Chapter 164: 164: Morgana's Ill Intentions

As Morgana reconted her intricate tale, all the captains listened in, intrigued.

Forgetting all of her casual poise, her eyes lit up with a fervour and her voice was full of conviction as she spoke of unspeakable things. 

Her scheme alone had massacred two groups, but she showed no remorse. And after all she had done, she even brought all the eggs she had stolen back to the cave.

When Typhon asked her why, her response chilled him to the bone.

It was not because she wanted to eat them, rather she wanted to see them hatch from their shells. 

After the reptile group had died, she and her team discovered even more egg clusters scattered around their cave, their total equal or more than the numbers she had killed. 

And then, she tried to appeal to his good graces, suggesting she be allowed to raise them to maturity, to replenish the lives of those she had taken.

Her words were sickly sweet and convincing enough that almost every captain was nodding in agreement. He would have too, if he didn't see through the underlying meaning of her speech. 

If she raised them, they would be loyal only to her. Their minds young, fresh, and impressionable to be moulded into whatever she wished. As creatures they would have no minds of their own and only react to her instructions.

Morgana perhaps hadn't thought this through before suggesting it.

She was passionate in her efforts to persuade him, using Galahad and his friendly relations with two foreign species as the key point of her argument.

Since Galahad seemed to have a knack for creatures getting attached to him, first the water creature and now this bird creature, Morgana's argument was that she could get the reptiles to do the same.

Earlier when Typhon had questioned him about the bird's origins,. Galahad revealed it had been with its parents when they were all attacked by another creature from the water. After a long and hard fight, the large birds couldn't find their lost hatchling and flew away helplessly.

But with Hestia's aid, Galahad had gone into the water and was able to rescue it from the creature's grip. 

Since then, the bird had chosen to follow him, instead of going to find its parents. 

The only thing the two had in common was their gratitude to Galahad for saving their lives, and their choice to follow him. And so, Morgana applied the same logic to the eggs, stating confidently that after they hatched they would be grateful to them for saving their lives and follow them similarly.

With that comparison, she effectively convinced all the captains that the eggs would not bring them any harm in the future. And Galahad, who realized he had done something interesting, began to see the rejected bird in a new light.

Typhon had to applaud her unabashed nature.

At least she was honest in not sparing any detail.

He wasn't compelled by her in the least, but he was surprised that she was so free with her thoughts. If she had withheld her conclusion instead of telling them, he would have no idea how much of a schemer she really was or just how deeply her savagery ran.

He should have been concerned by her way of thinking, but Typhon was pleased.

Her telling them everything showed just how much she trusted everyone. He stole a quick glance at Ophelia and from how impressed she looked – he knew she was seeing Morgana in a completely different light. Although he didn't agree, he allowed her speech to continue, patiently waiting for her to finish.

But in the end, his answer was simple. [Absolutely not.]

[What?] Morgana was aghast.

Ophelia looked mildly confused. [What do you mean, Typhon? Morgana's idea is brilliant.]

[You didn't even think about it.] Morgana argued, as she and Ophelia glared at him together.

Had the two discussed this prior? 

Typhon smirked. [I thought about it, and there's nothing to consider.]

To have his sister disagree with him on an issue wasn't so strange, they didn't always see eye to eye. But he could tell they had colluded to come up with this. It made sense now how Morgana had phrased her argument with points he would agree with. 

If so, then she wasn't innocent at all and fully intended on making the reptiles her servants.

Galahad also nudged him to show his disagreement. [Morgana is right. Hestia did start to follow me because I saved her life.]

Typhon knew this, but that wasn't the point. It was Morgana's attempt to mask her ill intentions as pure that he didn't agree with.

[You're abusing your power!] Ophelia snapped at him.

[I'm not. Hestia is one thing.] Typhon replied. [These monsters are another. It's too risky to consider.]

And there was the issue. Ophelia was only disagreeing with him because he evolved first – it was just like her to get back at him.

Artemis was more practical in his thoughts. [If they outnumber us, accidents will happen.]

[Indeed.] Cygnus agreed.

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With the captains finally seeing some reason, Typhon expected Morgana to give in but instead she grinned.

[The decision isn't up to you, Typhon. You shouldn't refuse me without speaking to 'her' first.]

[What makes you think she will agree with you?] he asked, curious.

[Because she's already done it.] Morgana said with conviction. [Don't you see that little creature on her head? It follows her everywhere.]

Haah.

Typhon knew he had trouble on his hands. While he didn't know what sort of relationship they had, from what he could see they were closer to friends than subordinates.

Would 'she' agree? He had no idea. But he knew she had no need for them.

[She wouldn't agree to such a thing.] Artemis added. [But it wouldn't hurt to have some as poison testers...] 

Morgana glared at him to be quiet, jumping in on the argument. [Not my monsters! Find something else.]

Artemis laughed. [They aren't yours. They belong to everyone.]

[So do I get one too?] Galahad chimed in.

Morgana quickly shut him down. [Nobody gets any. I discovered them, they are mine.] 

Cygnus lazily sighed. 

Nothing had been agreed on, but it seemed the captains were determined to argue until they did. 

Typhon simply wanted to get through all their reports in time, but he was already feeling tired. It was Ophelia's turn next, but she still refused to meet his eyes.

Looking back he saw 'she' had settled down to rest. Perhaps it was best to have her settle everything, but he didn't want to disturb her.

Ophelia slithered over to him. He thought she was still angry about the reptiles and wanted to say a few words, but instead she drew him away from the arguing captains, lowering her voice to a whisper. It seems she didn't want anyone to overhear, so he obliged.

And then Ophelia told him about the skeletons she had discovered.

In the end she asked. [What do you think killed them?] 

She was so convinced the snakes were another nest similar to theirs and that they had been murdered, but Typhon wasn't so sure. Her descriptions were too vague because her team hadn't stayed around to search for more clues for fear of becoming targets themselves.

[Anything could have killed them.] Typhon said. [What were their wounds like?]

Ophelia shook her head. [I didn't see any wounds. They were mostly bones.]

[Then why are you so sure they were killed? They could have died naturally.] 

Ophelia looked thoughtful. [I don't know. Something about it just didn't feel right to me.]

Typhon could see why she was concerned, but not why she refused to tell the other captains. [If you think something is killing us, don't they deserve to know?]

Ophelia shook her head. [I don't want them to panic.]

Typhon sighed. [Then we tell 'her' in private.]

Ophelia agreed and they looked to the rest of the captains who had not yet settled on a solution. Artemis kept going on about the unique poisons he had found that needed more testing, while Morgana was set on keeping the reptiles to herself. 

Typhon decided it was best not to tell them anything.

In the time they were gone, Morgana had somehow convinced Galahad that if her eggs were cast out, so would the bird and the water creature he had taken great pains to acquire. 

Artemis simply wanted a place to keep all the poisonous plants he had discovered and something to test them on, but she had convinced him that his requests wouldn't be met if hers were not. And so when he and Ophelia appeared, they were immediately swarmed with demands. 

There were too many things Typhon couldn't settle himself. The spaded snake's punishment, the requests of his fellow captain's and also the mysterious deaths of the snakes Ophelia had discovered. He could only leave it up to 'her' to resolve. This way, her choices would not be questioned. 

[Enough.] Typhon interrupted them. [We'll leave this decision up to 'her' to see If she agrees. Any other issues you have will be sorted and I don't want to hear any more arguments.] 

The captains all stopped scowling at each other, and then multiple gazes stared up at the winged snake innocently coiled on her perch.

Typhon didn't envy 'her' at this very moment, they all seemed eager to eat her up with their opinions and he was more than happy to pass on that responsibility.

It was worth seeing how their 'Snake Queen' handled the pressure.

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