Tears Of The Gods

Chapter 4 - Guan Yu

A tall, rectangular man walked toward me, he was all lines and angles, the only thing curvy about him was the precise bun sitting atop his head, held in place by two sharp, green pins. In one hand, he held a Guandao and in the other, a sheathed sabre. He was cloaked in green, but silks of blue and turquoise blew out from behind him, golden armour peeked out from beneath his cloak, catching the light. Red and gold belts held his garments in place. His beard was long and black, matching his hair. His face seemed to be set in a permanent frown, his dark brown eyes looked me up and down. "Tall, lithe, a bit too slim, could do with a haircut, long arms, longer legs and brown eyes..." He analysed, "We start in one hour, you will find appropriate clothes in Arachne's tent, after you have changed, Jing Wei will accompany you to the weapons tent." With that, he rolled his eyes, turned stiffly, then strode away purposefully.

"Well... That was... Pleasant." I muttered to myself before heading back toward the centre of the camp and into the shade of an ancient looking tree. A large circular tent was propped on the side of it, the tent was a deep red with gold accents, glittering in the dappled tree light. The flaps at the front of the tent opened as I approached. A warm light greeting me as I entered. It was bigger on the inside. Rows of clothes and uniforms, staffs and swords were laid out before me, all beckoning for me to take them. "Welcome, child..." A malicious voice purred. I scanned the room, looking for a body, listening for the tiniest hint of human life. "Nothing to fear here child, nothing to fear." The voice sounded again, this time it was closer. I dashed towards the entrance of the tent but found it was gone, no rope or boards. The fabric had simply merged back together, as if there was never anything there. "Child, why are you running?" Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention, a warm, rancid breath brushed past my ear. I twisted around to find nothing. I looked up.

She was something out of my nightmares. She was... almost human. From her torso down, where her legs should have been, was the body of a spider. Eight legs and all. From there up, was an almost human body. She was covered in spines and bristles. She had mandibles jutting out of the sides of her chin and her forehead. She had long, white, flowing hair and violet almond shaped eyes. Her long black nails were shining venomously. She was wearing a dark purple chest plate and her (eight) legs had matching armour, studded with green jewels. She was a monstrosity, yet, a somehow elegant one. Though she wore fearsome armour and bared pointed fangs, she had a style about her. Draped around her body was a delicate pink, silk ribbon that flowed gracefully about her body with every move. The thread she hung by was impossibly thin, yet she hung by it artfully. She was the perfect mix of terror and beauty. "Child, I know I am a creature of beauty, but seriously, you've been staring at me for like eight minutes now and it's starting to get a bit creepy," She said. I quickly averted my eyes, my cheeks flushing. I waddled awkwardly over to a stand of beautiful silken gowns; they seemed to flow by themselves, without a gust of wind present. She pulled her hand through them; they were light and heavy at the same time, both translucent and concealing. They seemed to draw light in from around them to produce an otherworldly glow. "My best work," she smiled. "Do you know who I am?" She questioned.

"Should I?" I retorted.

"I was but a lowly shepherd's daughter but I had immense skill as a weaver. I may have been slightly boastful of my skills, when suddenly, an enraged Athena appeared and challenged me to a contest. Athena weaved four tapestries, depicting Gods punishing humans for considering themselves as equal to the Gods. I wove four scenes as well, showing the Gods abusing humans. My work was clearly better then Athena's, just making her angrier! And what I had woven didn't help either... In her rage, Athena tossed Hecate's potion at me, transforming me into this and condemned me to do nothing but weave for the rest of my life... She will pay for this."

"... Bummer," was all I had to say. I couldn't help feeling sorry for her, she couldn't have been more than 20 years old, and even in this form, she was still a thing of beauty and skill.

"Anyway," Arachne quickly chirped, "that's enough feeling sorry for myself for one day, now it's time to pick out some clothes for you!" She grinned at me, baring her sharp fangs... I smiled back, though I think it came out as more of a grimace.

"Okay, so, Freya... What type of a look are you going for?" she quizzed, "A bad girl look, or maybe a bit more refined" she said, almost to herself.

"I was thinking something more on the lines of... Convenient, comfortable, but still strong and elegant," I offered.

"As always, I have just the thing." She squeaked, before scuttling off. "Follow!" She ordered. I jumped at the harshness in her voice before sprinting towards her voice.

I soon got lost among the rows and rows of stunning clothes, I started wondering, trailing my hands through the beautifully constructed clothes, each as light as air in my hands.

I yelped as a face burst through the clothes, shrieking and choking back laughs at the same time, "Gotcha!" She snorted, hysterical laughter consuming her, "anyway, here it is," she wheezed. She held up a pair of tight fitting pants, attached to them were scales of blackened metal and hardened leather, in her other hand, she clutched an armoured black bodice, paired with a matching black tunic. She put down the pants and picked up a black, velvety cloak.

"Oh. My. God... I love it!" I screamed, hopping up and down, "you are a miracle worker!" I ran up to her, my former thoughts on her looks forgotten as I hugged her tightly. She smiled and led me to the fitting rooms.

The clothes felt like a second skin, the armour was light as a feather. I spun around, admiring myself in the mirror, also admiring Arachne's beautiful handiwork. Arachne let out an excited squeal as I drew back the curtains, flaunting my new look. "Now that I've gotten your battle gear down pat, we have more clothes to attend to! Since the first place you'll be going to is Egypt, we'll need to get you a nice, light dress, but of course, we cannot forget their fabulous makeup!" She exclaimed as she rushed off again.

She returned once more holding a long, linen dress and a large jewel encrusted box. She held up the dress before me with a self-assured nod, "How's this?" She asked. It was... Unique. It looked like it had been bedazzled by an overexcited six-year-old, to say the least. It had one shoulder strap across the chest that would barely cover anything and was so long that it didn't appear to be easy to walk in.

"Could I maybe try picking something out?" I replied, carefully making sure I didn't sound too repulsed. Again, Arachne led me through the tent.

We arrived and I instantly spotted the perfect dress, it was a deep, rich crimson. The neck line was lined with gold and the back was semi-transparent. It was a mid-length dress and stopped just above the knees. "This one!" I barked as I turned around.

"Okay, but I liked the first one better," she mumbled. We made the journey back to the changing rooms where I slipped into the dress, it was soft and light. The dress seemed to billow around me, as if it were blown by an invisible wind.

I stepped out again, showing off the dress to Arachne. Her jaw dropped, but before she could speak, I slipped back into the changing rooms to get changed back into my combat outfit.

"Thank you so much Arachne!" I said thankfully, "But I think it's about time I headed off for training, bye!" She waved me off as I parted the tent flaps.

I jumped back in fright, falling flat on my back, flailing my arms. A teenager stood in front of me, jumping from foot to foot over excitedly. She looked down at me, smiling manically. "Hi there!" She squealed, "I'm Jing Wei!" She grabbed my wrists harshly then yanked me up. "Let's be best friends!" She shouted, "It's time to train!" She exclaimed, dragging out the last word.

Still tightly clutching my left wrist, she half dragged me toward a large, marble dome.