As Val tried to fall asleep that night, she tossed and turned without sleep drawing any nearer to her. It was self-explanatory but watching a fight between some of the strongest gods in the world did not lend well to sleep. She would do well to remember that if she actually wanted to rest in the future. Only boring visions should be watched before bed.

The past was like a story in which she wanted to have resolution. Just like how one cannot help but binge watch a good television series, Val wanted to keep watching history unfold. Specifically, she wanted to know what happened to Urru.

Whereas Arius seemed insane in his lust for violence, Urru countered him as a voice of reason. Against his values, Urru still enabled Arius through his support in combat. There was some kind of complex, underlying relationship at work there, but Val did not care. She just wanted to know if Urru turned out all right after Tavras's final attack.

Her propensity to create long visions had increased greatly. Val did not have a hint of headache right now, so she went back into the moment of the past where she had left off. Rather than seeing Tavras miserable in his defeat and healing that gaping wound in his chest, she followed Urru, and by extension, Arius.

The two of them flew together over the expanse of the ocean. There was not a sound aside from the rustling beats of Urru's wings and the somber waves below.

Urru broke the silence first. "You are quiet as though you have lost your tongue again."

Arius turned his cheek to Urru's scales and looked out across the horizon. Nothing was said on his end.

Concern dominated Urru's deep voice. "What did the Sea Itself say to you before I got there?"

"Nothing," Arius said dully. In a mutter, he intoned like a mantra, "I am nothing like my father."

"Ah," Urru said in understanding.

Apparently, Arius's relationship with Suvier was a touchstone for him. That much could have been inferred, as trying to live up to the reputation of the God Supreme must be a tremendous amount of pressure for a demigod growing up. If Val could learn more details as to what made that relationship so sensitive, that information could prove useful in her future dealings with the god of war.

The quiet between Arius and Urru resumed until the dragon spoke again.

"While you seek to distance yourself from your father, you still fight under his banner. Perhaps you should acknowledge that there is some validity in the way that others see you. If you continue like this, you are letting yourself turn into his pawn."

"Well, it is all that I am." Arius ran a slow hand along the side of Urru's neck and scraped at the ridges of his scales absentmindedly. "I am still coming to accept it, but really, I am fine with the way that things are right now."

"Personally, I do not like fighting alongside you for Suvier's purposes," Urru said shortly. "The victory that we had today was ill-gotten. The entire natural world will hate us for what we just did."

"The entire natural world already hated me," Arius cheered. "Now, you can share the full experience with me! At least fire will never hate you."

A puff of smoke came from Urru's nostrils. "It is only the coal-brained fire nymphs who cannot see past the other half of your parentage."

"Still, I made fire hate me—fire!

The red eyes of Urru rolled around in his head. After a long pause, he started anew. "I can only warn you: do not try my patience, Tongueless. When we met, I chose to follow a boy who had no tongue, yet he had kept his tongue in all relevant respects. Now, I find myself following a man who has a tongue, but he no longer puts it to use."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Arius said with a flap of his hand. "I will just sit down and have a chat with my old man over one of those nice, family dinners that have literally never happened. Suvier will totally respect my agency if I tell him anything other than what he wants to hear."

"Where your tongue fails, you have me to back you up. As you know, I support you in all things, even your bad choices that ultimately harm you."

A constant shake of his head brought Arius to stare below with downcast eyes. An even longer lull in their conversation divided them, until it was Arius who changed the topic this time. "Wait. Do you see that?" A long finger pointed to the island below them.

A figure moved along the beach, the size of an ant from this vantage point.

"What is it?" Urru craned his neck either which way before looking down. "It's land! I want a break."

"I am not pointing to the island, but the person running around and flailing their arms," snapped Arius.

"Oh. Well, you can see if the individual requires assistance while I take a break." Instantly, Urru started in his descent.

"What do you need a break for?"

"We just escaped near-death by the waves of the Sea Itself. You would have drowned without me. I deserve a break. Unlike what you said to Tavras, I am not your mount."

With a wince, Arius said, "I'm sorry about that." Rather than looking at the young woman screaming from below, his eyes tilted up to the sky. "We really bested the Sea Itself." Jumping to his feet, Arius stood up on Urru's back and flung out his arms.

"Woohoo!" His whoops and hollers filled the sound in the immediate area, here in the air. He took to a dramatic announcement to express his exuberance. "Arius, god of war and love, the Ravager, alongside the dragon Rakurruakanthor, quelled the Sea Itself!"

"I do not want my name attributed to that."

"Fine," Arius said, seating himself. "You have to admit, though. It was not a half-bad accomplishment for me to hit before I turned forty!"

"It was completely bad, what we just did," Urru said. "On top of that, you still act like a kid."

In response to that, a gleaming smile flashed to Arius's face. At least he smiled until another voice ruined his high spirits.

"Help!" the young woman on the island was crying out. "Please help me!"

Urru's head slunk back to stare at Arius whose eyes widened. "It is your job to deal with other humans."

"O-Of course," Arius said, leaning over to look down to examine the castaway once more. His brow twisted up in consternation as he whispered, "I cannot say that I have a whole lot of field experience in helping people."

Without acknowledgement to his pitiful worry, Urru finished his descent to the island. While the land mass could have been any island in the Serpent's Circle, Val thought that she recognized this place in particular as Tavras's Paradise.