Daphne woke up terrified. She had fallen asleep on Goldie, exhausted to the limit. She didn't notice when the spider, to make sure nothing went wrong, had put her in its mouth and kept her there as a prisoner. The poor girl had remained trapped in the darkness of those metallic jaws, unable even to return to her human form because of the confined space.
Now, covered in the spider's viscous fluids, she found herself in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by dozens of creatures, each more terrifying than the last. It would have been reasonable for her to have a heart attack at that moment… but then she saw me. I was there, watching her.
Daphne quickly slid toward me and clung to my leg, trembling with pure fear. Even if she thought I was a hallucination, she preferred to hold on to that single ray of light in the midst of the nightmare.
"Calm down, Daphne. Everything's okay now." I gently stroked her head.
Feeling the touch of my hand and noticing that the spiders weren't moving or attacking, she began to understand that this wasn't a pre-death vision. She regained some clarity and returned to her human form, though she didn't let go; on the contrary, she held on even tighter, eyes fixed on the spiders around her.
"Red?" she asked in a trembling voice, unsure if we were truly safe.
"Relax, they won't hurt you… right, girls?" I said, reassuring her.
"They won't harm Dad's prey…" one of my daughters replied, confirming my words.
Daphne's mind seemed to short-circuit at that statement. She was more confused than ever, but at least she understood one thing: she was no longer in immediate danger.
"Sorry about all this, Daphne. I didn't expect you to enter the forest… I'll bring you an ice cream when we get back." I gently moved her aside so I could start working.
She didn't know how to react; she stayed very close to me, trying to compose herself.
I approached the table where the cocoons lay and began opening them. The first was Hermione's. She was half-conscious, her eyes reddened by the venom. When she saw me, her pupils filled with fear—not just from what she had suffered, but because she had been semi-conscious the whole time… and had overheard part of my conversation.
Without hesitation, I cast a memory charm on her and then put her to sleep. I didn't intend to erase everything, only the most traumatic parts. Some experience could be useful for them, but I didn't want to break them.
Daphne, by my side, watched as I modified the memory of my so-called "girlfriend" without hesitation. She trembled, scared, but her mind had already begun to work more clearly, reasoning what was happening. Though still terrified, she tried to control her fear.
Next, I freed the Patil sisters. With them, I repeated the same procedure: memory modification and sleep. Then it was Penelope's turn, but in her case, I only freed her and laid her beside the others.
Then I began removing the venom from their bodies and closing the small wounds. Luckily, since the goal had been to capture them, the venom was mild—more paralyzing than harmful.
The first to recover was Penelope. Though still weak, she regained almost all consciousness. She looked at me, and in her eyes shone a sigh of relief: for her, my presence meant everything would be okay. Yet, like Daphne, she flinched upon seeing the spiders around us.
"Red… where's my sister?" Daphne asked, gathering courage amid her trembling.
"Where is her sister?" I repeated to my daughters. "She must be the smallest and weakest of all the captured girls: blonde hair, almost platinum, pale skin… practically looks like a sickly child."
"There's no such girl," one of my daughters replied, and the others nodded.
"The smallest we captured that smelled like you was a butterfly," added another.
"It's her," Daphne whispered, still scared but understanding that the spiders wouldn't harm them.
"Are the others okay?" Penelope asked, realizing the same.
"Don't worry, they're fine." I reassured them both before returning to my daughters. "Where's that butterfly?"
Arachne raised a finger toward the top of the cave wall. There, a small cocoon was stuck among the webs, almost invisible.
I sighed and let out a low laugh. How funny—and terrifying—it would have been to forget little Astoria over something so trivial. Arachne climbed up and came down with the cocoon in her hands, holding it with a delicacy uncharacteristic of her. She had understood that these girls could not be harmed.
I broke open the cocoon and found Astoria inside, in her butterfly form, unconscious. Her fragility had caused her to lose consciousness as soon as she was captured, without realizing anything. Better this way. Though I would have to heal and strengthen her later, or this could happen again.
I revitalized her with my powers, and soon she began to move. In a flash, she returned to her human form: a freshly awakened girl, dazed and sleepy.
"Daphne?" she murmured, disoriented.
"Astoria!" Daphne cried, rushing to embrace her.
I let them enjoy the reunion while I checked the condition of the others. Penelope was already evaluating Susan, Hermione and the Patil sisters, relieved to see they were stable, though she couldn't hide the discomfort of having so many spiders observing them curiously.
"Where are the others?" I asked Spider Hermione.
"Connected to the Red Web…" she replied, pointing to the cave exit.
"Ugh… and I wanted this to be less traumatic." I sighed and motioned to the girls. "Let's go find the others." Then I looked at my daughters. "Help me carry the unconscious ones."
They obeyed immediately. Using a bit of webbing, they secured Susan, the Patil sisters and Hermione on their backs while I followed the path guided by Spider Hermione. Penelope, Daphne, and Astoria trembled with curiosity and fear, not daring to leave my side. Being alone in the cave wasn't an option.
We proceeded until we found the first victim entangled in the Red Web: Tracey. She was unconscious, suspended in the threads.
I touched the web, sending a message to Red Queen to withdraw her mind from Tracey and the other girls. I didn't want them to suffer accidental harm while freeing them. With the help of the little creatures linked to Red Queen, I removed Tracey from the web and placed her on the ground.
I used a bit of Legilimency to check her mental state after the Red Web invasion, then cast a memory charm to erase the worst parts. Once stabilized, I handed her to my daughters to carry with the rest.
"Let's go for the next ones," I said calmly.
"Yes, Father…" Spider Hermione replied, advancing to find the others.
A few meters later we found two more girls: Millicent and Pansy. At first glance, they seemed like corpses. The aura of death surrounded them strongly; it was evident they had encountered Ghost and barely survived. I couldn't waste time. I carefully lowered them and began restoring their vitality before they crossed the threshold fully. At the same time, I lightly modified their memories, erasing only the parts affected by the Red Web connection. The rest remained intact.
With a strong injection of vital energy, both gasped shakily, as if returning from the depths, before opening their eyes.
"Red!" Pansy was the first to react, throwing herself into my arms in desperation. "Spiders… so many spiders! Death! Run!" she exclaimed, repeating the first thing that came to mind, unable to separate reality from recent memory.
"Relax, it's all over now," I assured her, also stroking Millicent's head, who remained frozen at the sight of my daughters' silhouettes behind me.
Pansy, turning, saw the same and almost screamed. I held her firmly, stopping the panic before it erupted.
"Shhh… calm down. They won't hurt you," I whispered. My words seemed the only anchor; I could feel her body trembling, but she forced herself to believe me.
"Sorry… Father…" the ethereal voice of Spider Phantom broke the silence, heavy with guilt.
The effect was immediate. Her tone carried echoes of death, and the girls present felt it as a stab to the soul. Millicent and Pansy, who had already suffered that power, shrank in pain, feeling their spirits leave their bodies once more. Even fragile Astoria, unable to resist, collapsed into her sister's arms, though still conscious.
"Moderate your voice, Ghost," I ordered calmly. Though not immediately lethal, hearing her without resistance could drain life and be fatal over time.
"Fa… Father…?" stammered Pansy, looking at me in disbelief, unable to process what she had heard.
"It's a long and complicated story… I'll tell you someday," I said, without clarifying that the 'father' of these spiders was quite literal, leaving the truth to interpretation. "You only need to know they're on our side. In fact, they survived only because they felt a connection with me; otherwise, they'd already be spider food, or worse…"
The confession left the girls breathless. Having felt death so close and discovering that their only salvation lay in that invisible bond was a bitter mix of relief and terror. Curiosity grew, but none were willing to ask further then and there.
"Let's rescue the remaining ones," I said finally, lifting them from the ground and continuing the search.
The girls clung to me as if my mere presence were their only guarantee of safety. The shadow of my spider daughters made them deeply uneasy, but they didn't dare question it.
The next we found was Cho. Her condition, along with Millicent and Pansy's, was the worst. The venom in her body and her injuries were severe; in fact, leaving her connected to the Red Web had been the only thing keeping her vital signs intact. The scene was disturbing: unconscious, eyes wide and bloodshot, pus leaking from her tear ducts.
I focused on healing her while she remained entangled, stabilizing her before lowering her. Gradually, the venom receded and her color returned. Finally, when safe, I laid her on the ground and completed the remaining care.
The girls watched in silence, a mix of fear and relief, as Cho went from near death to breathing calmly. They had all carried the guilt of thinking they hadn't saved her and had lost her forever; now, seeing her recover restored their strength. Even Penelope, the calmest, let out a long sigh, revealing the weight lifted from her conscience.
Cho was stable. Like the others, she would need rest, potions, and good food, but she would recover. I handed her over to my daughters to carry as well.
"Let's go. Only one more," I said, marking the end of the path.
The girls felt immensely relieved that this was almost over. Their only desire was to escape the forest forever, return to the castle, and bury themselves in their beds. The experience had been a brutal reality check, showing them how helpless they were against dangers they had never imagined.