A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: The Deathless Fortress]

What was the most important thing to a mother?

The answer, for Echidna, was never complex. It was not philosophical, nor did it require deep reflection. A mother valued her children—flesh of her flesh, life born from the cradle of her own body. Whether the child was planned or arrived by chaos, a mother's instinct wrapped around them all the same. A mother created life. A mother nurtured life. And a mother, no matter how monstrous or divine, could not help but yearn to protect it.

She had lived long enough to witness the rise and fall of many things, but motherhood was the one constant in her eternity. Orthrus, Chimera, Sphinx—so many others whose names once shook the world. She had birthed them all, guided them from the fragile spark of infancy to the terrifying force of mature monstrosity. She watched them grow fierce, proud and feared.

Even now, in the quiet dark of her cavern, those instincts remained unchanged.

Echidna's smooth hand traced a lazy circle along her lower abdomen, the motion tender. Her eyes half-lidded as memories drifted through her mind. Beside her, two Deseruit Beasts—one scaled and salamander-like with obsidian skin, the other a massive white bear-form marked with glowing azure veins—slept soundly, breaths rumbling through the cavern.

"Not long now…" she whispered, the words curling with anticipation. "Mm… long enough I've been trapped in this realm. Millennia. A pit, truly. Though I did foster plenty of Deseruit Beasts… I suppose the other Progenitors would call that a success."

Her fingers grazed the nearest beast's head, earning a soft rumble of contentment.

Her gaze lifted, drifting over the cavern—her current sanctuary. Hundreds of Deseruit Beasts lay sprawled across stone, curled within cracks, perched above on ledges. Different shapes, different sizes… yet every one unmistakably hers. Their steady breathing filled the cavern like a lullaby.

She smiled, it was soft and strangely warm.

Then—

["L-le-@*#%ME#-@OUT!!!!"]

The cavern air vibrated as the distorted voice tore through her skull. She winced, rubbing her temple with a sigh. The sensation was sharp and intrusive—like invisible hands attempting to split her brain apart.

Yet Echidna still smiled faintly.

"Acting up again, hm?" she muttered into the empty air, fingers combing slowly through her dark hair. "Your body is nearly fully assimilated into mine. Why waste the effort resisting now, little Goddess? I don't know whether to admire your stubbornness or your denial."

["@%@^#%@&#"]

A garbled, furious mess responded—raw emotion with no structure.

Echidna chuckled. "Such divine eloquence. No wonder mortals pray to you with trembling devotion." Her serpentine body coiled and uncoiled along the cavern floor, scales scraping on stone. "In any case, I wouldn't require your body to remain anchored if not for that insufferable Demi-God…"

Her smile faltered. For a moment, her vision filled with the image of a tall figure garbed entirely in black, a skull-like white mask concealing his face, a spear as dark as the night itself in his hand.

"What a distasteful memory," she hissed. "To think a mere Demi-God pushed me to this state… laughable. A bad comedy."

Pain prickled along her skin—ghost sensations of wounds torn open long ago.

But before the memory could sink hooks deeper—

A voice drifted from the shadows.

"Well now… are you so lonely you've begun debating yourself?"

She didn't flinch. Only turned her gaze lazily toward the intruder as a figure peeled from the darkness.

"Koschei," she said with a sweet, venom-filled smile. "What an unpleasant shade to add to my evening. Did you crawl in here on purpose or by accident?"

"I came willingly. Though given your tone, perhaps I should pretend I tripped," he replied mildly. Oddly enough, the Deseruit Beasts continued sleeping, utterly unbothered by his presence. "Remarkable. They barely acknowledge me. Should I feel honored or insulted?"

"Oh, they simply don't register you as a threat." Echidna lifted a hand in a mock-apology. "Or perhaps they simply find you boring."

Koschei folded his arms. "You wound me."

"Unlikely. Your mana is too foul to wound further," she mused. "When was the last time you purified it? You walk around with a stench that puts malevolent ancient spirits to shame."

Koschei snorted faintly. "So much effort for so little concern. I didn't think you of all beings cared enough to complain."

"Oh, I care about many things," she mused, shifting her massive coils with purpose, letting her shadow envelop him just slightly. "But tell me—you're not here to court me again, are you? I'd hate for you to embarrass yourself a second time."

"I've learned," Koschei replied dryly, "that attempting to seduce you is suicide. So worry not—I prefer to live."

"Pity," she teased. "It was amusing."

He exhaled sharply. "As enjoyable as that memory is to you, I'm here on different matters."

"Then speak."

He stepped closer—just close enough to reveal the faintest tension in his shoulders. Koschei was dangerous, but Echidna noticed something else beneath it: restraint. And beneath that—fear.

"As you're aware," he started, "the reason I aided your cult in manifesting you was under the orders of the Retorta Guild."

"A curious group," she murmured. "One of their own killed me, and yet they resurrected me. Mortals are endlessly contradictory."

"I don't understand their ideals either," Koschei admitted. "But they intend to use you—your strength—for something. That much is certain."

"I gathered as much. Rather foolish to let me regain all my power." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless they believe killing me once means they can do it again. And I can feel their eyes even now. It's irritating. Like gnats wriggling against my scales."

Koschei's lips twitched. "I wouldn't underestimate them. The Retorta Guild is… not mortal in the usual sense."

The cavern chilled. Even Echidna's expression shifted subtly.

"So," she said softly. "You have a proposition."

"Yes." Koschei folded his arms. "One of their Mortifers is here in the fortress. She is ranked seventh in the Guild—dangerous, but not their strongest. However, she didn't come alone. She brought several individuals whose presence is… concerning."

Echidna watched him carefully. "Allies?"

"That depends on how events unfold." Koschei's tone sharpened. "I can not measure their strength. But they are not ordinary humans. And if they're with her, they're here for you. If they're supporting her, escape for you and your children may be… complicated."

She crossed her arms over her chest, expression cooling. "Typhon was my mate. Gods feared us both. Heroes bled beneath our claws. Do you truly believe I will fall again so easily?"

Koschei hesitated. Just long enough for her to notice.

"Perhaps you won't," he said slowly. "But one of those individuals—" His voice lowered. "—bears the mark of a God."

Echidna's entire body stilled. Her coils tightened, scales scraping hard against stone.

"Which one?" The question rang with lethality.

"Who can say?" Koschei rasped. "But a God does not bless a mortal unless that mortal has something worth elevating."

"Hmph." Echidna's gaze sharpened. "A blessing means little. A human is still a human. And a human will always be prey to a monster. A blessing only makes a human slightly less pathetic. They still die the same." She lifted her chin. "But I am tired of confinement. I want my freedom, my children's freedom. I refuse to let the Retorta Guild chain me."

Koschei took a slow breath. "Then accept my assistance."

"What exactly are you offering, Koschei? Speak carefully. I tire easily when bored."

Koschei smirked faintly. "I'll handle the unknowns. The ones whose strength I can not measure."

"And you want me to slaughter the Mortifer and the blessed mortal?" Echidna guessed.

His smile widened. "So long as you kill them quickly, yes. Consider it… an exchange of favors."

Echidna's tail shifted, scales scraping as she leaned in, her face inches from his. "One favor," she murmured. "Small and contained. Understand that I am not a creature that tolerates misunderstanding."

Koschei nodded once. "Crystal."

"Then yes," she said, voice stretching smoothly. "I will accept your aid. And when I find that blessed mortal…" Her smile sharpened ferally. "…I will show them what a God's protection is truly worth."

Koschei's grin widened. "Then your freedom is closer than you think."

He stepped backward, dissolving back into the shadows— his presence fading like smoke, leaving only the memory of his existence behind.

Echidna let the darkness close around her again, her children stirring faintly in their sleep as if sensing what was to come.

She touched her stomach once more.

"Not long now," she whispered.

Echidna closed her eyes, letting the cavern's damp air fade until memory softened the edges of her mind. Home.

The word tasted ancient.

She saw again the deep ravines of the mountains, where volcanic heat boiled against stone and sulfur curled warm around her body. She remembered the loud thrum of the earth beneath her den, the way Typhon's presence filled the world like a storm waiting to break. Her children had roamed freely there—roaring and hunting, growing beneath a sky that feared them. Here, in this realm, everything felt colder and smaller.

("One day,") she thought, ("we return.")