Headed by a Snake

⟬ Several bells later... ⟭

"Brother-Captain," Tycondrius sighed.

"WhaaAAAt?!" Snapped a certain, irritable and impatient half-god.

Tycon chose not to respond to the provocation. He waited patiently for words that at least partially resembled civility.

Krysaos took a deep breath and slumped his shoulders, "I'm sorry, man, I--"

"Forgiven," Tycon shrugged, only a modicum of annoyance leaking in his voice.

The Captain's verbiage had been more careless than usual.

It was... grating, but not enough to interrupt Tycon's work.

"No, I mean... y'know," Krysaos continued, "There's all this waiting... and... I feel powerless, y'know? Aren't I supposed to be a god?"

...Tycon knew. In fact, he was painfully aware of Krysaos' concerns.

The Captain of the Neptune's Revenge had accompanied Tycon throughout his formation-making progress.

All the while, he spoke openly, his every thought and emotion.

Regardless of the half-god's urging, Mina's re-summoning was not a process that could be rushed.

"I get it, though." Krysaos rubbed his face with his hands, "Take your time LT. We... we only got one shot at this, yeah? And... I wanna make it a good one."

Tycon smiled politely, "Thank you for your patience, Sea God."

"Just Captain, thanks," The man grimaced.

After leaning forward to flex his back, Tycon stood up and stretched his arms. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, careful not to let his sweat drip onto the completed formation.

"It is done."

Krysaos' jaw dropped, "Wait, what?"

Tycon chuckled to himself, satisfied with the Captain's reaction. It almost made up for the bells of ignorant babbling.

"Please. Go ahead."

"What?" Krysaos furrowed his brows, "Right now?"

Tycon shook his head, "If you're not feeling up to it, I'll have Hades take your place. However, I'd imagine the results might not be as favorable."

A massive Death Orc emerged from the ocean. He looked ridiculous in his oversized snorkel and diving half-mask.

As a tall wave came in, he beached himself, much like an obese walrus.

"Ey, legit though," Hades grinned, "A Death Mermaid sounds pretty metal. Or maybe uh... Sea Lich?"

"Don't touch my formation, Death God," Tycon scowled.

A certain shirtless Thunder God abandoned his bucket and multi-tiered sand castle, standing tall with his hands on his hips.

"If needed... I shall offer mine own heavenly power to complete thy noble task."

Tycon scratched his chin. He had forgotten about that fellow.

"You're still here?" Krysaos tilted his head.

"Ahem," Tycon cleared his throat, "Brother-Captain."

Krysaos gulped audibly before kneeling down at the formation's edge. He placed his hands at the southernmost spell circle and obediently channeled his mana.

Tycon had great skill in creating formations, having knowledge beyond that of his peers... and a majority of the Realm's formation mages. As such, he could create unorthodox spell circles easily activated by those with... considerably less knowledge and experience.

Behind the Captain's back coalesced the image of a ghostly Whitesaber Tuna. It had become something of... Krysaos' symbol.

Over several seconds, it swelled in size similar to the corvette-class Neptune's Revenge.

Only three beings remained with Tycon on the beach, the gods of Death, Thunder, and Sea. It was likely the strongest protective detail in the Realm.

Mina was a Lieutenant, loved by her Royal Marine crew... and by her Captain.

--but as much as the Coral Boys wished to loiter on shore, they were raucous and accident-prone. They remained on the ship, ready to set sail at a moment's notice.

Coraline also hoped to watch and learn from Tycon's formations. According to her condition, Tycon insisted she convalesce in her quarters with Elle at her side.

Tycon furrowed his brows. Wroe also wanted to stay, but the Hexblade had literally returned to the Realm of the living after several moons. Tycon ordered the troublesome Daeva to stay on the gods-damned ship, lest he suffer another round of strikes to the face.

Tycon observed his active spell formation, watching for errors and irregularities. Its integrity held, the various runes holding their shape despite the outer protective circles eroding from Krysaos' god energy.

All were within Tycon's calculations.

He sighed deeply. Compared to planning and executing a combat mission, completing a spell formation to his standards was far easier.

Krysaos' Whitesaber Tuna drifted skyward. Just before it could touch the clouds, its scales began to dissolve into a gentle rainfall.

The water mana converged at the formation's center... and it slowly began to form into a humanoid body.

Sea Witch Mina was being reborn.

Her purple hair sparkled in the afternoon sun... her aesthetically pleasing face solidified, soft and feminine.

There were, however... changes.

Instead of a mermaid's tail, the new Mina had human-like legs. Fin-like appendages appeared on the sides of her calves, reminiscent of her previous summoner, Oracle Atlantea.

Unlike the sahuagin-blooded Malenti Priestess, however... it was more appropriate to call the reborn Mina a sea elf.

Armor began to clad her body, refined by the high-quality of Krysaos' god-mana. First summoned was a smooth, dark-silver breastplate, embossed with crashing waves. Woven scale armor covered her arms and legs, the pieces tied by thick mana-threads to account for her leg-fins.

Tycon furrowed his brows. The armor-summoning was... incomplete.

Mina had neither boots nor gauntlets... and was missing an integral piece of protective equipment.

Tycon flicked his wrist, summoning Mina's tiara from his spatial ring. It was made by Priestess Atlantea, an artifact made with the Lake Goddess' favored material, Arcanite.

He reached into the formation, where the tiara immediately began to transmute amidst the abundant water mana.

After several seconds, Tycon withdrew it. Its appearance had changed to a sturdy visored helmet, its sides adorned with what appeared to be webbed claws.

⟬ Finned Arcanite Helm. Fourth Circle Magical Helmet. Increases effectiveness of water-elemental spells and effects up to Fifth-Circle by one stage. Can only be soulbound to sentients with an Aquatic bloodline. ⟭

Tycon rolled his eyes. It was an impossibly powerful item... yet it was appropriate for its wearer-to-be.

If Mina were to take to the field of battle, a protective helmet was a must.

Still... since when were powerful artifacts so abundant that they were merely pulled out of the air?

",