Records of Rebirth

The wind wafting out from the cave's entrance sent a tickling sensation over his scales. On his left was their leader, and her peculiar folded wings, and the snakes she had on her back.

Typhon recognised Artemis who stared at his appearance with wide eyes and the spaded snake who looked extremely startled.

They climbed down her back and rushed over to him and Typhon couldn't help but smirk at their petrified faces. He didn't think he would ever get used to his new appearance, but the reactions from his fellow nestlings was more than amusing. 'She' already entered the cave, so he followed in right after.

He was finally home…or was he?

On entering there was a short platform he was seeing for the first time. And right below it was the curved wall they used for their training that had been left unchanged.

After crossing the passage, he was able to look down from the steep height to the ground below, but that was where the similarities between this new cave and the old one ended.

Looking down at the cave's scenery, it had changed so much from before.

Everything below the wall was ten times its initial size. The uneven, rough surfaces from before were smoothed over and chiselled into impossibly straight lines, full of precise edges as though an extremely sharp tool had cut through the bedrock to shape it.

The cave now took on the appearance of a spacious hall, evenly split into three rectangles lavishly decorated with an array of furs and other accessories 'she' had collected, separated by a series of pillars demarcating each hall from the next.

The middle hall housed the pit and Typhon could see it had also been extended. It was much deeper, and the walls were cut away to bring forth a new shape.

The former circular pit was now an oval, with layered steps chiselled in around its walls. These steps were used by the snakes to either climb down or to spectate the battles going on at the bottom and Typhon could see many nestlings scattered around the pit, to cheer on those fighting within.

On either side of the pit were rows of square cells cut into the ground. Some contained creatures that had been caught for food, and others were empty. 

Past the pit was an even deeper section of the cave that he could not see, due to it being far away and partially under the ground, but he knew it was spacious because there was an airy breeze wafting over from below. 

It was an entirely different cave compared to the previous one, and Typhon could only stare at it in an utterly speechless state.

His team members were no different from him and unlike before when they would have had to slither down from the steep height of the wall, there were now rectangular steps chiselled out in the rock from the short passage to the ground, that made the climb down effortless.

One of Typhon's biggest concerns before returning to the cave was that he would be too large, but now he was glad that was no longer the case. He saw their leader had already started climbing down, not even pausing at the absurdity of the cave before her.

But then again, why would she?

There was no one else who could have created it aside from her. He'd been watching her for a long time and had seen her do many absurd things. And so the lack of surprise on her part made him accept the situation quickly.

Soon after, he followed down the steps, eager to see the rest of the nestlings. However, the rest of the nestlings didn't adapt as quickly as he did.

Artemis and his team were still speechless at the entrance, each staring at the new cave with wide eyes, and so was his team. He had to call out to break them out of their trance. 

The mischievous snakes soon followed him down, more excited than ever. He could tell they were itching to leave his side to explore the cave, but with a single word from him, they both settled down and stopped fidgeting.

As for Artemis, he looked flustered as he stared around. 

Completely lost in thought, he kept muttering to himself as he looked around and Typhon could only wonder what he was thinking. He turned his attention to the spaded snake, noticing that she looked terrified rather than shocked like all the other snakes. He realised it must be a lot to take in, so he left her to it.

It was only when they reached the ground, that the true nature of the cave was revealed to them. 

It was loud.

There were strange eggs all over the place and a bird creature that obviously did not belong there.

From above it looked peaceful, but now that he came close, everywhere he looked there was a rowdy mess. Ophelia was nowhere to be found and there were too many snakes running amok everywhere, and the cave was in complete disarray. 

Although 'she' didn't say a word, he personally took offence to the chaos in front of him and immediately hissed out an order for all of the snakes to assemble before him to explain themselves.

Artemis and his team joined him, and the cave soon fell to silence as the nestlings organised themselves in orderly rows. 

Typhon demanded an explanation from the captains.

At their forefront was a flustered Ophelia, followed soon after by Morgana, Galahad, and Cygnus and they all looked out of breath. It seemed like they had all been fighting in the pits and Typhon glared at each of them accusingly, for letting their teams fall to chaos while they battled each other. 

It was their very first briefing in their teams as Captains and Typhon was all too eager to relay all they had experienced to their leader, but the other captains also had to be up to par to not let down their leader's expectations.

However, as they waited in their orderly rows, the other captains seemed far more interested in his new appearance. They all stared at him and Typhon could feel many curious eyes boring holes in his scales. 

[You traitor…] Ophelia hissed from under her breath. [What did you do to get so big? We used to be the same!]

Typhon smirked at her furious face before looking away. 

He wasn't surprised Ophelia was offended, but this wasn't the time to address this.

He turned to the obvious problems first. 

The strange eggs and the tiny bird were obviously an issue and although their leader didn't seem that annoyed with them, he could see she was growing ever more irritated as time passed and fearing she would lash out at one of them, he was keen to find the culprit.

He questioned the captains immediately and it didn't take long for Galahad and Morgana to confess.

[The bird is a gift for our leader.] Galahad answered rather shamelessly, an innocent smile on his face. [I noticed she is very fond of soft things.]

Morgana burst into laughter, but a single glance from him made her fall silent. 

[My eggs are also a gift.] She answered in a mild voice. [I came across an unusual creature and I wanted our leader to see them for herself.]

Typhon stared at the both of them in anger. What exactly were they playing at? 

Even though 'she' liked such things, it wasn't their place to bring them back without her permission.

What if the bird had been followed?

And where were the parents of the eggs?

Galahad refused to look directly at him which made his behaviour immediately suspicious, but Morgana was rather brazen and faced him head on.

He knew the both of them were up to something, but since their leader was still present, he couldn't use force on them to make them answer him. And so he relayed their exact responses to her, making up his mind to thoroughly question them later.

Their leader didn't seem annoyed with them. She seemed more occupied with the tiny creature that flitted around her head and with every explanation he gave her, the small creature would leave her side to take a look. 

They seemed to be communicating with each other through some means he could not see, from the eye contact they shared to the way the tiny creature bobbed it's head up and down and Typhon couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

He had seen it only briefly, but from the way their leader let it remain around her, he could tell she was rather fond of the creature.

After the creature made her observations, their leader dismissed Galahad's gift, accepting Morgana's much to his dismay, before leaving them alone altogether.

He could only assume she was disappointed in their conduct, and with his good mood tainted, he was determined to find out every last detail from the silly snakes before him, even if he had to force them to speak.