My brother's divine power of sight was something to behold, before his eyes the realm belonged to him and him alone.
The past was laid bare before him, the many futures of this realm just a glance away.
Lies were torn down long before they could ever bear fruit, hated enemies would be turned into the staunchest of allies through only a few words from his mouth.
Through his eyes alone, we knew where the titans would once again rise and attack both the mortal and divine realms.
This all important ability forced my poor brother into a very unenviable position, for him to use the most of his divine ability he had to stay at the only place where both realms met and never leave.
So my brother sat, coiled around the world tree and watched the world move without him, his judgement allowing him to see everything in perfect detail.
Of course I would visit my brother as much as i could, and the rest of our family was always just a call away.
But even if he never admitted it I knew he was lonely, stuck between two realms both just far enough out of his reach.
A part of me wonders if he is watching me as I write these words down, I'm so sorry brother if only you were here with me.
Maybe then the mortal realm would finally and truly free.
[Excerpt from the private writings of the holy king Sardoll blessed be his name.]
…
Adder could see everything!
The arcs of his grandfather's attacks, the rise of his fame as the holy lancer, his grandfather's first days training in the spear, even the day of Erdush's birth.
All there plain for him to see, laid bare for his judgement to behold.
The serpent king dodged another flurry of stabs as he back stepped, his eyes still locked on his grandfather.
"Still not taking me seriously huh?"
The serpent king said as he readied his next attack, serpents coiled around his spear as he did.
"Venomous Three!"
Adder stabbed out the serpents and spearhead just missing as Erdush put all his strength into parrying.
Erdush tried to stab out but the mad king had already seen that coming, having already prepared a counter of his own.
"Winding Point!"
Adder once again moved at an astonishing speed, dropping to a lowered stance and piercing the spear upwards towards Erdush.
Serpents Ire shot forward having bypassed Erdush's own attack and was aimed straight for the old man's head.
Adder then retreated and took up what Erdush could only describe as a running stance, as mana coiled and condensed around the herald of judgement.
"Daimondback Rush!"
The Serpent King then launched himself at the Holy Lancer, the image of a monstrous serpent surrounding him as he charged toward his grandfather.
But once again the attack missed and Erdush finally understood that the Serpent King had been missing on purpose.
…
The battle had gone on for who knows how long, and the boy had been playing him this entire time.
No, the both of them had been playing. Erdush stole a glance at his spear Longinus.
He hadn't held this spear in over twenty years, and for good reason.
The holy lance Longinus was destroyed, shattered beyond repair during the Final Crusade twenty years ago.
And yet he held the divine weapon in his grasp, same weight, size, and feeling of certainty it filled within him.
'Adder's own creation, a copy straight out of the past.'
The thought had shaken him to his core, and he completely forgot about that fact.
No he received a weapon that he knew was gone, and he ignored that fact, buried it wanting to focus on the fight between him and his own ward.
Erdush sighed, his grip on the false Longinus tightening, he thought he had gotten better at this.
Being able to remove his desires and feelings during a fight, but he was wrong.
And with that thought Erdush took his first real and practiced stance.
the mad king seeing this, his smile grew even deep, his crimson eyes locked and his serpents rampant letting out a chorus of hisses.
Adder charged once again, Serpents Ire danced in the mad king's hands as he started his flurry attacks.
Switching gracefully from both the Glim Vigil Art and the Spear of the Undying Serpent with every strike.
The perfection of both the lernean arts and the first vigil of the of Erdush's own hallowed art was displayed before the old paladin.
Mana serpents and glims danced around the great divine spear in the Serpent King's hands, as he started his mad dance.
But this show of martial prowess from his grandson failed to interrupt Erdush's own concentration.
He parried the first two blows, before throwing up his own trump card.
"Glim Rampart!"
The glims that surrounded the holy lancer forming a barrier in front of him, the silvery white barrier took the brunt of the serpent's king attacks.
Adder didn't even flinch or change his manner of attack, instead only hastening his spear.
Yet the barrier stood firm and unmoving, its holy light shining brighter and brighter as the Serpent King's assault continued.
The blazing white barrier that had shielded the old man from the mad king's blows, had soon become paper thin, a fact that Adder seemingly ignored.
The holy lancer's eyes locked on the mad king, he then roared words he hadn't uttered in over a decade.
"Shatter!"
The barrier unleashed the stored force of the previous attacks right back at the Serpent King, his mighty figure enveloped in divine light.
Adder's smile did not fall even as the combined force of all of his previous attacks exploded upon him.
All had become quiet after Adder disappeared into the brightness, far too quiet, not in mourning but anticipation.
As if the realm itself had held its breath in apprehension of what would happen next.
Erdush didn't move, he stood there Longinus pointed forward, knowing this wasn't even close to being over.
Eyes locked on the dust cloud that laid before him, that hid the great Serpent King from the holy lancer's view.
And soon a sound came from beyond Erdush's sight, it was crisp, loud and sounded like it was coming from right in front of Erdush.
It was a sound that Erdush had instantly recognized as what the sound was, and as soon as the dust finally settled Erdush was confirmed to be correct.
Adder stood about five feet away from his grandfather, spear stabbed into the dirt.
And much to Erdush's annoyance he had been clapping, and to make it worse for the old man.
The Serpent King was smiling, really smiling. Just as he had when talking to his mother, before sinking his fangs into her neck.
"Excellent, now that you're taking me seriously, it's my turn to show off."
The mad king hissed before reaching for his spear, but Erdush had enough of this farce.
"No."
Adder raised an eyebrow to this, the serpents that hovered over his shoulders made august faces.
"What do you mean no?"
"No, what are we even doing here?"
Erdush started to yell as he continued to understand what this was all for.
"Did you wish to establish yourself as the strongest?!"
The serpent king started to shrink away from his grandfather, his confidence and authority slothing off from him.
"I wanted to…"
"You wish to kill me, like Nira?!"
"What no! My mother isnt…"
"You can't fool me boy, I felt her very soul disperse in front of me."
"I wanted…"
"Why did you attack me, why did you attack your own mother, what did you do Abner?..."
"I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU!"
Adder roared as his eyes started to burn, but before Erdush could even ask what Adder even meant, the Serpent King grabbed his grandfather by the collar.
"The first man to ever want anything to do with me, who looked at me and said welcome home, and it lasts FOUR BLASTED YEARS?!"
Adder yelled as he shook his grandfather, who had become speechless by his grandson's outburst.
"With everything I've had to suffer through, my progenitor's sin, the abandonment of those who were supposed to love me, and having even my humanity questioned!"
"And the one man who took me in, died four years after we met."
The Serpent king laughed in between his mad ravings.
"But of course this is what I deserve. The great hungering serpent that slumbers in human skin that lies in wait for his time to bring ruin to all."
Adder held the concerned Erdush against a tree as he parroted all of those cruel words I child should never be told.
"Why does a serpent need a home, why would a serpent want a family, WHY SHOULD A SERPENT DESERVE LOVE!"
After finally getting his words out, Adder collapsed in front of Erdush, his mighty and powerful frame betrayed by his childish behavior.
He laid there weeping, as hundreds of serpents appeared and coiled around their despairing king.
But before Erdush could say anything, a sickly yellow arrow flew at him before exploding into hundreds of yellow serpents.
Which then coiled around the old man, even just touching these arcane serpents caused Erdush's body to become stiff and unmoving.
And soon after becoming completely paralysed and wrapped around the old oak tree, the archer appeared from the tree line.
…
Before the Hydra we only knew how to survive, we couldn't even be called a people back then.
Others had given us the name of the banished, I was one of the few of the second generation of this slowly dwindling group.
Just a group formed out of unwanted people, who tried their best to make it to the next sunrise in those wild marshes.
We had to make camp on the beaches and shores, unable to survive the depths of the swamp and the creatures that ruled within it.
Our camp was constantly under the threat of raiders and those who had the privilege of being able to leave these lands without the fears of retribution.
In truth if things would not change, all of us would be long gone with other poor souls taking our place.
And at our lowest, our guardian appeared and made us his wards.
When his protection first started, those few that laid witness to it were laughed off.
his cerulean scales and many maws stopping any threats that came close to us, he sounded like he was ripped out of an old wives tale, but could you blame us?
After years of surviving with no hope of things ever getting better, now a heavenly serpent has appeared to protect them from all harm.
Many of us refused to believe that such a creature could exist let alone would protect, including me and my parents.
I was around eleven, when a herd of Terrapods had stampeded through our most recent camp
I watched in awe as the Hydra coiled around me, my parents and fifteen other survivors.
Protecting us from being crushed by the long necked titans, my eyes were locked on the crystal scaled serpent even as he slithered off into the depths of the swamp lands.
After that day I had become obsessed with the Hydra, much to the worry of my parents.
They saw the Hydra's protection as nothing more but luck and circumstance.
Much to their daughter's anger, they themselves headed a faction that wanted to end the threat of the Hydra once and for all.
I was fifteen the day I found out about my parent's secret project, and when I did I left my home and searched for my god.
I ventured into the swamps using trails of shattered trees and bleached white bones as my path to follow.
And when dawn finally came I was finally reunited with the Immortal Serpent, his mighty form still dwarfing me as I bowed to our protector.
When his fangs pierced my chest, I thought my faith had deluded me into thinking that the Hydra would ever care about beings so far below him.
The Hydra and I stayed there for what felt like hours, it was the low hiss of our protector that brought me to meet him eye to eye.
His golden eyes met mine, and in that moment I felt that in that moment everything would change for my people.
The hydra flared his hood and then at a speed that rivaled that of a thunder bolt, lunged at me.
His sword-like fangs plunged into my unguarded flesh, my body paralyzed with the Hydra's mouth.
My veins burned as his venom took course to my heart, and as I laid within the hydra's maw I could only hope that my death would serve as a lesson to those as foolish as me.
When I came too I found myself within the Hydra's den, along with that I found that the Hydra had given me a reward for my faith.
The Serpents mark, with it I became a herald of his Fury and with it I became another protector for my people.
Soon the Hydra returned to me and in a reversal of when they first met, The immortal serpent bowed his head to me, an invitation for him to join me in journey home.
I can't describe the feeling I had when I returned to our camp standing on the head of the infamous Hydra.
With me serving as proof of the Hydra's true intentions, I was able to quell the fears of most of the banished and was able to lead them to the safety of the Hydra's den.
Only a few stayed behind clinging stubbornly to their fears, my… parents were among them.
But under his protection we lived and quickly thrived, and when we did we gave ourselves our own name.
Learneans.
[Story told by Alecto about how she became the first Furie]
…
Adder, still in his monstrous apex form, found himself chained to a mighty oak tree.
He also found that not far away, Erdush was in a similar predicament.
"Mother, I believe both grandfather and i can easily break through these chains."
Nira appeared from the other side of Erdush's tree, the serpent's mark taking the form of a three headed purple serpent, the mark coiled around her neck with the three heads laid on her left cheek.
The look she gave her son and the few images his judgement showed told the great Serpent King that he should just stay right where he was.
When the very disoriented Erdush finally laid eyes on the still living Fury, he was sent into total shock.
"How, how are you still alive!"
Nira raised an eyebrow at the way the old man said that sentence.
"So you decided you had the right to avenge me?"
The fury answered back, obviously angered by this entire situation.
"I felt your soul tear! You should be a vegetable, how in the greatness of Salem are you being impertinent?"
Adder raised up one of his serpent heads as one would raise their hand.
Though the two were obviously ignoring the childlike god in their mists, the serpent king answered Erdush's question anyway.
"What grandfather felt was not the tearing of mother's soul but my boon rippling all round her soul, which felt similar to a soul tearing falling apart."
Erdush raised an eyebrow at the actual understandable logic of his grandson's explanation.
"How do you know that?"
"After intense studying you figured it out in about five months, two days, and thirty minutes from now."
Erdush and Nira both turned to the serpent king in shock, not by what he had said but because of which mouth he spoke out of.
Adder had hissed out his answer from his left serpent head, while his original head had been genuinely smiling.
"Sorry I just found out I could do that and I wanted to show off."
That childish move spurred Erdush to once again yell at the serpent king which then turned into yet another argument between the two.
Nira sighed as her child obviously failed to grasp the seriousness of this situation and the completely pointless battle that had happened only recently.
Due to her being in an uncounted state thanks to the blessing ritual, she had missed out on most of the battle.
After she awoke she had grabbed her bow and had run into the near end of the battle, watching her son and the last hope of her people collapse in front of Erdush.
Furious at this sight she had instinctively used a technique she had mastered during her days as a fury.
That is when she found that she had regained her status as a Fury and the power that came with it.
Nira sighed as she conjured a [mana ball], the arcane orb's color deepening and brightened as the Serpent King argued with the Holy Lancer.
Something Adder spotted from his right most head, the other two heads instantly turning towards the reborn Fury.
The serpent king smiled and couldn't help but whisper the obvious.
"The last fury of Lerna, has become my first."
Adder couldn't help but try to get up wanting to look at his first herald and mother in the eyes.
An action that immediately made Nira focus solely on the serpent king.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Nira said softly as she watched her son try to get out of his 'punishment'.
"I want to meet my herald eye to eye."
Adder had spoken truthfully, but him bearing that same crazed smile made the two suspicious of this movement.
Erdush, seeing that this conversation was going nowhere, decided to ask Adder a question he had been sitting on for a while.
"What happens in four years?"
This seemingly simple question silenced the Herald of Judgement, his three heads lowered in shame.
Nira kicked her son's foot, hands on her hips. And spoke to her child in a commanding tone for the first time.
"This all started because of what you saw, didn't it? After your little rampage I think it is only fair that you tell us what made you do all this."
Nira said as she pointed to the ruined forest that surrounded the three of them.
Adder sat there silent and unmoving, and then mumbled about what he saw.
"Louder boy!"
Erdush said, which then the boy in the god's body then shouted.
"You Die!"
Nira took a step backwards as she turned to the old man, whose face had become unreadable.
Adder then started to sob as he tried to explain himself.
"You die in four years. And all I wanted to do was to show you that it was worth it."
"What was worth it?"
Erdush asked as worry started to show on his face.
"Teaching me, being here, taking me under your wing, showing me who I can become."
Adder paused as his face took on a sardonic light.
"Well you were, I guess I ruined that myself, didn't I? The monster destroyed his relationships by trying to keep them."
Those last words Erdush recognized, it was from an old play called the folly of the cursed prince.
The story was of the monstrous prince who deeply treasured the few connections he had.
But due to his fears and insecurities, ruined those few connections through his actions.
Erdush motioned to Nira to unchain him, and as soon as he was he made his way to the herald of Judgement.
Adder had once again become silent, his eyes having become hidden beneath his mane of platinum blonde hair.
But even with his face mostly covered, it was easy to recognize the emotion on his grandson's face.
…
Shame, Adder was crushed at the immense shame he felt toward his actions.
Tricking his brother away, forcing his grandfather into fighting him, and scaring his mother half to death.
Yet even with all his eyes closed, he could feel the power of judgement dance before him.
Thousands of futures and the stories from ages unknown danced right outside Adder's field of vision, singing a siren song that promised knowledge and protection from the unknown.
Adder sat there for what felt like days, until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
The serpent king cautiously opened his eyes, meeting Erdush face to face.
"You are an amazing child."
The old man said with stoic confidence and beaming with pride.
"You've endured treatment that would have driven others stark raving mad, let alone be able to want anything to do with others."
Adder looked down, not wanting to feel his grandfather's love wasted on his unworthy self.
Erdushed grabbed his grandson's chin and forced him to look up.
"Now listen to me, you are worthy of love no matter what those infidels who failed you said or did to you."
"Really?"
The serpent king hissed out, revealing a thin black forked tongue.
"You are my family, just like your Nira's and Abner, you've got a talent for uniting people."
Adder laughed at the last, his laughter grew as his form shrunk and returned to his original state.
Erdush breathed out a sigh of relief as Adder returned back to normal, giving a hand to the boy covered in loose chains.
As Adder grasped it and was pulled up, a tremor shook the forest accompanied with a thunderous boom.
Erdush turned to Adder expecting an answer, which the boy shamefully gave.
"I told Abner where you hid Lion's fury, it seemed like a harmless distraction for him at the time."
Erdush shook his head before running towards Abner's destruction, yelling to his grandson that the holy weapon of justice was no toy.
Nira slowly walked over to Adder, who got onto one knee and held her son.
Whispering words of thanks in the tongue of her homeland, Adder reciprocated the hug and as the sun finally started to set.
Adder's final thought before making his way to his brother and grandfather.
'A serpent with a family, what will the realm think of next?'