Waiting...

Eruka was waiting in Medusa's lair, rather alone, mind you.. She has just had a chat with Medusa through her own soul, letting her know about Medusa's next plan. She waited for Mizune to return back from her mission.

Just then, Mizune came back, looking rather worn from the mission.

"Chichi... I am back... But I have bad news..."

Though Mizune was expecting Mederei to be here, she only saw Eruka. Hm. Whatever.

"... Eh. Eruka, I failed my mission... I got interrupted by a Death Scythe before I could complete it.. Chichi... I don't think Medusa will be happy with me..."

The moment Mizune admitted her mistake, Eruka's facial expression changed to a snake-like demeanor. It seems as though Medusa was listening the entire time.

"Do not fret, Mizune... Even though you were unsuccessful in your mission, we can always go back to Shibusen after we take down Arachne... Just go and take care of Crona."

It seems as though Medusa was feeling rather... blissful at the moment.. Especially if she hadn't reprimanded for a failed mission... Hm. Something about this plan must be really good.

"While Mizune stays here and manages Crona... You, Eruka... Hmhmhm... You already know the plan. But who we need right now is... FREE."

She called out to him, the name echoing throughout every inch of the immense lair. She needed him now, it seemed.

Mizune was rather grateful that she wasn't getting punished.. But at what cost? Now she had to go take care of Crona instead of going on a mission... Looks like that was her punishment after all. She might die trying to deal with Crona... Dammit.

"... Y-yes, Lady Medusa.." Mizune would say, sulking. She made her way up to... Crona's room...

(-Free would walk into the immense lair only to see Mizune leaving and Eruka waiting in the center. He was cleaning his ears from the constant ringing in his head as he also began to yawn, showing that he was merely sleeping this whole time.-)

"God dammit cant I get some sleep in this castle?!?"

Eruka sighed, bowing deeply to Free.

"... Awwww... I'm sorry, Free, I did not mean to disturb you..."

Though Medusa had something different to say.

"Free. You and Eruka are going to go on a special mission for me... Because I have already opened a pathway into Arachne's lair, you and her shall be my eyes and ears for a while... Enter Arachne's lair and disguise yourself as one of her own. Make sure not to get caught. You two will be staying there for a while... Can you handle it?"

Regardless of Free's answer, he would be going anyway, and it should be very clear to him that he knew this.

(-Free would face palm knowing that was nothing he can do about this. He really wanted to get back to his chambers and sleep but knowing Medusa she was going to punish him by some strange experiments or something of that nature so he had no choice.-)

"Damn, and I was looking forward to my sleep."

Medusa laughed through Eruka.

"Oh, do not worry, Free, you will get your sleep.. Once you infiltrate Baba Yaga's Castle, you can sleep all you want... I just need you and Eruka to be my eyes and ears... You needn't do anything else..."

And then, Medusa left. She was already very tied up as it was with other affairs, so now Eruka was in control.

"Geko... Medusa-sama left markers that would lead us to Arachne's lair... Geko. But only I can see them because they're made of her special, invisible vector magic, Geko..."

Eruka would walk over to Free and grab his hand, vigorously pulling him to the exit.

"Well, Free, let's go~! We might as well do as she says, right?"

Otama Jackson would float over to Eruka and she would jump on top of him, flying toward the door.

(-Free would shake his as Eruka began pulling him towards the door he hopped on the back of otama as the two of them headed out towards their destination.-)

--- Time Skip---


Eruka would return on Free's back, jumping off and letting the invisible spirit serpent spit out the body of Arachne, which would turn back to normal. Eruka plopped down, dead tired, sighing heavily.

"Well... We did it, Free... We can rest for a while whilst Medusa-sama takes care of some business... Ahhh... It's good to relax... gekoooo~."

(-Free would stop as he leaned against the a random object. His speed had increased some from collecting the souls of those guards. He hasent felt power like this since he took on the head witch.free then looked over towards the body wondering why it was here.-)

"whats with the body again?"

Eruka turned to the body of Arachne, puzzled.

"Geko?... Geeeekori... Medusa-sama didn't tell me what it was for.... We just came across the lifeless body of Arachne in our sleuthing, and Medusa-sama insisted that we bring it back here to the lair... What do you think she wants us to do with it?"

Eruka got up and walked over to it, poking it with a random stick.

"Should you honestly poke it with a stick eruka?"

(-Free walked up behind her as she nudged the body with his massive feet. -)

Eruka continued to poke it, looking at Free's foot.

"Gekoooo... I just want to make sure it's dead... And that it doesn't come back up and eat me or anything.. You're an immortal, Free... You don't have to worry about things like that geko."

Eruka stood up, concluding that the body was completely and utterly dead. She gave a heavy sigh of relief.

"... Well... What do we do until Medusa-sama comes back..? I can't just sit here and do nothing... I want to go out and destroy stuff!"

A Tadpole Bomb would appear in her hand, floating slightly above it. Eruka would bounce it around in the air playfully, wanting to go explode something...

".....You know we could always...OH lets go collect souls!!!! You got two so far right, I got ten there has to be somewhere we can go."

Eruka's eyes widened and she was overcome with joy.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Free! I bet Medusa-sama would be very happy if we got stronger! It's always good to have a lot of souls..."

Though, Eruka looked down at Arachne's body, then back up to Free.

"... But we can't just leave this here geko... Who is going to watch it geko geko? Mizune is busy in Crona's room, watching her... I dunno what happened to that other cheeky guy... And the Kishin is the Kishin, he'd probably destroy the body gekori..."

She sighed, sitting down on one of the floating blocks, kicking her feet, thinking even more.

"What about leaving Otama Jackson here to watch the corpse? If need be I can just teleport back here if there was a problem of sorts."

(Free can't teleport. XDD)

Eruka nodded.

"Yes yes! Otama Jackson can watch the body! But... I didn't know you could teleport, Free! When did this happen...?"

Eruka was stunned at this certain ability that he had... He never displayed it before.

(I can use spatial magic but i cant teleport??)

"What, I got the head witches eye Im sure if i add spatial magic around us teleportation would be possible"

(We're going strictly by powers they had in the anime/manga. Now, if you go LEARN teleportation from someone, that's different. Until it's revealed in the manga, Free can't teleport here unless he goes to learn from someone. For all we know, he could need ALL of Mabaa's Spatial Magic to use that power.)

Eruka lowered her head slightly "Ge... gekori... Free... I don't think that's how Mabaa-sama's eye works... Geko geko."

She used her own power to bring Otama Jackson to the scene instantaneously and seemingly out of nowhere without any form of poof or smoke or anything... Mmm. No one knows how these familiars are made.. Oh well.

"Otama Jackson, can you watch Arachne's body while we're gone? It would be greatly appreciated!" Eruka started to pet Otama Jackson, and he would smile, nodding accordingly. He could defend himself thanks to the magical boost to Eruka... He was far larger than his original size...

Eruka smiled "Aww, I love you, Otama Jackson~!" She then turned to Free. "Well... Shall we go, Free?"

(-Free would scratch his head some in a confusing type manner. He thought he could do that but I guess he was wrong. Maybe he could learn it but any way he was bummed that he couldn't do so.-)

"Yea lets go."

(-Free would place Eruka on his shoulders as they headed out for souls.-)

-- Time Skip --

Reverting back to a physical form, Mederei had just gotten out of the battle with Fuuma Tera. It was intense and she aimed to kill him, but there was no time for that at that point... She needed to be back here with the body of Arachne. Besides... The wavelength of the Kishin should do sufficient damage to him.

Mederei noticed that Otama Jackson was watching after the body... Mmm...

"... Eruka and Free must be out doing something... I can monitor where Eruka is through my snakes... She seems to be collecting souls along with Free geko. Good... Now when they get back, there won't be any time to waste... Kaerei. You may have the body of this little girl from now on.. Because now, I have the body of an adult... My sister, Arachne."

With that, Mederei started to chant.

"Naaake snake... cobra cobubra.... Naaaake snaaaake cobra cobubra.... Soul Disperse."

She would move her entire soul from the child's body that she was originally residing in, and then move it into Arachne's body, possessing her soulless body and making it her own, since no other souls were in it.

The moment Medusa's soul hit Arachne's, it came to life... And was changed quite quickly to resemble Medusa rather than Arachne, since Arachne's soul was gone. The elongated face changed to a slightly larger face, the eyes becoming snake-like with narrowed pupils. Her hair stayed black like Arachne's, but instantly formed into the style of Medusa's original hair, the little snake-tongue curl and all. The long, spider-like dress instantly became a shortened hoodie-dress, mixing Medusa's trademark hoodie with Arachne's dress to come to a compromise between the two, and Medusa's vector snake tail sticking out in the back. Around the collar of her hoodie was a spider-web, signifying some traits of Arachne still applied to this body, which was basically good all the same for Medusa... For now she had a bit of Arachne's power within her own power.



"... Excellent... Well done, Eruka... Free..." she would say to them, even though they weren't in the area. Medusa was happy to have her own body back... Though she enjoyed Kaerei's power, she had gotten a little tired of being so cramped in that tiny child's body... it barely held Medusa's soul, so holding Kaerei's as well was difficult.

"... You know, if you wish, you may return to your swamp. You are a significant ally and I need you in your own environment. I will not hesitate to find you if I need you, however..."

Medusa had not yet looked at Kaerei's new form... But meh. She'd be fine.

Kaerei was finally in her own body... Even if it was the body of a little girl. Though, Kaerei could deal with this a lot more than Medusa could... Made her more flexible and agile, and less susceptible to attacks, since she was a smaller target. She was fine with this.

"Geko... Geko geko geko... Finally... I have my own body back... Gekori..."

Kaerei assumed her normal position of squatting down, looking creepily at the ground. As a little girl, she seemed to have large, cute frog gloves and a frog hat, both being a grayish black sort of color. Her hair was still long and silver, but was in pig tails, and her insane, menacing stare was more cute than it was creepy... And she wore a dress. Hm. Not only that, but she didn't have those flaps around her legs or waist she could extend or use as a parachute... Hm. But her dress could serve that purpose from now on. Everything about Kaerei was fine.

"... Gekori... If you ever need me, snake witch... You have my gratitude for that magic... and those souls... Gekogekogekogeko..."

And with that, Kaerei started to seep into the ground as if it were a liquid, as she hadn't done in so long, making her way back to the Black Swamp... Boy, it had been too long.

A little while after that, Eruka and Free were heading into the doors of the castle. Eruka would jump off of Free's back and run over to the woman who was standing on one of the blocks. It was Medusa....

"Medusa-sama! You look different... Your soul looks different, too...!"

Eruka could only assume that she had taken over the body of Arachne, since she didn't see it on the floor anymore. Ewwww.

"Geko? Wait, where's Kaerei? I liked her geko..."