Headed by a Snake



That silhouette...

It was... quite fast. 

So much that Tycondrius was beginning to feel somewhat intimidated. 

His heart was afflicted by a burgeoning concern. 

If the enemy delayed him for--

"RawrrrrR!!!!"

Oh. 

Oh, no.

It wasn't an enemy. 

It was an idiot. 

That was... potentially worse. 

Tycon shifted his travel direction 45 degrees, hoping to slip away unnoticed. He'd correct his course sometime later. 

"Come back, Mister!" shouted the idiot, "I wanna look at'chu!"

"That won't be necessary!" Tycon yelled back, flipping his tail and paddling his tiny Sea Serpent fins. His fatigue had left him, replaced by desperation. 

However, Iyuri was several times faster than he was. 

The notion was absurd. 

His ability to adopt a Sea Serpent's form was thanks to Iyuri having granted him a drop of her essence. 

It was understandable that he'd only have a fraction of her physical abilities. 

--but it really should have been a higher fraction...

"Wait!" Iyuri gasped, "I know that voice!!" 

"Perhaps your memory is flawed!?" 

Tycon was unable to lie because of his bloodline... but he could be deceitful. 

Granted, he... didn't consider himself very good at deceit. 

"Baby, come BACK!" Iyuri sang, "Any kinda fool COULD SEE~!!"

Tycon stopped paddling, turning in confusion. 

"What?"

The shimmering blue Sea Serpent caught up easily, "I... I was wrong! --and I just can't live without you!"

"We don't have that kind of relationship, Princess Iyuri."

Tycon frowned to express his disapproval. 

--or... he was fairly certain he was frowning. 

He wasn't as versed at controlling his Sea Serpent form's facial muscles in comparison to his human form. 

"Wowwww~ your True Form is soooo handsome, Mister Tycon!"

"Refer to me *Prince* Tycon," he corrected-- "or just Tycon. We've been over this."

Other than that, it was true. His Sea Serpent form was an approximation of Iyuri's crossed with his white, armor-scaled natural form. 

It was a matter of course that he was handsome. 

"But why are you so smol?"

"This was *also* discussed prior," Tycon growled. 

Female Sea Serpents were larger than their male counterparts. Their respective sizes were perfectly normal. 

"Queen Nyctis fed me a lot! So I got fat!" Iyuri hissed, "But you still love me, right???"

Tycon narrowed his eyes. Iyuri was quite wrong. She had grown in size since he last saw her... and was faster than any waterborne creature he was familiar with. 

--but she was not fat. 

"IyaaaAa~ Don't look!" 

A troublesome noise emanated from a troublesome Princess. 

Tycon (gently) whapped the back of her head with his tail, "Stop that."

"Ihihi~ I got scolded."

"Dear Princess," Tycon sighed... "is our meeting coincidental?"

"It's a fateful meeting," Iyuri said seriously. "Our stars have aligned!" 

"Do you even know what that means? Either of those things?"

"I do not," Iyuri admitted confidently. "Elder Sister Ananta taught me to say it! Ehe~ and Elder Sister Suka got mad."

Ah. That was troublesome. 

The youngest daughter of Queen Nyctis, Suka, had been killed in battle. 

At the time, her eldest daughter, Princess Ananta, was stricken by grief. 

It seemed... that Iyuri was not made aware of the news. 

Despite her blatant stupidity, she retained a certain childish innocence. 

Thus, Tycon was loath to be the one to--

"I'm still mad about it, honestly," Iyuri said. 

Ah. 

The implication of her words... painted her situation as quite unfortunate. 

"Iyuri..."

"No one told me... so I had to find out on my own. And... I cried a lot-- not that anyone cared."

"I did," Tycon admitted softly. "I still do."

Iyuri wrapped her body around his. 

Tycon's body seized up in panic-- but sensing no ulterior motive, he was able to relax and... approximately return the child's embrace. 

"You suck at hugging, Tycon."

"I'm trying my best, Hatchling."

"...You're hurt."

Was he?

A sharp jolt of pain immediately alerted Tycon to his injuries, inflicted earlier by lizard-claw. 

His anger and, soon after, his panicked desperation had held back the pain at bay until that moment. 

"This... is not the best I can do."

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⟬ Activating. ⟭

Tycon's personal healing Skill enhanced his natural regeneration at a rapid rate. His open wounds began to seal, burning hot. 

And... it made him hungry. 

But that, he would rectify, as soon as he reached shore. 

Iyuri unwrapped herself at a dizzying speed Tycon could barely comprehend. 

--which was a baffling experience. 

He really didn't understand the movement of a Sea Serpent-- even being one, himself. 

"The Sea God's waiting to see you," Iyuri said. "I would've come sooner, but I had to deal with like-- three dragons on the way! Oh, wait-- they're lizards. My bad."

"Iyuri... this Realm," Tycon began-- "I have a way for you to escape."

The Tyrant God was fast approaching. 

However, Iyuri was a powerful individual-- and one belonging to the younger generation. 

If he could convince her to go, she could meet up with the Hero Party, and--

"We don't have that kind of relationship, Prince Tycondrius."

That... was not something Tycon expected, coming out of Iyuri's mouth. 

"And besides," she sighed, "I have a bloodline obligation to stay and fight. I don't think I could swim away, even if I tried."

Iyuri turned to leave, "Let's get going, Ivory Prince. You have a Dragon God to kill."

Without anything left to say, Tycon obediently followed in her wake. 

That child... 

He was hoping she would be able to keep her immaturity for a bit longer. 

Suddenly, Tycon furrowed his brows. 

For how long had Iyuri been toying with him?!

That petulant brat!

...

"Fog's rollin' in, Little Boss."

High-Captain Lang Hai gnashed his teeth before putting down his spyglass. 

"Yeah-- I've got eyes, too, numbskull," he said. 

The entire gods-damned bay was about to be covered thicker than shite chowder. 

Half-a-bell? Maybe not even that long. 

Thankfully, the Sea Wolves operated better below the drink than above it.

Nonetheless, the mysterious fog was not a welcome occurrence. 

Since time immemorial, Marines and Sailors have been a superstitious lot. 

"And quit callin' me that," Hai added with a low growl of annoyance. "Call me Captain-- which is my f*ck-ING rank, ass-hat! I swear on the Sea God's balls if you f*ck me in front of Chantal, I'll mount you on the mast."

The dark-skinned Royal Marine returned a careless shrug. 

"Yeahhhh, I'll mind my P's and Q's in front o' the Admiral. But, talkin' bout the Sea God, Cap'n-- "

"On the F*CKING MAST, Garret!" Hai reiterated. 

"Shite, alright, sorry," apologized the idiot-Sergeant, raising his hands up defensively. 

"Sea God's socks," Hai groaned... "And the Sea God's an officer too, you f*ck."

"Y-yeah," Garret coughed awkwardly. "Lieutenant Sea God... He... seems like an alright guy, though-- for a Sir."

Hai shook his head as he collapsed and re-extended his spyglass. 

The Sea God *was* a pretty alright guy, especially for a junior Officer. But that just put more pressure on him as his senior. 

If his Marines were lacking-- 

Err... well, they were-- the whole f*cking lot of 'em. 

BUT if HIS Marines chose to shite all over proper decorum, Captain Lang Hai of the Elizabeth Dare would break all their limbs, tear open their bellies, and make them swim all the way back to Port San Canis!! 

There were a lot of eyes Hai had to worry about, even off the coast of Jad-- and even with the thick-as-shite fog rolling in like the evening tide. 

It was a joint force operation, but the Kingdom's Navy did their part. They had two-thirds of the Royal Fleet, more than enough to have the other shite navies outclassed and outgunned. 

Fleet Admiral Chantal was the belle of the evening ball. 

...and with the whole Realm watching, anyone that f*ckied it all up would be chopped in two, head to tail. 

Hai once again brought his spyglass to his face. 

Besides the judgmental gaze of his allies, he also had to keep an eye out for the Kingdom's enemies. 

There'd been more than a few incidents over the past few suns... and with increasing regularity. 

Sea monsters-- like the ones in the old tales. 

And they weren't like the abyssal beasts that Chantal kept as pets in the depths of Darktide Bay. 

The newest monsters had scales sturdier than steel and wings rated for fly-time. 

...They were things the previous generations had to f*ck with. 

...Probably shite his old bastard of a father had to fight. 

Looked like gods-damned dragons, those things. 

--which was the dumbest thought Hai had ever f*cking thought. 

Dragons don't exist. 

It was a Law followed both by the immortals of the heavens and the hells... and the mortals of the waking world and the hidden forests. 

But whatever they were fighting... 

Lieutenant Eilean had been running double-shift belowdecks, using her weird Sea Witch magic to keep the ship hidden. 

It was safer that way. 

So it was up to Hai and his Marines to patrol the waters, just in case somethin'--

...wandered their way.