As soon as Lyra left, Arsinoe began regretting her behavior.

She knew she had only acted out of anger, but the result was one she couldn't take back.

[Why did I get angry at her?]

She had no reason at all, but she needed to vent and Lyra just happened to be the unfortunate target.

She sighed in defeat, and wanted to go after her to apologise but immediately began to think otherwise.

[No, staying here will only make me suffer. I need to leave.]

She thought the simplest way out of the problem she just created was to get herself out of the situation entirely.

While she felt bad about it, Lyra was probably telling everyone about what she had done, and it was only a matter of time before someone came down to confront her.

And that would only make her feel even more devastated than she was already.

[I need to leave.] As she said it out loud, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest and she experienced an overwhelming sense of relief making her feel as light as air.

However, it dawned on her that the cave was all she knew and she had nowhere else to go.

And as the harsh reality set in, she collapsed into a slump, her tired body aching all over.

[I can't!] She complained aloud to herself. [I don't know anywhere safe. I'll just get eaten.]

Why was this happening?!

[Why am I so helpless?]

Perhaps she had spent too long alone by herself, but she had formed the habit of speaking out loud.

Whenever she did, she felt she, and her own thoughts were often on opposite spectrums.

Sometimes they berated her, and other times they were filled with positive encouragement.

Like now.

[Does it matter? There's many places to discover for those that are fearless and brave – I can live anywhere I want to.]

And it was right.

After this, did anything she did truly matter?

As soon as Lyra told others, she would get kicked out anyway.

Because, who would pick a troublemaker like her over an excellent healer?

[It doesn't matter where I go.] Arsinoe sighed as she came to her decision. [The cave will be better off without me.]

But just when she was feeling completely defeated, a deep voice echoed through the underground chamber.

[And where exactly will you go, idiot? Do you even know your way around?]

Eh?

After hearing such brutal scolding, delivered so calmly, Arsinoe looked around for the culprit.

Which fiend dared to be so rude?

It had to be Artemis, because who else would make fun of her direction sense.

Unfortunately, when she looked up, she saw it was Typhon, someone she thought would never see again.

And worse – he had caught her talking to herself!

Arsinoe was so embarrassed to see him staring at her, that she wished she could hide herself inside the deepest cell immediately, just so he wouldn't see her face.

But Typhon didn't seem to notice her dying inside.

[Don't spout such nonsense.] he reprimanded her. [You belong here and nowhere else.]

These were words she'd always wanted to hear, but her subconscious voice was telling her something else.

[He doesn't truly believe it. If he did, he wouldn't have abandoned you.]

No.

[He's only saying that because he thinks you're pathetic.]

Stop.

She didn't want to believe it.

Typhon gave her a quizzical look. [What's wrong?]

Arsinoe immediately shook her head. [Nothing.]

She didn't want to think too much about it and focused on the dark scales growing on Typhon that seemed to glow like obsidian in the dull light.

He wouldn't lie to her, right?

Soon enough, she quickly forgot everything about leaving, and the condescending thoughts faded to the background.

[Why did you come here?] She questioned him.

Did Lyra say something already?

But then, she started to pick up a very foul stench coming from Typhon's direction, that made her eyes water. She risked a look at the larger snake, eyes wide in disbelief – was it possible?

Arsinoe shook her head immediately.

No. There was no way Typhon could stink.

But why did she physically gag just looking at him?

[Why do you look like that?] Typhon asked.

[Because you stink!!]

The words tumbled out of her mouth before realized it and she reeled back in shock, wishing she could vanish into nothing.

Damn this stupid habit!

But Typhon didn't seem to mind and reached out to pull something closer.

[It must be because of this.] he replied.

It was heavy and looked like a bag of skin, filled to the brim with bulging spherical objects, and when he brought it closer, the pungent stench only made her gag more.

[What is it?] she asked moving back a bit, hoping he wasn't thinking of throwing it down her cell.

[The source of the scent.] Typhon answered simply with a half smile. [Do you want to see what's inside?]

Of course not!

Why would she come near something so hideous?

Did he think she wanted to smell like that too?

But Typhon looked extremely interested in the object and she wondered what its contents were.

However…

[I can't come out. I'm still under punishment, remember?] she spoke out disappointedly.

[Not anymore.] Typhon calmly responded. [I came down to tell you that your punishment is over.]

[Here, you must be hungry.] he added and threw a large chunk of a creature's carapace into her cell.

Arsinoe thought he was being awfully nice.

So did that mean he didn't know what happened between her and Lyra?

If not, he wouldn't say those words, and that thought made her conflicted enough to refuse to come out.

[I…I did something bad…] She started to say, but Typhon had already moved away from her cell.

And then she heard his voice call out. [What are you waiting for? Finish eating and come up.]

Arsinoe fidgeted in her cell for a moment.

She couldn't exactly refuse a command, so she quickly ate her food and climbed up once her stamina recovered.

There, she spotted Typhon further away with the parcel. He seemed to be searching for a tunnel free from eggs he could use.

What exactly was he doing here? She wondered, and quickly followed after him.

Finally, he settled on an empty cell and decided to tip over the contents of the fleshy sac into it.

The slimy eggs that fell out were a deep purple in colour and formed of overlapping scale-like armour that was extremely hard to touch.

Their size in comparison to Morgana's eggs were much larger, but they were fewer, numbering in at only nine compared to the scores of eggs filling the other cells.

And Typhon made sure to put them much further away from hers, to prevent whichever hatched the soonest from eating the other.

Arsinoe stared at the stinky eggs in surprise.

[Are they yours?] She asked Typhon.

[They don't belong to anyone.] He replied. [Once they hatch, they'll be no different from you or me.]

[But Morgana got to keep hers.] She refuted him.

[Not anymore.] Typhon replied. [None of the eggs here are anybody's property. And they shouldn't be seen as such.]

Hearing this, Arsinoe resisted the urge to laugh.

It seemed Morgana had lost her leverage - she must've gotten in trouble!

How funny! After acting so arrogantly in front of her, Arsinoe couldn't wait to rub it in her face.

[So...where is she?] she timidly asked.

Typhon gave her a look, easily seeing through her, but he didn't say anything more, and left for the upper level.

Arsinoe followed behind him with a smirk, all thoughts of leaving the cave replaced with an eagerness to see the angry look on Morgana's face.

Or perhaps even a tearful one!

After all the humiliation she had been put through, Arsinoe knew she deserved a good laugh.

However, Typhon stopped her thoughts.

[Don't cause any issues with Morgana. We already have enough problems to deal with.]

What?!

[But-]

[Do you want to become a captain or not?] Typhon interjected. [Because I think you'll make a good one, as long as you behave properly.]

[What!?] Arsinoe couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought she had been abandoned but that wasn't the case.

Typhon continued. [But you can't keep arguing with Morgana. We all have to get along, especially now.]

Who cares about Morgana right now?

Arsinoe nodded with enthusiasm as she looked at him, more than ready to agree to any condition as long as she was given a chance to prove herself capable of being a captain.

Typhon shook his head and sighed. [You also need to learn to be less obvious. Revealing your desires through your expressions like that, will only make you Morgana's target.]

Arsinoe was surprised. Was she really that obvious?

But how was she supposed to convince Morgana she didn't want something when that was all she had been pining for.

She knew Typhon was right, because Morgana was the type to pick at a wound until it was raw and bleeding. Arsinoe knew she wasn't in the right state of mind and that her newly released self would seem just like easy pickings to her.

And when she looked at Typhon, he'd already started moving on, without offering any suggestions.

But then a thought sprung into her mind.

[Convince him you don't want it and it will be easy to fool her.]

It sounded simple enough, but would he be fooled?