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00:27Narshi
00:30The Serb King chose me
00:31I believed I was special to him
00:35Until my sister Sarah's partner lost control and went reserving
00:39Narshi shoved me to bond with that monster without blinking
00:43Sarah and I are identical twins
00:44Except for my greyscales
00:46I was never chosen
00:47I was just a spare part
00:49A defective backup
00:50In the beastmen world
00:51Every serpent must bond with partners before their 20th birthday
00:54Or they will get rottened
00:56Sarah and I came into this world together
00:57But I was born with greyscales
00:59She was born with golden ones
01:01Every high ranking male fought to bond with her
01:03And she picked the most dangerous one of all
01:06Nunas
01:07The ancient serpent king of our domain
01:09Nunas has a curse called scale rot
01:15I always knew Sarah would pick him
01:17Power calls to power
01:18What I'd never thought of Narshi chose me
01:20When he announced our bond
01:22The whole territory lost its mind
01:24The air tasted sweet
01:25Even the people who had spent years spitting on me
01:28Flirred into background noise
01:29Except he never let me touch his reverse scale
01:31He never showed me his whole body
01:33When a serpent emperor exposes its belly to its partners
01:36It signifies love, trust and everything
01:39I couldn't find a single scale in the cave
01:42I told myself it was just his nature
01:44That he was private
01:45Then one night I stayed up until 3am making dessert
01:48His favourite
01:49And carry it to his room like an idiot with a smile on my face
01:52Outside the door I saw the shadow of a giant snake
01:54He was in his serpent form
01:56Showing his belly scales to someone else
01:58I pushed the door open and saw my sister
02:00The second he saw me, Narshi shifted back to human form
02:03Like I'd caught him doing something dirty
02:05Sarah just smiled calmly
02:06Like she was sitting on her own throne
02:08Liska, you know Noxie and I grew up together
02:11Showing belly scales is not a big deal
02:13My chest filled with ice
02:15I made my face go still
02:16Yeah
02:17I just came
02:18The desert I'd made all day was already dropped
02:20Sticking to the ground
02:21I stood there like dust
02:23Narshi glanced at me
02:24Cold and brief
02:25Nothing urgent, go back
02:27I pulled my thin scale cloth tight and left
02:29Sarah's voice followed me like smoke down the stone hall
02:32Narshi and I grew up together
02:33But nobody cares that I met him first
02:36That drought year
02:37I was digging for water in a riverbed
02:38Found Nike half-death
02:40Every scale on his body was flipped up
02:41That scale rot
02:42He was losing his mind
02:43Every instinct screamed at me to run
02:45But his eyes stopped me
02:46I knew that look
02:46Desperate
02:47Still fighting
02:48I saw the same thing every morning in my own reflection
02:51I dragged him to a cave
02:52I didn't sleep for weeks
02:53Kept him warm with my own body
02:54Held him down on his worst nights
02:56His body healed
02:57But the rot didn't leave
02:58Then one day Sira came
02:59She told me to throw him to the sand scorpions
03:01Cursed serpents aren't worth our time
03:03I refused
03:03The second Sarah left the cave
03:06Narshi's scale rot disappeared
03:07He came back strong
03:08Regeagle
03:09Healed
03:09After that he started showing up around our territory
03:12I thought he was repaying me
03:13But he was just watching her
03:15I got so lost in memories
03:16I forgot where I was
03:17When I looked up
03:18Nunes was right there
03:19With his golden vertical pupils
03:21You look exactly like your sister
03:23Except
03:23His finger moved slowly over my scales
03:25My hair
03:26He leaned in
03:27Sorry
03:28Fear grabbed me
03:29I ran without thinking
03:30His fear grabbed there
03:31Watching my back for a long time
03:33Narshi got busier every day
03:34Arranging Sarah's binding ceremony with Nunes
03:36I knew I should be grateful
03:38By the standards being picked at all was a miracle
03:40But hearing about Sarah's ceremony
03:42The gifts
03:42The guests
03:43The spectacle
03:44I started dreaming about my own
03:45Fine I thought
03:46I'll do it myself
03:47I spent every last coin
03:49Bought a thousand year shedding of the rarest binding gift possible
03:51Plus a whole bundle of his favourite glowing moss
03:53I showed up at the altar on the chosen day
03:55But he didn't
03:56The longer I waited
03:57The more serpents gathered
03:58Not to celebrate but to laugh
03:59The moss in my arm was already dead
04:01I kept head down
04:02Eyes on the floor
04:02How would a serpent king want a freak who's never shed?
04:04He's messing with her
04:06If only she doesn't know it
04:07Any other day
04:08I'd bite that speaker's throat out
04:11Today I just walk through the crowd
04:12Trying not to let my scales flare
04:15Someone slammed into me from behind
04:17I hit the ground hard
04:18Still protected the shedding herb
04:20Like it mattered
04:21Then someone stepped on it
04:23Green juice bled out
04:24Turned black in seconds
04:26Crumbled to dust
04:27I went back to my cave
04:29Heard Cyriara's voice floating out of Nazia's chamber
04:32Giddy
04:33Naxi this belly scale gem is gorgeous
04:35You polished it yourself?
04:37Sarah
04:37If you like it that's all that matters
04:39His voice was flat as always
04:41But that tiny lift at the end
04:43That warmth he couldn't hide
04:44It gave him away completely
04:45The door opened
04:46Sarah walked out
04:47Wearing a blood red scale ring
04:49Made from a shard of Naxi's own belly scale
04:51A serpent only gives that to one person
04:53So that's why he'd rushed me out of the nest last week
04:55Didn't want me seeing him polish scales for her
04:58He missed my ceremony because of her
05:00All those years
05:01Every time Nasi scanned a room
05:02His eyes always landed on Sarah
05:04Even after he'd agreed to bond with me
05:06I finally understood
05:07I was just a replacement
05:09A little ego bandage
05:10After Sarah picked the ancient serpent over him
05:13Liska
05:13They were right
05:14You've been lying to yourself
05:15I decided to break the bond before it was finalised
05:18I won't wait for adulthood just to have my soul shredded
05:20I started looking for a low ranking serpent willing to bond with me
05:23I found an outer zone sand serpent kale before my 20
05:26He said yes
05:28I went back to tell Nasi
05:29He didn't look relieved
05:31He looked furious
05:32Liska are you serious?
05:34You'd bond with that low tier sand serpent instead of me?
05:36I had a reason for not showing up that day
05:38You saw-
05:38I knew the reason
05:40Sarah's ceremony was coming up
05:41He was busy
05:42Too busy for me
05:43Never too busy for her
05:44Because of my grace deals
05:46Apparently being a serpent who can't shed
05:47When you get thrown
05:48I mocked in public
05:49And told to be grateful for the scraps
05:50I closed my eyes
05:51Yes Nasi
05:52I'm bonding with kale
05:53Fine
05:55Never come back then
05:56He said it like I was the one abandoning him
05:59It makes no sense at all
06:01I didn't have time to figure it out
06:03My adulthood was in three days
06:05Next morning I went to find kale
06:07Somehow, overnight, he'd changed his mind
06:09Someone introduced him to a pure gold scale female last night
06:12They'd already scheduled their ceremony for the afternoon
06:14You really think I'd bond with a cripple who can't shed her skin?
06:17Then he closed the stone door
06:19I stood there, lifted my hand to not put it back down
06:21Serpents like me shouldn't exist
06:23Three days left to live
06:26Might as well eat well
06:28I went to the restaurant I could never afford
06:31Ordered the expensive fish
06:34Midway through a bite of roasted earthworm
06:36I heard voices behind me
06:41They say the serpent king is giving Sarah the icy crystal
06:46The one that heals
06:48Heals?
06:49If it heals
06:51Why didn't Nasi use it on my grace gaze?
06:55Because Sarah matters more than I do
07:00He had the cure for my scales my whole life
07:02Watched me get bullied, spit on, mocked
07:04Kept the cure in his treasure room
07:06As a backup for Sarah
07:07Not for me
07:08Venom rose in my throat
07:09I bet my tongue until I tasted blood
07:10Kept myself from hissing
07:12Tomorrow is my adulthood
07:13I'm going to die
07:14They'll watch my body rot
07:15So I would not cry
07:16Not tonight
07:18Not where anyone could see
07:21I went back to my cave
07:22Nowhere else to go
07:23The cave was blazing with light
07:25The hall was packed with serpents
07:27Had all hissing at each other
07:28Nuna's, Sarah's bonded ancient serpent
07:30Had lost control completely
07:32The scale rot had taken over
07:33Without a completed bond to restrain him
07:35Narpus wouldn't just kill Sarah
07:36He'd destroy the whole territory
07:37That's what ancient serpents do when they lost control of themselves
07:40Everyone was pushing Sarah to bond with him immediately
07:43Only Nasi stood in front of her
07:45Shoved her back behind him
07:47But Nasi couldn't hold off the serpents forever
07:51Sarah melted like mud behind him
07:53Nasi walked towards my chamber
07:55Liska
07:56You're the only one who can save her
07:58Me?
08:00Bond with that ancient serpent?
08:02You and Sarah are identical except for your scale colour
08:04No one will tell the difference
08:06I opened my mouth to ask how I could magically grow golden scales in three seconds
08:10Then I remembered the hot spring conversation
08:13Nasi raised his hand
08:14His face almost looked regretful
08:15But when his arm swung toward my neck
08:17Nasi, I'm sorry
08:19Sarah saved my life once
08:20I can't let her die
08:22Darkness came before he finished the sentence
08:25Even now, not one word about me
08:29I woke up
08:30In a moving bone cart
08:33Wearing the golden scale cloth Naki had made for Sarah
08:36I almost laughed
08:37He went through all that trouble to make this outfit
08:40And I'm the one wearing it
08:42Outside, war drums and horns
08:44The whole territory was celebrating
08:46Not celebrating wedding
08:47Celebrating trading my life for their safety
08:49The altar was in sight
08:51I didn't fight
08:52I climbed the steps
08:53Heard the whispers shift in the crowd
08:55And a sharp gap of surprise
08:56Funny, my whole life serpents gasped at my scales with disgust
08:59Now they gasped for a different reason
09:01And I was walking to my death
09:02My eyes landed on Naxi at the bottom of the steps
09:04He stood straight, looking up at me
09:06An expression on his face I couldn't read
09:08This is what you wanted, Nasi, isn't it?
09:10I looked away
09:10Nuna stood in the center of the altar
09:12Black mist pouring off him
09:13Muscles looked ready to tear through his scales
09:15His eyes burned, all beast, no left
09:17But when our eyes met, for a slit second
09:19A flash of blue ran through his gold
09:20You are different
09:23The ceremony began
09:24We exchanged bonding tokens
09:27Blood on both sides
09:29The contract snapped into place
09:32Black mist wrapped around me
09:34Swallowed us both
09:35I closed my eyes and waited to die
09:38When I opened them again
09:42I froze
09:44No darkness
09:46No pain
09:48Just a quiet cave with glowing stacker tiles
09:51A clear underground river with fish in it
09:56A horned salamander rested on the bank
09:59This wasn't the nightmare abyss at all
10:01And Nuna's was gone
10:04I turned slowly
10:06No giant serpent
10:07No ancient predator
10:12Something cold brushed my tail tip
10:14I looked down
10:15A tiny silver baby serpent
10:18Translucent scales glinting in the light
10:20Anyone who'd studied ancient serpent biology
10:22Would recognize him
10:24That was Nuna's
10:25Shrunk to infant size
10:26Small enough to coil around my wrist
10:29As long as you're breathing there's a way out
10:31I carried baby Nanus through the cave system
10:33Tried everything I knew
10:34Healing herbs, binding spells, energy guides
10:37Nothing worked
10:38He stayed tiny
10:39His black myth pulsed weakly but never went out
10:41I gave up for the night, went hunting
10:44Next morning I woke up with something heavy on my chest
10:48Sometime during the night
10:49Baby Nuna's had curled into a ball right over my heart
10:52Sleeping soundly
10:55Rising and falling with my breath
10:57I pinched his little tail
10:58I don't know how much you know about bonding compacts
11:01But sleeping on someone is usually considered trespassing
11:03He looked at me with zero apology
11:05And then, his scales slowly turned silver
11:07I kept holding him, his little horns darkened
11:09I raised an eyebrow
11:11I spent the next ten minutes poking his head
11:13Feeling him crawl awkwardly
11:15Then I put him down with satisfaction
11:18I went back to trying to heal him
11:21Still nothing
11:23I broke off some crystal shards from a low stilopium
11:31Crushed them
11:32While I was working, a sharp shard sliced my arm scale
11:37Blood welled up
11:39Before I could move
11:41Nuna's licked the wound
11:42The bleeding stopped instantly
11:45The wound began to close
11:47Then he convulsed
11:49I scrambled for medicine
11:51But it was already too late
11:53Because he was already growing
11:56His massive, colossal serpent body reappeared
12:00His scale rot was gone
12:02We could go home
12:03Then I remembered
12:04Nuna's is the coldest
12:05Most untouchable serpent king in the territory
12:07And I'd spent the last two days poking his head
12:10And accusing him of trespassing
12:12Before I could come up with a plan
12:13He'd already shifted back to human serpent form
12:15Standing right in front of me
12:17His face was stern, eyes gold as blades
12:20The kind of face that made others get out of his way before they knew why
12:24Liska, are you familiar with the prophecy passed down through serpent bloodlines?
12:28He knew my real name
12:30Or that's what he called me
12:32Not really
12:34Only a serpent god can break this curse
12:38I've examined the space around us
12:40This isn't the Nightmare Abyss
12:42It's a separate dimension
12:45And it seems to belong to you
12:47I have a private dimension
12:50Me Liska
12:51The grey scaphalia
12:53The spare part
12:55The female not even a low tier sandspipant wanted to bond with
13:00I have a private dimension
13:02We went back to the territory
13:04The streets stopped
13:07I walked straight towards Naxhi's cave
13:10Nuna's beside me
13:15I looked at my sister
13:18Naxhi and Sarah were in the great hall
13:20Pretending to be sad
13:23Sarah, the name on that belly scale gem is engraved wrong
13:26The one who bonded with the ancient serpent was me, Liska
13:30Not you
13:31Everyone turned at our entrance
13:33How could you be Liska?
13:35How do we even know you're really Liska?
13:37I smiled
13:38I reached out and grabbed Sarah's wrist
13:41The powder coating her scales
13:43The grey spots she'd put on to pretend to be me
13:46Rubbed off
13:48I knew she'd never actually hurt herself
13:54She'd let her little sister die in her place
14:03Liska's scales, why are they so clean?
14:06The crowd murmured
14:08I stepped forward to reveal the truth
14:11Because she faked it
14:13Naxhi looked at Nuna's disbelief
14:15How are you even alive?
14:17You were supposed to shred this territory
14:21Nuna's looked back at him
14:23The curse is broken, Nasi
14:26Thanks to Liska
14:29The whole hall turned to me like machines
14:34Nasi looked like he'd been punched
14:40Nuna stepped in front of me and said
14:44Liska is the serpent god described in our bloodline prophecy
14:48Her blood neutralizes scale rot
14:51Nasi's hand tightened on Sarah's arm
14:54I gave a cold laugh
14:57Have you forgotten, Nassi? Your own scale rot was cured the same way.
15:03Who saved you that drought year?
15:06It was me.
15:08I left that sentence hanging in the hall like a lit fuse, then left with Nunes.
15:15The best puzzles are only half told.
15:17Living in Nunes' palace was the best ten days of my life.
15:21Food came to my chamber on time. No one hissed where I walked.
15:24I even got used to waking up every morning to find Nunes had somehow shrunk back to baby serpent form
15:29again.
15:30Curled on my chest, his silver scales flickering with my breath.
15:33Then the requests started coming.
15:35At first, just one or two.
15:37An outer zone sansropen, scale rot already eating half her tail, carried to the palace gate by her family.
15:43They didn't dare come inside.
15:45Just waited.
15:47Silent.
15:48Desperate.
15:50Nunes and I looked at each other.
15:52My hand shook when I cut my palm.
15:54Not from fear.
15:55I already knew what my blood could do.
15:57But because of the eyes looking at me.
15:59They weren't mocking anymore.
16:01Or disgusted.
16:02Or pitying.
16:03They held something I'd never seen before.
16:06Hope.
16:06The blood dripped onto the sansmeet's forehead.
16:09The black mist struggled for a moment.
16:11Then dispersed.
16:12Her tail didn't grow back.
16:14But her eyes cleared.
16:16She stared at me.
16:17Her tongue trembled before she said,
16:19Your scales.
16:20They're silver.
16:21I looked down.
16:23Sometime in all of this, the dull gray scales on my arms had started glowing at the edges.
16:28Faint silver.
16:30Like moonlight on snow.
16:33That night I stared at the stone wall for a long time.
16:37It's changing.
16:38Your scale color has been changing ever since I first saw you at the altar.
16:42I didn't say anything.
16:44He didn't speak again.
16:45But his tail didn't let go.
16:48Three days later, a venom serpent was dragged to the territory gate.
16:52Black scale rot lines crawled all over his shell.
16:54His eyes were blood red.
16:56He'd already bitten two adult serpent cards trying to restrain him.
16:59The crowd outside was three times bigger than last time.
17:03When I walked out, I heard the sound of scales scraping the ground.
17:08They were stepping back.
17:10Making a path for me.
17:12Not out of respect.
17:14Out of fear.
17:16They didn't know what I was.
17:18The venom serpent hissed at me.
17:20His venomous tail raised high.
17:23His pupils completely swallowed by black mist.
17:27I didn't hesitate.
17:29Drew a clean line across my palm.
17:32The moment the blood hit his forehead, he screamed.
17:35His whole body convulsed violently.
17:37His venom tail smacked the stone floor into rubble.
17:40Rock shards flew everywhere.
17:42The crowd screamed too.
17:44Then, dead silence.
17:46She's a monster!
17:47You are great dead!
17:49The gracebots were a sign all along!
17:52She's poisoning him!
17:54Nana's stepped in front of me.
17:59He didn't speak.
18:01Didn't release any pressure.
18:03He just slowly, completely, uncoiled his serpent body.
18:08Belly scales.
18:09Vulnerable scales.
18:11Every inch.
18:12He showed all of it to every serpent there.
18:15A serpent king showing his belly to his mate.
18:18Means being faithful unto death.
18:22The venom serpent's convulsions stopped.
18:24The black mist washed out of his eyes.
18:27Like dirt swept away by water.
18:31He blinked.
18:33Confusion.
18:34Then clarity.
18:36The serpent who had been shouting loudest that I was poisoning him just frozen there with his mouth open.
18:40No words.
18:41The crowd didn't erupt and chatter.
18:43Instead, a long, deep wave of hissing tongues.
18:45That's the sound serpents make when they're too shocked for words.
18:48I turned.
18:48Met Numus's eyes.
18:50That faint blue was back in his gold pupils.
18:53Soft.
18:54Like a crack of sky in a deep lake.
18:56You didn't have to do that.
18:57Yes, I did.
18:59Within a week, my name had spread across the entire territory.
19:02I didn't listen to the gossip, but some words still drifted through the stone halls.
19:07They said Sarah hadn't left Nassi's cave in days.
19:11Neighbourhood kids said if you walked past that area and said my name loudly enough, you'd hear something shatter inside.
19:16I didn't regret it, but I didn't feel good either.
19:20That evening, a serpent guard announced a visitor.
19:23I hadn't even reached the great hall before I saw the shadow in the doorway.
19:26That outline I'd known my whole life.
19:29Sarah was kneeling.
19:30Her golden scales were dull.
19:32Hair plastered her face.
19:33Her eyes were bloodshot.
19:35Lips cracked dry.
19:36She'd never looked this wrecked in her entire life.
19:40Lyska.
19:40Her voice was raw, like she'd been crying for hours.
19:43Tell them you volunteered, please.
19:45Just issue a statement.
19:46Say you went to that altar, willingly.
19:47She was shaking, but she still tried to make it sound like an unbreakable command that was carved into her
19:52bones.
19:52Even on her knees, she couldn't get rid of it.
19:54I was quiet for a long time.
19:55Give me a reason.
19:56My voice was so soft, I almost didn't hear it myself.
19:58You watched them torture me for twenty years.
20:00Didn't say a word.
20:01You knew I was the one who saved Nisi in the drought.
20:03But you let him worship you.
20:04Let him treat me like air.
20:05Sent me to die for you.
20:07She reached out.
20:08Grabbed the hem of my dress.
20:09Tugged it softly.
20:10That's what I used to do to her as a kid.
20:12After she took everything from me.
20:14After she mocked me in front of everyone.
20:16I'd grab her clothes and hope.
20:17Just hope that because we hatched from the same shell she'd at least...
20:20She never once looked back.
20:22I pulled my hem out of her hand.
20:23Nunes walked out of the inner chamber and stopped behind me.
20:26He didn't look at Sarah.
20:27Just at my face.
20:28Take her out.
20:29When the two serpent guards lifted Sarah up, she finally made a sound.
20:32A short, broken hiss.
20:33The first time in my life I'd ever heard her hiss.
20:35The stone door closed completely.
20:37Nunes didn't ask if I run after her.
20:38His massive snurt body blocking the cold wind from the crack in the door.
20:41Something inside me finally collapsed completely.
20:43The tears came before I even felt them.
20:46Just dropped onto the stone floor.
20:47Broke into smaller drops.
20:49I didn't wipe them.
20:50Didn't turn away.
20:51Twenty years of hurt.
20:53Flowing out.
20:54For a long time.
20:55Nunes didn't say a word.
20:57Just pulled me into his chest.
20:58His body was warm.
21:00Warmer than any touch I remember.
21:02When his arms tightened, I finally made sound.
21:05Gasping, heaving.
21:06Like something that had just surfaced from deep water.
21:09He didn't say stop crying.
21:11He just put his chin on top of my head.
21:13His tears round us close circle.
21:15I woke up in bed.
21:17Nunes was asleep next to me.
21:19Breathing slow and deep.
21:20My hand was still gripping the corner of his sleeve.
21:23I remembered holding on like he might disappear too.
21:25My cheeks were burning.
21:26I spent maybe a few seconds considering slipping away quietly attending none of it happened.
21:30Then a serpent guard's voice came from outside the door.
21:32There came another visitor.
21:34Naxi.
21:34He stood in the middle of the reception hall.
21:36Looked like he hadn't slept in days.
21:38The edges of his scales curling up with white flakes.
21:40Signs of severe dehydration.
21:42His eyes lit up for a second when he saw me.
21:44Then died just as fast.
21:45His voice was so hockey I barely heard it.
21:47Thank the gods.
21:48You're alive.
21:50You've got good timing.
21:52Technically I'm alive because you traded me for Sarah.
21:55So I guess I owe you thanks.
21:57He flinched like I'd whipped him.
21:59Liska.
21:59Liska.
22:01Every word you say right now is a knife.
22:04I turned to leave.
22:05He grabbed my wrist.
22:06The touch was familiar.
22:07But the force wasn't.
22:09Like a drowning man grabbing anything.
22:11Liska.
22:11That old name fell out of his mouth.
22:13I stopped.
22:14The name he used back when he stopped seeing me.
22:16When he was busy with Sarah skipping my ceremony.
22:19Keeping the healing jade locked in his treasure room.
22:21I hadn't heard it in years.
22:23But I didn't turn around.
22:24Naxi.
22:25You didn't lose me.
22:26You let me go a long time ago.
22:28I'm just finally done waiting for you to pick me back up.
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