The Spider Queen

"Fuck… I hate teleportation…" Sophie groaned in pain as she bent over and tried her best not to vomit.

It was never a pleasant experience to have your body dissolve into light particles and then be transported to some unknown location.

The hybrid girl took a moment to steady herself before turning her attention to the new place that she found herself in.

The room was around the size of a football field and was surrounded by thick grey walls that extended upwards in every direction.

It was almost like some kind of cage…

In the middle of the field was a small antique table and Sophie could see two envelops resting on its wooden surface,

She looked around a few times for any hidden threats, but her danger sense did not activate, nor did she sense that anything was wrong.

"Okay…  so, this is the second stage…" Sophie whispered to herself as she reached into her storage bag and pulled out two vials.

Now she was beginning to regret not bringing Moon along to the final round as she originally planned.

It was just that her mischievous Frostwing bat had spent the night before the exam watching cartoons, so he was fast asleep when it was time to leave for the arena.

Damn it!

Sophie silently promised herself to be more strict towards her lazy combat pet once she returned to the mansion.

The hybrid girl cautiously walked over to the table and contemplated activating her foresight ability but the throbbing in her mind persuaded her otherwise.

She was not strong enough to use it continuously without suffering from a severe mental backlash, so it was best to save it as a last resort.

Sophie stretched out her hand and picked up the two plain brown envelopes that seemed quite unremarkable.

There were words written down on each envelope.

The words 'Open Me!' were written on the front of the first envelope while the second had the warning 'Don't Open Me!'.

That was it?

Sophie furrowed her brows as the envelopes in her palm seemed to be heavier than before.

She was curious about the second envelope but after thinking about it for a minute… it was probably best to go with the safer option.

The hybrid girl placed the second envelope back on the wooden table and then opened the first one.

There was a thin sheet of paper hidden inside the envelope and someone had written out a long paragraph.

Sophie did not recognise the handwriting style used to write the paragraph, but the words were written quite elegantly.

Dear Reader,

One must have the ability to break the rules! Do not limit yourself by following orders but rather allow the creative passion of your inner artist to explode!

Life is too short! One must have goals! Ambitions! Drive!

The punishment for playing it safe… well… I'm afraid that you will have to deal with my talented students!

Art speaks to the heart of living… it is an experience that cannot be replicated by mere machines… one needs to posses a soul…

Allow me to show you what I mean…

Yours Sincerely,

A passionate artist.

Sophie hurriedly dropped the piece of paper as it suddenly ignited in a burning flame. She saw that the second envelope on the wooden table had also burst into flames.

Danger! Danger! Danger!

The hybrid girl ducked down and narrowly avoided a sharp object that passed mere inches away from her head.

The grey walls surrounding the field trembled and numerous humanoid shaped holes appeared across different locations.

Hundreds if not thousands of tiny child-like creatures ran through the holes while shouting in a language that Sophie could not understand.

These child-like creatures had greyish-black skin, three eyes and scales that ran across the width of their bodies.

They were each dressed in plain white overalls and held what looked like brushes in one hand while the other held a can filled with an unknown liquid.

Each brush had been dipped in a different colour of paint, so the overall scene was one of vibrance and colour.

The floor shuddered twice, and Sophie had to dig her bladed appendages into the ground to stop herself from falling down.

The creatures shrieked and hollered in excitement as they dipped their paintbrushes in the cans that they were holding.

More creatures came out of the holes in the wall and these newcomers were carrying blank canvas which they handed over to their brethren.

The strange aliens formed groups of ten and became to paint the blank canvases while completely ignoring the hybrid girl standing in the middle of the field.

Sophie wasn't sure how to react and since she was surrounded, it would be unwise to make any sudden movements.

However, she was far from helpless…

Rsychosis!

Sophie's figure blurred and then multiple identical copies of herself appeared out of thin air.

There were seven mirror clones in total, and each wore various confused expressions as they stared at the creatures.

"Are they…umm… painting?" one of the clones asked quietly.

"Yeah… I think so…" another replied as she stared at the creatures who were completely engrossed in their art.

Sophie's clones huddled together in a group and soon a lively debate started happening between the members.

"So, what now? Do you want us to kill them? Or…"

"Kill this… kill that… what if they are friendly?"

"Are you stupid? This is clearly part of the second stage? God… I swear none of you morons actually pay attention to the memories…"

"Stupid? If I'm stupid, then you are as well!"

Sophie coughed twice to get their attention and seven pairs of eyes immediately stared at her.

"Okay… how about you two go and approach them but don't make any hostile moves unless they attack first," Sophie suggested as she singled out two mirror copies in the back.

The two unlucky clones exchanged glances and one of them let out a heavy sigh. They lazily nodded at Sophie before heading off towards the nearest canvas.

The ten child-like creatures surrounding the canvas didn't even seem to notice the clones even as they got closer.

One of the clones raised up her body using her bladed appendages to get a better view and peered at the drawing on the canvas.

It was some kind of horrific monster with six arms, four of those arms seemed to be coming out of its back… truly a disgusting sight…

Wait a moment… was that supposed to be Sophie?

The clone struggled to contain her laughter and she immediately sent her memory along the mental network to the other mirror copies.

The mirror copy was about to get a closer look when something lightly tapped her on the leg.

She looked down to the see that one of the creatures had somehow managed to approach her without being noticed.

"Hey… little guy… how…" the mirror clone's words were suddenly cut off as the creature shoved her with a surprisingly large amount of force towards the painting.

Sophie's mirror image closed her eyes as she struck the canvas and felt her body suddenly become weightless.

She opened her eyes and discovered that she had now become trapped inside the painting!