Arsinoe, on the other hand, was bursting with anger and envy.

Watching Morgana glide into the cave, all she could think was how the gap between them had widened once more.

The nestlings around her all admired how impressive Morgana looked, remarking on the shape of her wings and the pale blue iridescence of her scales. It was similar to Ophelia's, yet different.

Where Ophelia had the soft, pure, kind of appearance, hers were razor sharp and full of edges. Each feather angular and shaped like a knife, their tips long and slender which made her wings appear wider than average. They were also much darker at the ends, like they had been dipped in blood, a sharp contrast to the rest of her pale colouring.

Arsinoe zoned in on this tiny detail.

It seemed she killed something right before she got here and didn't even bother to wash off the blood.

What a slob!

However, the other nestlings didn't seem to notice or care, as they continued to praise her.

Hearing their words, Arsinoe's frustrations kept rising, and her face turned ashen. She was envious because she felt this should have been her – if only she wasn't so busy with planning the cave's defence, she could have gone out to hunt too!

Now, she had fallen behind again and she felt this was deeply unfair.

But then, a snake she had never spoken to, suddenly started talking to her.

[Don't show that kind of face to Morgana.] Ana urgently cautioned her. [It will only make her interested in you!]

From her previous experience, she had learnt to make herself small and unnoticeable to avoid such attention. Morgana had already tried to kill her once, and since then she had stopped speaking her true thoughts and changed her entire persona to one of fawning and shameless flattery. This way Morgana had lost interest in tormenting her and left her alone.

However Arsinoe, being simple minded, did not understand the nuance of subtlety. Even after Ana's explanation, she continued to lament on their differences in ability. Her skills were improving fast, but who knew Morgana would overtake her in a single bound, resetting her progress back to zero.

Before she left, their leader had instructed them all to stay inside due to the threat of the scorpions and the apes, but Morgana listened to no one.

Arsinoe knew she couldn't complain to Typhon for something trivial like this because he was busy, and she had promised to be on her best behaviour, plus he's already seen her and said nothing.

Ophelia was impartial to both of them, she liked everyone evenly and since Morgana was her right hand, their relationship was surely deeper. Galahad was too nice to get involved and Cygnus was always running off elsewhere.

The only one left was Artemis who she constantly vented to.

But earlier when he was concocting plans with Apollo, he shooed her away for complaining too much.

Arsinoe knew she was asking for trouble, but she was angry after the disdainful look Morgana had given her.

It was up to her to prove her capability as a captain. If she continued to let Morgana act as she liked, the ambitious nestlings who praised her would soon follow suit – she had to make Morgana obey one way or the other.

And when Ana saw the scheming look in her eyes, she sighed and returned to minding her business.

Arsinoe looked around for Morgana and spotted her with Galahad.

The two were having a rather heated discussion behind a pillar and this sparked her interest. If she wasn't doing something suspicious, why the need to hide?

Just then, Ophelia, who had been with Typhon, suddenly took off with speed and left the cave with Cygnus.

[Where are they going?] A curious voice inside of her asked. [Are they going to meet with the horned snake and the fairy?]

Before she could respond, Morgana's loud laugh interrupted her train of thought.

They were still talking behind the pillar and Arsinoe's curiosity grew too great. She wanted to know what was being said, so she crept closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

[Where are they going?] The voice repeated and Arsinoe grimaced in annoyance.

Why was it asking so many questions today?

Normally this inquisitive voice was quiet, only speaking occasionally to comfort her when she felt frustrated, but since she became Captain, it had been demanding a lot of things.

It seemed to be curious about their leader and all that she did. Even showing interest in her fellow captains, Typhon, and Ophelia in particular.

At first she thought they were her own thoughts, but as time passed its voice had become more distinctive. It even had an impatient personality.

[They're just going scouting.] Arsinoe hurriedly replied. [They don't know where 'she' went either.]

The voice went quiet after it deemed her response satisfactory, and at last she could focus on Morgana.

Arsinoe crept towards the pillar where she overheard Morgana's quiet conversation with Galahad. She seemed to be bragging about something, and Galahad nodded along with her, applauding her for her smart decision and her viciousness.

She had no idea what they were talking about, but she didn't like it.

Why should Morgana receive compliments from him – wasn't Galahad only obsessed with being their leader's pet?

What was so special about her?

If it was about evolving, she could do it too.

Unfortunately, the rest of their conversation was cut off when a nestling approached the pair, causing the wary Morgana to leave towards the cave's lower level.

Arsinoe thought she was hiding something, or at least planning to do something with Galahad – why else would she leave so quickly? She decided not to linger anymore and followed after her, determined to figure out what they were planning.

But no sooner had she turned around, did she come face to face with Hestia.

The water snake directly barred her way before she could take off. Wherever she turned, the cold sensation of a water whip lashed out at her.

Soon, Hestia stopped blocking her way and Arsinoe already knew she had been caught.

[Was it so interesting that you had to listen secretly?] Galahad's amused voice wafted over. [Why not ask to be included, instead of skulking around like a thief?]

Ignoring the obvious dig at her character, Arsinoe confidently faced him.

[So what if I listened? It's part of my role as Captain, are you saying you don't want to follow 'her' instructions?]

To Galahad who was desperately trying to become someone their leader could rely on, this was a very harsh blow. His calm mask slipped, and he snapped immediately.

[You think you can do anything you want just because she acknowledged you? Doing hurtful things to others is okay as long as you don't face any consequences? Is that why you hurt Lyra? This is not the sort of captain 'she' needs!]

Arsinoe was taken aback by his sudden anger, and at the mention of Lyra whom she hadn't seen in a while. She was only speaking truthfully, but his reaction was a bit extreme.

She was about to challenge him, but she stopped as she saw Lyra come out of a room with Europa in tow. Their eyes locked and Lyra froze in terror, causing Europa who was beside her to show a fearsome expression.

Arsinoe was dumbfounded. Why was Lyra cowering like she'd just seen a vicious monster?

She'd noticed Europa had been avoiding her lately, but since Lyra was rather soft and caring, she didn't think she would say anything to him about their quarrel.

But their reaction made it apparent she had told Europa and Galahad everything.

And now both of them were looking at her like she was a monster, while Lyra hid behind them.

Arsinoe had never been in this sort of situation, and she was confused on what to do.

She looked at Lyra to explain so the situation would be resolved, but the sight of the cowering snake lingered in her mind, like an uncomfortable itch. Why was she acting so afraid?

Europa, who shielded Lyra, saw her irritated look, and hissed. [Don't look at her like that! Have you come to shout at her again?]

Arsinoe laughed. [What exactly did I do? We only exchanged a few words.]

It had been a long time since Morgana left and Arsinoe was getting frantic that she had lost her. The sudden arrival of the twins was just an added bonus of irritation, and Galahad whose supportive words kept aggravating the situation wasn't helping either. It was like he was deliberately wasting her time.

Her mental voice also chose now to chime in to attack Lyra. [If she is so innocent, why did she tell Europa and her captain? One would have been enough. She clearly wants to ruin their opinion of you.]

Arsinoe agreed and her hate towards Lyra doubled.

However, Europa was her team member. She thought she should at least apologise to mend their relationship.

Yet, she could not hide her sneer at the coy way Lyra was acting.

She was above them, why should she have to show them any regard?

Lyra, the serpent who was now dirty in her eyes, was clearly playing tricks to make her look bad!

Europa saw her sinister look and snapped. [Why apologise if you don't even feel sorry?]

Lyra, who had been hiding, quietly spoke up. [I-I accept her apology. I w-want us to be friends again.]

But Europa was unconvinced. [Just stay away from her.] He snapped at Arsinoe. [I don't want to see you near her again.]

With that he stormed off with Lyra, leaving Arsinoe who had apologised to feel very foolish indeed.

Her blood boiled as she glared at the two retreating snakes.

Why the hell did she apologise when she knew this would be their reaction?