The muffled sounds and flickering dim light ended up being all that could be sensed in the moments of consciousness that passed both like a flash and like molasses. Drifting in and out of the silence and darkness, fading between the waking and the sleeping world, and all because a certain God couldn’t be asked to take a few meds.

That was the situation Lyrhea was in right now, and the fact that she was made keenly aware of that each time she ventured briefly into a somewhat waking state was, as you might imagine, utterly infuriating for her. Eventually, though, the light did come.

No, not that light. The light of the waking world, not the one at the end of the tunnel.

She slowly opened her eyes and tried to rise, only to find herself forcibly held down by a few Lesser Lyrheans. No, it wasn’t that they were holding her down with their hands, but rather with their bodies.

Immediately Lyrhea feared that they were dead. If that were the case, then, then that would have meant that she would either have been abandoned beneath a few corpses while her subjects ran or that the god damned Ranger bitch came and wiped the slate clean.

A bit of struggling, though, thankfully revealed them to be alive and unharmed, though perhaps that wouldn’t be entirely accurate, as their emotional state was far from intact and undamaged.

Based on how they bawled their eyes out the moment they came to and realized that their ‘Great Mother’ was awake and alive, Lyrhea had reason enough to assume that nothing too wrong had occurred since her Patron slammed her face into the rocks beneath her feet at enough of a speed to do some serious and potentially lethal damage.

Not that she expected that the Primordial Serpent would have told the Lyrheans or the human cultists that it had been the one to do that, and for such a petty and childish reason at that. Maybe she could use that as a bargaining chip? A thought for later consideration, maybe.

“Enough crying.” Lyrhea grumbled as she shoved the Lesser Lyrheans off of her. “I’ve been down for I don’t know how long and I have shit to do, so get up and get off me.”

Much nodding and affirmations followed her words from the bodies of the Lesser Lyrheans, but movement was, unfortunately, in less supply. Well, that just meant that she needed to use more force. And so she did, and with a single, mighty shove she sent the weeping snake people off of her and over to the other edge of the… cabin?

Lyrhea looked around and her face shifted several times before settling on a mostly placid but miffed countenance. “Where the hell am I?”

“Ah, Mother!” a shout that no doubt carried quite far alerted the first of the Lyrheans to the arrival of the second Lyrhean. Luxnilae arrived on the scene, a bag full of warm and live meat-based organisms in her hand. “We feared you would never wake up. I am glad my healing worked so well, though I will confess that I hoped that you would wake sooner.”

Still feeling salty about how she was dealt this slight, Lyrhea merely spat out a simple, “Don’t we all?”

Luxnilae, unfortunately, didn’t seem to get the memo, and swiftly apologized again despite not needing to. Honestly, Lyrhea could have interjected and explained, but having just woken up from near death due to the actions of a petulant and bipolar God, she felt she was well within her rights to simply ignore the issue.

And then…

[“Oh, hey, you’re up.”]

Lyrhea’s eyes narrowed and a scowl formed on her face. Speak of the devil and they show up. Of course.

[“Crazy how that Ranger just snuck up on you and tried to kill you, right?”]

Lyrhea said nothing, neither aloud nor in her head, merely stewing in her anger and annoyance and (hopefully) letting that childish deity feel every little bit of her ever-growing enmity for her Patron.

[“I said, ‘crazy how’….”] the God trailed off. [“Oh, so you’re going to be like that, huh?”]

Again, Lyrhea met this with silence. Deafening, defiant silence.

[“Oh, come on! How was I supposed to know you were going to nearly die?! It’s your own damn fault for standing where you were and pissing me off! Take some accountability!”]

At last, Lyrhea finally had enough and decided to make her feelings known.

“So, you once told me that I could one day become powerful enough that you would no longer be able to control me, right?”

[“Yeah, and?”] the gaslighting God retorted.

“I now have a goal, thanks to you. Oh, and I’m not going to fall for your sociopathic antics, at least not like that, anyway. I’ve had too damn many people try and gaslight me over my previous life to not know what you’re trying to pull. I will get stronger, I will break free of you, and I will free my people of your influence. You’ll need to kill me and replace me to get a loyal slave.”

As she finished her rant to the petulant God, Lyrhea fully expected her neck to be snapped or something. Instead, there was silence. Then a slight, light chuckle. Then it grew, and alarmingly fast, too, into raucous laughter that could shake a galaxy.

[“Fucking FINALLY!”] the Snake God roared after it finished laughing for a good five minutes. [“Yes!”] It squealed like a rabid fangirl. [“THAT is the kind of ambition I’ve been waiting for!”]

“You aren’t pissed I’m going to find a way to break free of you and free my whole people and nation?” a disbelieving Lyrhean asked back.

[“Oh, fuck no!”] the Snake in the Void laughed. [“Why would I?! Ambition, rebellion, and freedom are my bread and butter, to use a mortal term. The more you fight to free yourself, the more powerful I get, and if you do free not just yourself but all that serve you and become a True God, then that will be a massive win for me!”]

“So you win if I win and you win if I lose?” spat the Chosen.

[“Eh, it’s more complicated than that, but sort of. Now, we’ve both said things you regret or are going to, and I’ve got other things to do. Have fun giving me more power while you fight the power! Even if you don’t believe in me, I believe in you! Ciao!”]

“As bipolar as always….” Muttered our novel’s MC before a final word from the Primordial Serpent invaded her head.

[“Oh, and talk like that again when I’m not welcoming it, and I may just take you up on your offer and have you made obsolete.”]

Lyrhea shut her eyes, grimaced, and reiterated her last vocal statement.

“As bipolar as always.”