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"You serious, LT?" Krysaos rolled his eyes and raised his arms, "You\'re tellin\' me I gotta deal with the-- with Imperia on the whole trip back?"

Tycondrius pursed his lips, but nodded... "That... is a logical conclusion, Brother-Captain-- so, yes."

It seemed much of the bite in Krysaos\' criticisms of the dark elf had been dulled, but his wholly negative opinion of her would not change anytime soon.

"You\'re scum, Krysaos!" Imperia shouted, "Absolute scum!"

Tycon raised an eyebrow. It was rare of Imperia to call Krysaos by name... granted, it was to direct an insult.

Maybe they were starting to... get along?

That would be nice.

"Ishmael," Tycon waved, catching the attention of his ⌈Venomous Shadow.⌋ "Cover the Captain and the two ladies, if you would."

"An\' what\'ll you be doin\', LT?" Krysaos asked.

"Attending a convocation of sorts with the denizens of the swamp."

"Fewer words, please. Also, what does ilk mean?"

"Conversing with snakes. And it\'s a generic insult."

"Got it. You do your thing," Krysaos turned to leave. "Come on, ladies. Sunlight\'s burnin\'."

Imperia hurried after him, "You\'re dreaming if you think you\'re leading the way, human!"

Willow started to follow... but Tycon interrupted her.

"Young lady."

"Hiiieeee~!" The girl\'s shoulders shot up and she halted her movement.

She was... trembling.

...The child was being overly dramatic.

Tycon walked over to her, ensuring he was out of earshot of at least Captain Krysaos, "I have a request."

Willow turned towards him defiantly... but even before Tycon could react to it, she meekly bowed her head, "I... I hear you."

"You seem like a clever young woman," Tycon smiled politely. "I\'d like you to... keep the good Captain and your sister, Imperia, on task. They\'re certain to quarrel, but I believe with your presence, they\'ll keep relatively peaceable."

"O... oh," Willow grimaced. "I... I can do that. C\'n... can I go now?"

Tycon furrowed his brows... "Yes. Remain vigilant."

The human whelpling bowed her head quickly before dashing off.

She was a strange child... but besides snake-hunting, Willow had done nothing to earn his ire.

Whatever she was hiding, Tycon hoped he wouldn\'t have to kill her for it.

...

The entrance to the cavern was only accessible after a short underwater dive. After Tycon stored his military coat and Officer\'s cap in his spatial ring, he braved the depths... but the aquatic creatures seemed to know better and left him alone.

Upon emerging, Tycon sat at the water\'s edge and stretched out his left arm. He was finally confident that it was fully healed.

...He would not have inconvenienced himself with the trip, otherwise.

His companion, a verbose Iron-Rank King Snake, slithered out of the water and coiled comfortably in a shallow crevice.

"(I can go no further, Ivory Prince.)"

"Oh? Why not?" Tycon casually squeezed the water out of his shirt.

"(This... is a sacred place,)" The King Snake answered reverently.

Tycon looked around the lightless cave. It didn\'t look particularly sacred... or special in any way, save some haphazard script on a wall he didn\'t yet care to read.

"Are you... not... worthy of visiting here?"

The King Snake bobbed its head slowly... "(I... don\'t know. I\'ve never asked before.)"

"Granted," Tycon waved the gentle-snake away, "Thank you for escorting me thus far."

"(Perhaps... you can ask the Princess for me?)"

Tycon furrowed his brows. The Iron-Rank King Snake spoke for his other, lesser kin, as he was the strongest and largest amongst them. However, his bloodline wasn\'t particularly pure... nor was his strength of any significance...

Essentially, he didn\'t seem important... at all.

"I suppose I can. What is... your name, young friend?"

"(I... don\'t have one.)"

Tycon smiled politely. When the hatchling grew in age and his bloodline developed further, then he could be cultivated. As he was, his intelligence was little better than domesticated creatures raised to be slaughtered.

"Earn yourself a name, hatchling. Then perhaps you might be of use to either myself or your Princess."

The King Snake flicked his tongue, still somewhat confused... "(Very well... I\'ll be going, then.)"

"Have a safe trip," Tycon waved.

Hatchlings. It seemed like all hatchlings were ridiculous.

Without Tycon\'s \'adult\' supervision, Krysaos and Imperia would certainly attract trouble... more likely of a ridiculous nature than one containing actual danger. They were strong enough to survive whatever it was... and if the fates were kind, the human child would, as well.

He wished to meet with the Snake Princess as quickly as possible, so to return to the others and to the ship.

He dearly hoped she would be more agreeable than the others he knew...

Ananta of the Shadow Snakes was... principled, but flirtatious. Her sister, Suka, was easy to deal with... but her idolization of him made her... a difficult conversational partner.

Atusa of the Ice Snakes was an arrogant sadist. Granted, her meager strength posed no threat to him.

Then, Tycon\'s own sister... Cassiopeia, Princess of Charm...

He\'d met a recreation of her in a Reality Marble. If what he\'d seen there was her true nature, hidden behind a veneer of open disdain and spontaneous violence, Tycon might even enjoy her company.

He began to parse the words on the wall.

They were in a mix of draconic and the common tongue... which was troubling, particularly because the scribe\'s writing was... flawed.

"Here there be..."

He furrowed his brows as he stared at the final passage. The next word... mystified him. He even asked his System to translate it to no avail.

After several minutes he gave up and journeyed deeper into the cave.

A few simple etchings of a stylistic figure hinted at what he could possibly be facing.

A long snake... with wings and breathing... a stream of something. Water? Fire? Air?

...Bile?

Perhaps it was constantly sick?

Was he in the cave of a Plague Snake Princess, perhaps?

...That sounded unpleasant.

He summoned clean bandages from his spatial ring and wore them as an impromptu face mask.

When facing the Princess in question, he decided to try to keep at least six fulms away.

Vibrations in the rocky floor heralded the appearance of a large creature... so Tycon waited patiently for it to arrive.

A large snake dropped down from a massive hole in the ceiling, its size even larger than that of Shadow Snake Princess Ananta, yet smaller than that of his good friend Isidor, the Titan Snake.

In his human form, he stood taller than its head, but it reared up several fulms to look down upon him.

"You TRESPASSSSSS in my CAAAAVE, humannnn!!" She hissed in a loud voice, sending rumblings throughout the cavern and shaking rocks and large stalactites free from the ceiling.

Tycon pursed his lips, noting that the young-sounding female snake seemed scrunched and uncomfortable. The passageway was only twice his own height, after all.

She was... a Sea Snake, with a fin-like protrusion atop her head and along her back, likely with similar on her belly. It made sense if the Snake Princess before him was the villagers\' \'Swamp Monster\', and the one who traveled the waterways to pick up their hapless sacrifices.

"No, no," Tycon waved casually, "I was invited."

"By WHOOOOO?!?"

"No idea. Do your servants have names?"

The Princess flicked her tongue and hissed in a lower voice... "(They... they don\'t.)"

"Are you aware that if you gave them names, their bloodlines would develop faster?"

"(...I was not.)"

Tycon stifled the very strong desire to sigh... "Think about it. It\'s good practice. (My name is Tycondrius,) good afternoon."

"Good... good aftern--" The snake\'s eyes suddenly widened.

Had she recognized his name? That was good. The young snake seemed to have a powerful bloodline to grow so large and so powerful for her age. Her bloodline memories were quite developed, as well, as she spoke the common tongue perfectly and without an accent.

"It\'s afternoon already?!" She wailed, "(I... I missed lunch!) Stars and socks! No wonder I\'m so hungry! Ow!"

The Princess had hit her head against the ceiling... which detracted from her respectable presence even more than her speech.

Tycon placed a palm on his face... "Then... eat."

It was logical to eat if one was hungry.

The Snake Princess raised her head again-- being more careful this time, "Then I\'ll eat YOUUUU!!!!"

"Don\'t do that," Tycon frowned.

"Oh," She lowered her head. "(Why not?)"

"Because I said so, I suppose," Tycon shrugged. "Your name, little one?"

"It\'s... it\'s Iyuri," She hissed... and tilted her head, "(Why... why aren\'t you afraid of me? I\'m really big.) And really scary?"

"You are not scary, young lady."

She was quite large, but Tycon hesitated on confirming that, as he feared it might be seen as rude.

"I\'m a dragon," Iyuri added quietly.

"Also incorrect."

...Tycon recalled the last word of the passage at the cavern entrance. It was *supposed* to be \'dragon\'.

It was misspelled.

Beyond reasonable recognition.

"I\'m... I\'m not?" Iyuri shrunk her head back, "But I have wings!"

"Those are fins, young lady... paddles, rather. They help you swim."

Iyuri stared into space... "Oh."

"Am I correct?"

"Yis."