Records of Rebirth

Even before she arrived, the frightful aura she emitted brought all of them to the ground, including the Veladrys.

Typhon found it impossible to rise up, and all around him, the nestlings were the same.

With his head low, all he could hear were anxious cries as nestlings panicked for their lives.

Their leader only hovered above them, but with every beat of her wings, he saw shadows spreading across the forest like flames, and wherever they touched, the leaves and petals shrivelled up until they withered.

The scale and threat of her ominous visage were in full view, and among them, it seemed only the lizard was immune to this pressure.

But even then, Typhon's discontent was immeasurable.

Although the Veladrys were on the ground, he saw their trees continue to grow and flower, forever tainting their section of the forest with their presence.

How could they continue to fulfil her orders, even after forcing their leader to abandon her task and return here?

Typhon was enraged – just how selfish were they? 

And who did their Queen Mother think she was trying to bully?

Did she think their leader was so easy?

When Typhon thought of this person whom he'd never met before, he felt an uncontrollable desire to kill her.

He should never have accepted their help.

If he didn't, how would that Queen Mother dare to act so arrogant?

Yet, as the shadowy serpent swooped down, everything stopped.

The frightful, oppressive aura withdrew, and Typhon could move again as could the rest of the nestlings.

When he looked up, everyone around him were trembling, as were the Veladrys on the ground, and he could see why.

Aside from their leader's terrifying visage, two other nightmarish creatures followed behind her, creatures that on closer inspection, seemed more skeleton and rotten flesh than monsters.

Were they the creatures he'd glimpsed in the shadows?

Together their aura was immense, but his gaze remained on the quiet aura of the serpent between them.

However, to his surprise, 'she' slithered over to the lizard with haste, like her surroundings were terrifying, nothing at all like her aura implied. 

The two seemed to communicate before 'she' turned to gaze at him and his fellow bowing nestlings with a look of anxiety.

Was he mistaken, or did she look unhappy?

It seemed like she didn't like how they remained down, making both he and Ophelia confused, so they ordered the nestlings to rise up.

But then, something even worse occurred.

Their leader approached the trembling Veladrys, and instead of ripping them to shreds like he expected, she actually lowered her head!

Typhon hissed in outrage.

He could understand her now wanting them to bow, but how could she show such humility to outsiders herself?

Seeing this, the other nestlings that had been trembling were just as surprised. He could hear mutterings of confusion from among them. 

[Is this our supreme leader?]

[What is she doing? Why is she acting strange?]

And as their confusion rose, so did his panic. 

Typhon understood these serpents more than anyone.

He knew that regardless of how much 'she' saved them, or how strong she'd become, the moment they smelt weakness on her was when they would strike – especially Arsinoe whose malicious eyes were already glaring at their leader's back like prey.

The serpent's he taught – even the ones with milder personalities acted no differently!

Before Typhon knew what he was doing, he reared his fangs at the scoundrels behind him, ordering them all to bow along with her.

The nestlings dropped to the ground immediately and he rushed towards their naïve leader, all the while hoping that 'she' would raise her head.

Just what, could she possibly be saying to those Veladrys?

On reaching her, he was surprised to see all the Veladrys had their heads down as well, and as they knelt, their bodies, alongside their flowing garments began to glow as they bloomed.

Suddenly, a disproportionate amount of flowers were sprouting from around them, overflowing from their pastel hair, all the way down to their garments, and even the roots of their feet.

When 'she' raised her head, they did so too – their blushing gazes filled with adoration.

Instead of the disdain he thought…they were acting like they had fallen in love…with her.

Typhon was so taken aback that he hissed in disgust.

What was this foul atmosphere?

Their leader was also surprised, and she turned to him with a look of panic as if confused on what to do.

When Ophelia arrived, she was gobsmacked, and even gave him an accusatory stare.

[Typhon? What did you do to them?]

Typhon glared at Ophelia. [What are you accusing me of? They were already like this!]

He noticed their leader was sneakily backing away from the crime scene, so he returned the blame to her. [What did you say to them?]

'She' paused to consider, before sighing. |[Not much. I only apologised for their dead.]| 

This response only made the two serpents even more confused. 

Why would they act like that because of an apology? Was that everything?

[Ah! So it was that.] Ophelia was quick to accept it. [Maybe they need some time to grieve.]

As the three stared at the blooming Veladrys, Typhon quickly backed away and Ophelia did the same. 

Quite frankly, they did not want to get involved.

It was only after they left that Typhon realised, 'she' had spoken to them with crystal clear words.

[You heard her, didn't you?] Ophelia turned to him with sparkling eyes. [She must have practiced a lot.]

Typhon's eyes widened and he turned to find their leader, only to see the lizard now stood between them like a barrier, its scaly body protecting her like he and the nestlings were a threat.

Typhon couldn't believe it!

Soon, more nuisances arrived in the form of the Veladrys who had recovered from their stupor.

They settled as close as possible to her without touching the scaly lizard, or either of the two nightmarish monsters, each Veladrys looking like a fluffy cloud of petals.

The contrast of many scary monsters against them was so bizarre that Typhon gave up trying to accept it. He was fine as long as those creatures didn't try anything stupid. 

The atmosphere was now harmonious, but in his heart Typhon solidified the stance that she needed protecting.

Perhaps the Veladrys were not opposed to her, but he doubted others would hesitate to take advantage of her kindness. 

He and Ophelia joined them, but his mood remained dark - he needed to get stronger in order to protect her from harm.

But then, the nightmarish creatures took off, returning with several large scorpions which they put down for the nestlings to eat.

The serpents around them were still anxious, but when they saw the creatures weren't trying to harm them, they soon relaxed, but they did not touch the food.

Typhon noticed 'she' had a rather eager look in her eyes as she stared at them, 'she' even encouraged them to eat the corpses they brought to recover their stamina, only this time, her voice came from within his own head.

It seemed she could communicate in two ways, and he and Ophelia were quite impressed.

However, Typhon didn't think any of the nestlings were in the mood to eat and it showed. None of them made any moves, mostly startled by her presence – even when she told them all to eat, instead most of them turned to him in confusion.

Typhon was astonished to see the excited look on their leader's face gradually fading away. She must have gotten excited at the prospect of them eating the food she caught.

In order not to hurt her feelings, he ordered all the nestlings to eat without stopping!

The mood soon became fiercely competitive with every nestling, stuffing their faces until they became quite round. This continued for a while, but the look on her face never changed, if anything she looked even more depressed.

Typhon was confused as to why she was not happy. It was only when he looked around, that he noticed all the nestlings were eating, except Arsinoe. She kept glaring at their leader like she was the best cut of meat around, making him full of grievance.

Why was she so stubborn today?

But then, Arsinoe slithered away from the group to approach their leader, much to his surprise. She had two serpents following her and they quickly crossed the distance before he could stop them.

[Calm down.] Ophelia said when she saw him about to pursue. [She's not stupid enough to try anything. And even if she is, she'll die.]

This was true, but Arsinoe was known to be unpredictable, so he couldn't relax.

Arsinoe, on the other hand, was suffering under the pressure from Typhon's glare, and she refused to look behind her, or she feared she might lose her confidence to do what was needed.

[Ahhh…Typhon looks so mad.] One of her team members said from beside her.

[Are you sure we should be doing this?] Another added – their leader looked so scary, and he was terrified!

But Arsinoe was confident. 

Since Lyra healed her acid burns, she'd been unable to hear that voice, but she was sure she could recreate the water blade that killed the scorpion, if she needed to. 

[I'm sure. Just follow me!]

Besides, after seeing that docile attitude of their leader, Arsinoe was much more perplexed than fearful.

How could they be harmed by something that looked so terrifying yet acted the complete opposite?

She should have been upset with her, but somehow Arsinoe found herself oddly fascinated by their strange leader.

Typhon on the other hand…

It was unfortunate that she had to defy him, but there wouldn't be a better chance to get her team members names than right now! She just hoped he wouldn't be too upset. 

Soon, the shadowy serpent was before her and Arsinoe bowed her head. But when she heard nothing, she looked up, only to leap backwards.

The shadowy serpent's face was right next to hers and Arsinoe's heart thudded with shock!

|[You're Arsinoe, right?]| The shadow asked, clearly amused.

[Y-Yes!] Arsinoe yelped in fright.

Her voice was nothing at all like she expected, it was very playful – even somewhat teasing. She could handle a naïve opponent, not the mischievous kind.

|[So, what can I do for you?]| The shadow asked.

And Arsinoe found herself extremely confused – how could it be that easy?