At the same time Typhon felt a chill, and he looked around, wondering which unruly nestling was plotting against him?

But the nestlings he briefed were eagerly waiting for him to continue and Arsinoe's team had just left. Everything was normal, aside from one thing.

On his left, the creature that resembled an elven woman was sitting below the platform, numerous flowers blooming from the roots of her dress as she waited to have a word with him.

Was it her?

When she smiled, the nestlings that passed her all seemed to be lost. They would stop what they were doing or wriggle their tails with stupid looks on their faces, and this only made Typhon infuriated.

[Escort our guest to the underground and find her a quiet room.] He said to one of the nestlings nearby, and soon, the Veladrys was being ushered away, a look of confusion on her face.

Their ally was aggrieved, but Typhon was only relieved she was gone.

Since the creature arrived she had been trying to charm everyone, him especially, and was always making excuses to hang around.

Fortunately, it didn't work because Ophelia's mere presence in the cave was enough to destroy all of her efforts.

Ophelia's evolution was a strange one, not only could she control the behaviour of others at extremes, an unconscious effect of her presence meant she also acted as a mood stabilizer.

Overtime he noticed that whenever she wasn't around, conflicts tended to break out more often, like recently with Morgana. The nestling also didn't complain about training when she was around, neither did they feel afraid that they were under attack.

If anything, her energy and excitement was infecting them all and making them push past their limits.

As a result, more than half of the nestlings had already evolved, boosting our overall strength.

The battle outside had subsided quite a bit since then, with only a few teams left to clean up the survivors, but this was only the second wave and there were bound to be more.

For now though, a result like this was more than satisfactory.

Naturally, Typhon was worried about Ophelia's inability to control her powers, but it was helping them win so he didn't tell her off too severely. The Veladrys on the other hand, was an 'ally' he didn't trust to have their best interest at hand.

Typhon asked himself what she was going to say this time, but decided it was better not to listen. There were more pressing issues at hand.

Before him were two teams currently without their captains, Morgana and Galahad.

When discussions arose on what to do with them, it was decided to temporarily place them under another captain. He wanted Cygnus to take them since being under him would be a good experience, after Morgana's mistreatment.

However, Typhon was astonished to find Morgana's team was something of an oddity.

Although they had been mistreated by her, they revered her like fanatics in a bizarre combination of fear and worship. They praised her bad behaviour and they kept clamouring for her release, much to his displeasure.

When they refused to let Cygnus lead them, he concluded they were just as insane as she was.

And they weren't the only ones.

Typhon often found Ophelia sulking in the few dark spots around the cave, dramatically hanging upside down or curled up like some feathered ghost. Her sulking brought down everyone else's mood and gave the cave a rather sour atmosphere.

He knew she was doing it on purpose to make him feel guilty, but why would he?

In his exasperation, he was forced to send her out, so the ambiance of the cave would return to normal.

And although she left, she didn't do so without making a scene.

Typhon didn't understand the appeal.

Because of her behaviour, Morgana's team had the gall to keep harassing him about the matter, but after threatening to seal them all with her, they soon stopped.

Fortunately, it seemed Morgana's team had someone capable to take over – Morgana's favourite punching bag, or 'Ana' as she called herself.

Typhon sighed. [Are you satisfied with that name?]

The female serpent he questioned looked up in surprise, before nodding.

[I-It's a good name…I think.] She nervously replied. [M-Morgana said I s-should be grateful -]

[Enough.] Typhon frowned. [Your name isn't Ana. You don't have to answer to it if you don't like it. I'd rather you pick your own.]

The serpent looked shocked, but her eyes sparkled with admiration. [I will, Captain!]

[The team is now your responsibility.] Typhon announced, but the serpent's grateful look made him uncomfortable. If he could name all the nestings he would, but naming them would have no effect on their abilities.

With Morgana's group settled, he moved on to Galahad's team.

When Arsinoe informed him Galahad had gone missing, Typhon could only assume he had gone off to train. Since Hestia was with him, he wasn't worried about him.

Although it was inconvenient, Typhon wished he would return strong.

As for his team, he decided to place them under Arsinoe, since she had all the qualifications of a captain.

But to his surprise, she refused to lead them, and choose to retain the team that should have belonged to Artemis. Ophelia informed him that she and Lyra were not on good terms, but Typhon was more concerned with why these captains never did as they were told.

[You'll assist Artemis for now.] He said at last.

[Will do, Captain.] Lyra cheerily replied, and the team dispersed.

Typhon glanced at the retreating nestlings, and sighed.

'She' was far too forgiving with them, and too soft.

And unfortunately, that resulted in all these problems.

When she returned, he would insist she learn to speak before she left again. Or rather - she wasn't leaving the cave again without him and Ophelia coming along.

If this Veladry's and her Queen Mother were any indication - their leader was having a very hard time outside.

When the Veladry's first arrived, she had been questioned extensively by him, with Ophelia gauging the creature's reactions to see if she lied.

[What is the relationship between your Queen Mother and our leader?] He asked.

The Veladry's simply shrugged, before announcing in her melodious voice.

[They are lovers. Our Queen Mother is generous and has extended her protection to your cave because of a promise they share. She hopes you won't be wary of her, and she has asked to meet with you all.]

Typhon and Ophelia exchange startled looks before falling back. Ophelia grew so troubled, it took everything within her not to lash out at the offensive creature, while Typhon chillingly glared at the Veladry's in revulsion.

Who was their leader? He recalled her whimsical, somewhat naïve personality.

Lovers?

It was impossible.

Their adorable leader, someone who was extremely fond of sweets, was far too innocent for her own good and didn't know much about worldly things. It was possible she had been tricked into some unbalanced exchange by this Queen Mother!

During the time she spent learning their language, she amused them with broken tales of adventures in far off places, with dragons, butterflies, and elven damsels.

Yet could it be that all this time she'd been suffering, and was only protecting them by only telling them the safer versions? If so, their leader was very pitiful indeed.

While Typhon regretted their leader's sorrowful plight, Ophelia trembled in shock.

What the creature said was mostly true, although little things were added in for dramatic effect – but how could that be?

She hadn't stopped glaring at the Veladry's, whose attractive features looked deceitful – like a candy coloured disguise. Wasn't their leader tricked into this arrangement by her shrewd Queen Mother who wanted to possess her?

'She' likely saw these colourful creatures as something to eat and ended up embroiled by their charm, and now she owed them a debt.

Ophelia felt a chill at the thought – their leader had to be protected from schemers at all cost!

Inside the private room, the Veladry's stared at the two frozen serpents in confusion – she wasn't expecting such a reaction. The air between the three was as stiff as a board, and she felt chills when the two large serpents glanced at her.

Her instincts told her not to say any more. Perhaps they didn't like the formal tone in which she addressed them?

But the Queen Mother had asked her to be respectful.

When no one else spoke, she tried to break the ice. [What would you like me to do?]

[It would be best If you stayed out of the way.] Ophelia bluntly replied. [We wouldn't want our guest to come to any harm.]

[Why do you say that?] The Veladry's was surprised by her tone and wondered what she did wrong. [I was asked to help.]

[You can keep watch outside in case other monsters use this opportunity to attack us.] Typhon replied.

The Veladry's furrowed her brows, feeling offended by their tone.

[Aren't you being too impolite? Our Queen Mother does not do this lightly, she obviously cares about your leader.]

But this only put the two serpents in a worse mood.

Unfortunately since then, they weren't able to send her away. The Veladry's kept trying to find ways to assist them, but Typhon and Ophelia worked extremely hard to make sure they didn't leave any opportunity.

They didn't want their leader to owe the Queen Mother anymore than was necessary for their sake.

The more Typhon thought about it, the more he was filled with regret.

But then, two excited voices called out to him as they rushed in from the underground.

[Captain! We're back!]

[It was terrible, but we survived! Where is everyone?]

Cassio, and Andromeda, the snakes 'she' named before she left, had returned from the Middle stratum.

Typhon was happy to see his team members but trailing behind them was the smiling figure of the Veladry's he sent away, and he grimaced.

Speak of the devil.

[Look at what we found!] Andromeda announced.

[Looks pretty, but it isn't shiny.] Cassio pondered. [What is it? Can we eat it?]

Typhon glared at the elven figure. What did she want now?

Unbeknownst to the group, the Nymph was in a trance, observing this very scene from her forest with an amused smile.