Headed by a Snake

"Get out of my F*CKING way!"

Tycondrius pursed his lips. That was his sister's voice at the entrance.

"(Princess, grant us kindness! Lady Ananta is not to be disturbed!)"

"(Princess Cass, I beseech you to cease thy actions! Our lives our forfeit, should you continue!)"

It was a troublesome notion. His dialogue with Ananta was as full of nuance as it was restrained hostility. His sister's foul tongue and provocative nature were going to break the status quo and potentially get one or both of them killed...

"Seven hells!" Cass cursed, "Why would I give a shite about a pair of-- ah, F*CK OFF!!"

The raucous booms of two ⌈Wind Bullets⌋ reverberated throughout the chamber, a cloud of dust kicking up just outside the entrance.

War Princess Cassiopeia strode into the room, covered in traces of blood and ash.

"Princesss," Ananta addressed her, "thisss area is resserved for my family."

The displeasure of the eldest Shadow Snake Princess was evident in both her voice and expression.

"Yeah, whatever," Cass replied without decorum, "I am absolutely f*cking family, and you know it, Princess Ananta."

Ananta's dark hair began to grow, its length reaching her human height in a few short seconds.

"I asssked you... to... LeAvE..."

Her hair then began to twist, the locks and strands combining and transforming into several dozen red-eyed snakes, hissing as a discordant chorus.

If the situation were appropriate, Tycon would have wanted to be the one to leave.

Cass used a Movement Technique to cross the distance of the room, grimacing upon seeing Suka's condition.

Surprisingly, Ananta did not strike her down. In fact, her snakes began to slowly unravel, returning to their unenchanted form.

"I'm here now, little sister," Cass said. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Her words sent a jolt of pain through Tycon's heart. Suka's condition was visibly deteriorating, the cracks observable even from a cursory glance.

"What are you w-waiting for, Brother?" Cass asked, her voice uncertain. "Unpetrify her already!"

"He will do NO such thing," Ananta warned. "I will NOTTTtttt... allow ittt."

Cass clenched her teeth and balled up her fists. The air, thick with her mana, seemed to ripple like water.

"Princess Ananta," she said... "both my brother and I are capable of casting magical healing. Surely, if we work together--"

"No," Ananta said flatly.

"But..."

"I ssaid... no," Ananta repeated.

Cassiopeia's mana began to flare with reckless abandon.

Tycon forcibly grabbed his sister's arm through her ⌈Wind Barrier⌋... shredding his metallic gauntlet into ruin and suffering several superficial cuts on his skin.

With quick thinking and some luck, he managed to quell his sister's destructive magics, but that did nothing to stifle her anger.

"Your sister-- OUR sister is DYING!!" she cried, "We have to do EVERYTHING we can in order to heal her!!"

"(I will NOT allow the risk!)" Ananta returned, "(I will bring Suka back to our territories-- to our mother! Queen Nyctis has taken a half-step into godhood! Through her Divine blood, Suka will be healed!!)"

Cass winced at the notion. Even she knew that the Shadow Queen would do no such thing.

"You are a coward, Ananta," Cass spat.

Faster than Tycon could blink, the entire chamber was blanketed by Ananta's shadows.

There was only darkness, infinite, and all-pervasive.

Tycon was at the edge of a dangerous precipice, without a means of escape.

And with Ananta's mere presence... he was forced to take a step.

Ananta...

Her name...

It meant... the endless...

And so he fell.

The throbbing pain of his bleeding arm began to fade.

His thoughts grew hazy...

He tried to course mana through his circuits, hoping to regain control his functions... but to no avail.

He could no longer feel his hands or feet. He could no longer feel the vibrations in the air or the flow of mana around him.

"(AND I,)" Ananta shrieked, "(have TOLERATED you on my sister's behalf for LONG ENOUGH!!)"

And then, he could no longer see or hear...

...

Tycondrius could not open his eyes.

In trying to confirm his situation... he didn't have eyes.

...nor did he have a body.

He merely... existed.

Once he overcame the horror behind the abyss, he found that, in practice, it was actually rather nice.

He sensed that someone was with him... someone he knew... mostly in passing.

And... it pained him, but he also sensed... the fragment.

It was hollow. In extending his senses to further examine it, Tycon found that it resembled the end of an insect's stinger.

Or perhaps... a venomous thorn?

Suka had been stabbed by that thorn... the thorn fragmented... and the quickly-spreading poison was hastening her demise.

[You came...]

Tycon had no ears, so he was not hearing Suka's voice.

Still, some sense he had identified her clearly.

[Guess who?]

Tycon wanted to smile. He had no face but somehow felt that he was able to communicate his good will.

"I know you..."

[Do you, now?]

"Of course," Tycon replied, "You are Suka, consort of the Ivory Prince."

He keenly felt Suka's embarrassment at the remark.

[I don't know about that. What use is a consort for a Dragonslayer?]

It was Tycon's turn to feel ashamed of the cringeworthy title he proclaimed for himself.

He was used to controlling the muscles in his face to mask his emotions... but lacking both muscles and a face, Suka was able to clearly see the truth.

She laughed. He felt her joy. He could clearly imagine her smile.

She'd grown older since he last saw her. Her face, how he understood it-- had become leaner, less childlike. Her short, wavy hair was neatly tied and fell to her middle-back, contrasting with her sister's wild, overgrown, and almost feral look.

However, Suka's bubbly emotions did not last long. The darkness all around grew deeper, as was suitable, considering her bloodline.

[Ivory Prince,] she said... [I screwed up... real bad.]

She did.

He sent out the withdrawal order.

He wanted to ask why she ignored it. He wanted to hear a valid reason... that she was waylaid by enemies or had somehow lost her Relay Crystal.

The myriad of thoughts swirled in his consciousness. Considering the state of his existence, Suka was surely aware of them all.

She did not answer.

She knew... and made no excuses.

[I had a goal...]

[I was training... to become the next General.]

[I mean, my sister is really kind to me. She set me up for success, y'know?]

Tycon felt her determination... and not just that, he felt her dedication as well.

There were weeks and moons of training... of studying texts on past wars, of learning from skilled veteran warriors and ancient mages, ever-studious.

There were even classes on etiquette.

[That's not fair, Tycon. I'm more formal in person!]

That, he doubted that greatly.

",