"Today's the day."
Corvus slid in his key and opened the door. He put his grocery bag down. He was stretching his arms, his legs, and doing some hip twists. His eyes were glued to one specific spot in the house. The webs were practically invisible to the naked eye but Corvus knew his opponent was there, menacingly eating a mosquito.
He reached into the bag and grabbed a spray bottle.
"They didn't have any spider specific ones but ants should work right?"
Step by step, watching his little opponent's every move, he approached the web. It was in the corner of the ceiling. The spider was staring curiously, wondering what his giant roommate would do this time. Without warning, Corvus flooded the spider's home.
A sharp psssst of aerosol filled the air. The smell was awful, but he couldn't back away from this.
He put on a sympathetic expression, "I'm sorry little one, I have nothing against you but you broke our pact."
Another burst of pssst, the webs were thoroughly covered in the liquid.
"You stay hidden and eat the bugs that dare to roam this land," he looked at the web, "Plus it's annoying to clean up."
The spider was struggling to breathe. For its final attempt, it jumped. His landing was perfect. A forest of sorts that provided ample cover: the giant's hair.
"Fuck."
Corvus dropped the spray and began to ruffle his hair as quickly and as vigorously as he could. He felt a few legs but they weren't there when he attacked.
"Get off me."
He was bumping into the walls, then into the couch. He also ran into the table.
"Shit."
His eyes closed for a second, he felt something crawling up his eyelid. He smacked his eyeball and started rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, please be dead. Oh please."
The spider was standing on the marble kitchen table. It looked up at his opponent. Corvus finally snapped.
"You're about to get swatted."
The fly swatter was in his hand. The plan was simple: bomb-rush the false bug and slap it into oblivion. He dashed forward.
The spray bottle was still on the ground. Corvus slipped. It went by so fast. His head went straight first into the marble countertop. He lost consciousness immediately.
—-
A shock went through Corvus' body. He jolted awake. Pitch black and a warm liquid all around him. A small hole was made above him and a beam of sunlight hit him in the face. After closing his eyes instinctively, he opened them again. A small spider stood next to the hole.
"You!"
He wasted no time and punched towards it, breaking a paper-like barrier and landing face-first into some sort of sticky substance. He felt it covering most of his face and his left arm. Behind him he could see a small egg with a Corvus-sized hole in it. A baby-Corvus-sized hole.
"What?"
He looked around, trying to make sense of the situation. Webs, more webs, then an egg, lastly a woman. A woman covered in yellow egg goo. She was staring daggers at Corvus. The small spider on her shoulder was also staring daggers with its four pink eyes and four black eyes.
Corvus felt a quiver in his stomach. He shook his head and tried to free himself from the web. After managing to sit straight he saw an even tinier spider on his leg. The spider stared back at him. A sort of weird sparkle in its eyes.
Corvus' eyes blurred and he could see two unique visions. A small hairless baby looking at him and a small hairy spider looking at him. He moved right and the spider moved right. He blinked and the spider blinked.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" the woman said.
Corvus looked at the woman. She was almost fully cleaned up. She had long black hair and a slender face. A silk crown rested on her head. In the blink of an eye she was in front of Corvus.
"You've sullied the matriarch. Execution would be appropriate yet..., " she narrowed her eyes, "You're so adorable."
She lifted Corvus up and twirled him around.
"My baby boy."
They were spinning faster and faster. She stopped and looked into his eyes, with a serious expression.
"From now on your name is Corvus Avern."
Corvus felt something wrong with that statement but he was too disoriented to figure out what. The lady picked up the spider that was on Corvus' lap.
"Careful little Corvi, you have to take care of both of your bodies okay?" she said while she petted the small spider.
Corvus closed his spider eyes. It felt relaxing.
"My lady Lyssandra, Miss Valerica has asked if she could enter the hatching chamber. She would like to check up on her sacrifice," a voice came from the door.
That managed to get Corvus' attention. A chill went down his spine.
"Let her in," Lyssandra said.
She put Corvus down and cleared her throat. Her whole demeanor changed, she didn't look kind anymore. She looked like a matriarch.
A black-haired girl walked on the webs with ease, she had a cold expression on her face, her eyes softened just a little when she glanced at Corvus.
"Mother, I thought he wasn't supposed to hatch for another week," Valerica said.
Valerica walked closer to Corvus and crouched down to get to eye level.
"Is he defective? It wouldn't be possible to perform the sacrifice with a defective male."
The little spider on Lyssandra's shoulder hissed. A thin line of web appeared out of thin air and pulled Valerica away from Corvus.
"You think I'd choose a defective egg?" Lyssandra said. Her tone was threatening.
"I trust in your judgement mother, it just seemed odd that he would come out a week early," Valerica said as she regained her balance.
Corvus looked up at Valerica. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him.
"That simply means you get to eat him a week earlier than expected. I suggest you train harder if you want to become the next matriarch," Lyssandra said as she walked towards the exit.
Corvus' spider flinched.
"Yes mother."
Valerica started walking towards the exit but she stopped short. After checking to see if anyone was nearby, she walked towards Corvus and patted him on his bald head. She dashed off before he could say anything. All he could think of was that he was going to be eaten by his sister.
He shook his head. He obviously misheard twice. Surely babies mishear things?!
He felt a small pair of legs crawl up his human body's neck. The tiny spider was looking at him with gleaming eyes. After 1 second he felt a connection.
[Corvus Avern]
[Age: 0]
[Species: Black Widow]
[Magic: None]
[System: Not yet activated]
Corvus fell asleep. His baby body couldn't handle much more than this. He thought it was all a weird dream.