my Aura? "You should drink your tea, it'll help."

I set the tea on the table and waved my arms, "I know what it looks like! But I'm not possessed! I made myself look like this. I'm happy this way."

She scoffed, "Of course you're not possessed, half the town would be dead or worse if you were. But you are tainted, let me prove it." She stood and headed to her bedroom, only to pause and stare suspiciously at Regina munching away at her popcorn. Taylor shook her head and vanished into her room. She couldn't see Regina? At least not entirely.

I glared at the unhelpful voyeur, she waved at me.

Taylor came back with a large rectangular object covered by a sheet. I found myself smiling at my reflection. The image in the mirror preened to herself, stroking her horns and playing with her boobs, tail teasing at her skirt hem. I hadn't moved other than to cover my flushed cheeks.

Taylor hmmed in disappointment, "This should have revealed your truest form." My blush only intensified, though happiness mixed with the embarrassment at that. She turned back to me, " The corruption is more complete than I thought. I'm sorry Morgan." She frowned, I saw real sadness there.

I stood and clapped my hands together once, "I'm guess there's nothing we can do then! Thanks for trying, I'm sure I'll manage somehow." I turned to the door, "Thanks for the tea neighbor, but I'm more of a soda kind of girl."

"Stop!" Taylor pulled out a delicate golden chain and whipped it at me like a professional rancher. The chain glowed white and extended impossibly to wrap me up like a mummy. I tipped over tit first. Oww!

"If you will not listen to reason, I cannot let you leave and spread your corruption further." Listen to reason? You're the one who isn't listening!

I rolled onto my back, "Wait! Taylor, let's talk about this."

She stalked towards me, a heartbroken look on her face. "I'm sorry Morgan, you were a good man, he would want me to do this." My outrage shifted to panic when the Ring failed to affect the chains. Only for me to freeze in terror when Taylor withdrew a glowing longsword from her wall.

She stood with sword over my heart, tears running down a face like stone. She hesitated.

I snapped out of it, "Stop!" the Ring burned at me. Taylor stumbled back, hissing in pain, her old necklace smoking before it crumbled to dust.

We shared mutual looks of shock, Taylor firmed her grip and raised her sword like a knight from a story. I could fangirl and/or freak out over this later.

"Freeze." I commanded. This time the Ring barely warmed and Taylor froze in place. I gasped for breath, heart racing. "Drop the sword." She did so. "Untie me. Then sit with your hands behind your head. Don't try anything else." Regina did a little cheer routine in the corner.

I considered what to do. I could use the ring to puppet Taylor around, find out how deep the hole I found myself in goes.

I was tired. I had the mother of all migraines from the emotional whiplash of this past week. Hell, it was Wednesday evening, it hasn't been a week. I'd gone from the euphoria of my transition and the deepening of my relationship with Gwen. Only to almost be murdered by my neighbor!

"Taylor. When I leave this room, you will forget everything that happened the in last two hours. You will decide that anything unusual about me is harmless. You will go on with your evening as normal, then sleep peacefully until morning. You will not try to alert any contacts or magical organizations about me, and if you've already done so, tell them you handled it." I struggled to think of anything else I needed to cover, Ring thrumming with heat from the series of commands.

When couldn't think of anything, I left.

I barricaded my door with scraps of furniture I transmuted into steel. Then I confronted Regina.

"Why didn't you do anything!? Or warn me I lived across from a fucking paladin? Or tell me to leave when she left me alone! Anything other than watch." I wiped away angry tears and waited.

Regina looked defensive and apologetic, "I didn't know anything was strange about her. Everything she did other than her Sight was from an enchanted object, most of which were old and faded. That's why her necklace broke and I didn't notice them until she used them."

"Where did she get them? How are there so many magic items you don't know about?"

Regina crossed her arms, "Many of my former Masters that grew strong enough to make things permanent didn't show me everything they made. She must have an ancestor who collected them, she might even be descended from a former Master of mine, subtle effects like an Aura sight can breed true." I met her eyes, considering the implications, there could be thousands of people that either found something enchanted or were magical themselves.

Regina might not be the only one of her kind either.

I groaned, mentally drained. "That doesn't answer my question, why didn't you help?"

"What do you want from me? I could hardly wrestle a sword from her. Should I have poked her in the eye?" She winced.

My jaw dropped. "Yes! Obviously!"

"Alright, I'm sorry! You're right, I could have helped. You have to understand I've had thousands of Masters. Most that don't kill themselves early are much more slow and cautious than you've been. The vast majority of people don't go mad with power, they gather a modest harem, then plateau in power and stagnate for decades before they die peacefully of old age."

She'd started pacing, "People like you are rare. Out of the thousands of Masters I've had, a few dozen gained power slowly and methodically from the shadows. By the time they needed to actually fight anyone they were either a god in all but name or had an army at their back."

For the first time I thought about how ancient she was, how much she'd seen and done over the millennia.

I sighed again, "I think I understand. Just... Give me some space for a few days alright? Go spy on some sorority parties or something." She nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.

My mess of a bed transformed into a pile of sinfully soft pillows and I flopped into it. Too tired to cry, I fell asleep in seconds.

AN 7/25/24: Beware reading beyond this point! Everything after this chapter may be changed significantly in the rewrite I'm planning. It won't be deleted by me, I'm starting a new branch at the beginning, but it won't be updated any more.

Thanks for reading this far!