Records of Rebirth

It was better if she didn't return to the cave after what she had done. She was strong enough to survive on her own anyway – was Morgana's first thought as she blinked the haziness away from her eyes.

But not even a moment later, she shook her head.

Why should she be the one to leave, when she clearly had the upper hand?

How glorious the blood looked against Typhon's dusky scales, his vibrant eyes dull, as he lay dying from a savage wound. She could still taste a hint of crimson on her tongue and the euphoric feeling of Ophelia completely crumbling at the sight of his lifeless body.

Knowing she had killed him, sent a rush of blood through her veins, and Ophelia's helpless reaction was so delicious, Morgana didn't want it to end.

Her fellow nestlings were no different from prey in her eyes, and she knew exactly what to bite to get the right reaction.

For Ophelia it was Typhon, and for Typhon it was a cross between Ophelia and 'her'.

What duplicitous serpents.

To end both of their lives would be her crowning achievement, and she released her coil to silence Ophelia's cry, only to find no one there.

The rush of adrenalin left her system, and Morgana looked around in a daze, her surroundings completely unfamiliar.

This was not the cave, so where the hell was she?

And where was Typhon's body?

Observing her surroundings, she realised she was in the underground den of some creature.

The warm air clung to her scales, hanging thickly with the scent of blood and Morgana blinked in disbelief, realising the beautiful scene she saw earlier was nothing but a sham.

A pleasant one, but a dream, nonetheless.

Her tensed coils drooped in disappointment. The dream felt so real, and even now there was a lingering sense of pleasure from what she had experienced.

But soon the memory faded, replaced instead by annoyance, and a persistent hunger.

The last thing she remembered was storming out of the cave after Typhon denied her request to remove Arsinoe for the second time. 

Since her promotion, the cave had become suffocating with 'that' idiotic snake showing off her fake authority at every opportunity, and Morgana was fed up with watching her.

And so, she went out for a hunt to relieve her stress.

That much she remembered, but not how she arrived here.

Her surroundings were shabby compared to the cave, and she looked around, only to see a some creature lying in the dirt, in a pool of blood.

That explained the smell, Morgana thought, and she eagerly slithered over to it.

The creature was still alive and bleeding, its wound horribly necrosized by poison, and what's more – there were some cubs! She noticed broken shell fragments strewn about, and a number of hairy fur balls crowding around the creature, mewling pitifully. 

How convenient – her mouth was watering from hunger right now.

Morgana praised herself for having the foresight to leave the creature alive, because of this, its blood was still warm, unlike the food in the cave. She could already guess what had happened.

She must have poisoned the creature when she was upset and followed it back to its cave to finish it off, and then she must've fallen unconscious here. As for the cubs, perhaps she didn't notice them before.

Not that it mattered, they looked too small compared to the wounded creature, who was also not as big as she remembered. Eating all seven of them would hardly count as a meal now.

Morgana sighed, and slithered over to begin.

Too bad it wasn't actually Typhon, but her body quivered with excitement at the thought of the many ways she could kill the creatures before her.

So, when one of the cubs tried to stop her, she reacted instinctively, striking out with so much force that it was thrown towards the opposite end of the cave with an audible crunch.

Hm? Did she kill it just like that?

It was then that she noticed the winged appendages along the sides of her serpentine body and the sight made her reel in shock.

She had grown a pair of wings, just like Ophelia. 

The discovery made her shiver with joy, so much so that she ignored the quivering creatures before her and pranced around to stare at herself. That's when she began to notice her scales were now a different shade, her body was bigger and she felt stronger and faster than before.

But she paused. Why did she only have a single pair of wings when Ophelia had several?

The drastic difference put an instant damper on her mood.

Why wasn't it the same when they had similar skills?

Morgana looked around the cave in dissatisfaction. There wasn't much to see, so her disdain turned towards the monsters who quivered as they saw her approaching. None of the cubs tried to attack her, having realized the difference in strength and submitted to their helplessness. 

They were too small to keep her interested anyway, so she focused on the wounded mother, dangling one of the cubs in front of her. 

She looked forward to seeing what face the creature would make.

Would it try to fight?

Pull up its ruined body from the ground to rescue her cubs?

Or would it remain curled up in a defeated state?

Still chasing the rush of her dream, Morgana wished to recreate the beautiful scene in real life.

However, as she watched the monster's eyes, no emotion flared from within, she only saw the reflection of her glowing yellow eyes.

Hah. 

What was she expecting?

Monsters had no need for such sentiments, and if not for the senseless drivel Typhon had been filling their heads up with, she would never think this way either.

This monster was only a reflection of what she was supposed to be like, and she sighed – If there was no reaction, it wasn't much fun to torment it. 

And she threw the cub aside, only to see a flicker of something in the monster's eyes.

Panic.

Morgana burst out laughing.

She could almost read the monster's thoughts - It was hoping she would be sated after eating its young and leave, but when she threw the cub away, its last hope vanished. 

Seeing this, Morgana smiled, her interest piqued once again. 

What a selfish creature. And so terribly afraid.

Therefore, she set about eating it while it was still on its last breath, the fear and agony in its eyes adding a euphoric flavour to the meat. 

By the time she was done, the cave was unrecognisable. 

Due to her messy fighting style, everything was drenched in ichor, including the last cub.

It was the only one that was still alive, while the others who had tried to prevent her from eating their mother, were all killed mercilessly. 

Morgana couldn't help but remark how this was completely opposite to Ophelia's mindset who wouldn't have killed those cubs.

Not because she was any less cruel, but because she simply didn't consider any monster worthy enough to show her regard.

Perhaps this was why her evolution turned out different.

But in Morgana's eyes, Ophelia was much worse than herself – at least she felt something for the monsters she killed. 

Due to this impartial persona, she wasn't sure how Ophelia viewed her. 

Was she the same as other monsters, or was she something more, like Typhon. 

This uncertainty piqued Morgana's interest more, so much that it was all she thought about, which eventually led her to befriending Ophelia. 

She didn't care that her ability to make others do as she wished was something that could easily be turned on her, if anything it thrilled her, and in her eagerness to dig up all her secrets she ran towards the source. 

Like a game to see who would surpass the other – if only Typhon would get out of the way.

If he wasn't around, Ophelia would be more open to sharing her thoughts!

Morgana pouted – she didn't want to think dark thoughts. 

She was almost outside the cave when she heard a mewling noise.  Turning around, she saw the last cub had gone over to nudge its fallen brethren and her eyes sparkled with interest. 

Did it learn nothing? How foolish.

With a single slash, the cub crumbled beside the rest of its family, its head rolling a distance away. Morgana flapped her wings and leapt into the air without a second look back, eager and excited to spread sore into the air. 

Seeing the cave come into view, she swooped down towards the entrance, careful to land away from all the traps. On her way in, her team member whom she had taken to calling 'Ana' exclaimed as she saw her enter.

[You've changed! Our Captain is really the best – ]

But Morgana paid her no mind, ignoring Ana whose eyes shimmered with happiness.

The cave was bustling as usual. There were many tasks still yet to be completed and she soon spotted Typhon on the other side. Ophelia was with him, and she gave her a cheery smile and an affirmative nod.

There was no look of surprise, no questioning or even a slight pause, which was quite irritating.

But Morgana did not take it to heart – this was to be expected from her rival.

The nestlings on the other hand, all went quiet with a mixture of surprise and envy – even Galahad did a double take when he saw her.

However, Morgana ignored everyone's stares as she searched through the crowd for the one she was looking for.

On finding Arsinoe, she fixed her with a superior gaze, showing her that even though she got some flimsy authority, she was still beneath her. 

Arsinoe felt thoroughly suppressed and trembled in anger, looking as if she was about to cry.

And her reaction made Morgana thoroughly satisfied.