Nevaris and Ana looked at Lilith as if she had grown a second head. Their disbelief etched on their faces with fine chisels.
Lilith was too busy licking the bite mark to notice at first, but when she finished reapplying a new coat of saliva with a satisfied nod, she turned to confront their incredulous faces.
Seemingly unaware of the absurdity of what she had done, she asked them innocently, "What?"
Nevaris's mouth opened and closed like a dying fish as he struggled to find the words. But Ana, fully conscious and running high on her own emotions, blurted out.
"You performed such a sacred ritual on the first day you met!? Are you crazy??"
Nevaris nodded his head violently in agreement.
Lilith scoffed, "How should I know? I don't remember doing it, but who cares? Darling is my husband, I have no regrets, and he wouldn't have escaped me anyway!"
Ana's gaze turned complicated when she heard that, but Nevaris was still thoroughly confused as he questioned.
"What do you mean you don't remember? How is this something you forget!? It's an animas mark for gods' sake!"
Lilith, equal parts embarrassed and ashamed, turned her head as she stammered, "S-So what if I forgot!? The rice is already cooked, no going back now."
Her face darkened as her gaze turned predatory.
"Unless…you're trying to run away now? But you wouldn't do that…right~!?"
Nevaris sucked in a cold breath as he immediately shook his head in fear. For a moment there, he felt an actual sensation of death approaching. He was many things, dense and stupid weren't on that list.
Lilith huffed pointedly as she narrowed her eyes at him. But seeing the guilty look on Ana's face, she grew concerned as she hurriedly asked.
"Ana what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Ana shook slightly under their gazes as she felt even guiltier. Letting out an awkward laugh, she scratched behind her ear as she spoke in a quiet voice.
"D-Do you promise not to get mad?"
Seeing the increasing intensity of two pairs of wide eyes, Ana caved reluctantly. Pushing her pointer fingers together in an admittedly cute display, she confessed her sins to them.
"S-So I may have knocked you both out…"
Lilith and Nevaris turned to face each other before looking back at Ana.
"And?"
Ana's head lowered further as her voice downed a mosquito whisper, " I may have used 'Null' to do it?"
Both of them froze for a solid five seconds as they processed her words before they exploded.
"Null!? You used psyche-altering magic to put us to sleep!? Isn't that a little over-kill??" Nevaris yelled in exasperation.
Ana, embarrassed, quickly refuted him weakly, "I-In my defense I was only aiming for Lilith! S-She was being so clingy a-and was stealing all your attention so I got a bit j-jealous. I just didn't cast it out properly…"
Lilith was having none of it.
"So aiming for me makes it better bitch!?"
"I said I was sorry!!"
"YOU HAVE LITERALLY NEVER SAID THOSE WORDS SINCE YOU STARTED TALKING!?"
"WELL THEN I'M SORRY, OKAY? MAYBE NEXT TIME DON'T HOG HUSBAND AND I WON'T HAVE TO!"
"WHO'S YOUR HUSBAND PSYCHO!?"
"HAHHH!? WHO YOU CALLING PSYCHO, YOU HORNY SPIDER!?!"
…
A good five minutes of yelling and cursing passed before the two women stopped. They both sat, panting for breath as they glared at each other. Neither wanting to break eye contact and appear weaker than the other.
"Ana."
Hearing her name called so seriously, Ana jolted as she met Nevaris' gaze. Seeing the serious look in his eyes, she lowered her head as she stubbornly remained silent.
Sensing the tense atmosphere returning, Lilith chose to stay silent herself. Watching Ana but also keeping a close eye on Nevaris' expression.
The silence dragged on for so long he almost thought Ana had fallen asleep, but just as he opened his mouth, her weak voice echoed out softly.
"...I'm sorry."
Seeing her look so pitiful, Lilith quickly jumped to her defense, completely forgetting her earlier anger as she spoke.
"Darling, don't be so hard on Ana! It was a mistake, and she already apologized for it as well."
But Nevaris remained undeterred, his gaze still stern, "Naturally her apologizing is the right thing to do, but that does not excuse or take away from the root of the issue. Just because she didn't mean to do it, doesn't mean the potential harm and danger that came with her actions weren't there. She just explained that she has no control over her own power. What if something had gone wrong and she inadvertently caused irreversible damage to your mind?"
Ana felt like she wanted to cry now. Seeing this, Lilith felt indignant on her behalf but also understood that his worries truly were valid. But she was a woman! And not just any woman, she was his wife.
Fuck understanding, and screw rationality.
"I don't care! Ana is one of us, she is my sister-wife and even if she genocides an entire race, you are gonna back her up, same as me!" she said righteously.
Nevaris looked at Lilith with a dissatisfied glare, but she returned his glare with one of her own, not backing down in the slightest. After a one second stare down, he caved instantly.
'Forget it. Who told me to make this woman my wife,' he mused.
Turning his gaze back to the shivering Ana, he let out a sigh before softening his voice and calling out to her.
"Ana."
A tremor ran through her at the sound of his voice, but she was still too afraid to see the disappointed look in his eyes. Knowing that he had been a little too cruel to her earlier, he took a step toward her in reconciliation.
"I'm sorry, my words were too harsh. It wasn't your fault."
Ana finally looked up at those words, her eyes brimming with tears and grievance as she tried her best to give him an angry glare. She, unfortunately, failed miserably.
With a doting smile, Nevaris opened his free arm and patted his open thigh in invitation. Without a second's hesitation, Ana jumped into his lap and started pounding on his chest with her small fists as she cried.
"Y-You asshole! Y-You meanie! I-I hate you! I r-really h-hate you!"
Stroking her lush green hair, he let out a small smile as he held her. Letting her vent her anxiety, and grievances into his chest.
"Yes, I know. I'm sorry Ana. I was being an asshole. I promise, it won't happen again."
Ana continued to sob as she buried her head deeper into his chest, her words muffled by both her sobbing and his shirt as she clung to him.
Lilith looked relieved as she watched the two of them, happy that the previous tense mood had faded. Though she still felt somewhat jealous seeing her hog all those head pats for herself.
Without any explanation, she rested her head on his other shoulder and grabbed his hand, placed it on her silky purple waves as she closed her eyes in mock grievance. Nevaris shook his head at her behavior, but his hand still stroked her head obediently.
'This…isn't so bad at all,' he mused.
…
After a few minutes of calming Ana down, Nevaris got back to business. His tone was still serious, but the edge to it had softened considerably.
"So Ana, can you tell us what this curse is?" he asked solemnly.
Ana pulled herself from his soothing embrace reluctantly as she wiped her swollen eyes. With a sniffle, she began to explain.
"I don't know what exactly it is as there are no records of it ever in our tribe's documents. Though that could be a direct result of the curse itself."
Lilith's expression was no longer playful, her lips were pressed into a thin line as her expression turned grave.
"What kind of curse is it? I can't even sense any curse energy on you or any form of ill will in your aura."
Ana nodded as if she had accepted as much. "That is partly why it is so strange. There is no sign of it existing, nor any indication of there ever even being a problem. But the second I make physical contact with someone, or worse, they see my face, they begin to lose their memories and go insane."
A cold chill swept through the room at her words, causing Nevaris' face to turn grim while Lilith's paled significantly. A curse like that wasn't a joking matter.
"Then the people of your tribe…" he questioned.
Ana shook her head. "They barely interact with me because of it. Anyone old enough to have seen me grow up has either forgotten who I am, or sees me as nothing more than a cursed spawn."
Hearing her despondent laugh, they could already imagine the loneliness and pain she must have experienced all these years.
"Those who were there for my birth all went insane the moment I came out. Speaking nonsensical phrases, suicide…the full works. The only lucid person still around who somewhat remembers me is the chief, the one who decided my marriage." Ana said with a wistful smile.
Nevaris' eyes shadowed for a moment as he asked in a calm voice. "Is he a problem?"
Taken aback by the sudden hostility in his voice, Ana quickly shook her head as she hurried to explain.
"No, no, he was really good to me! He was one of the only people in the tribe that looked out for me, even if he was the one to lock me in the temple. I know he did it for my own good and for the good of others. And with the marriage, he probably saw it as my only chance to live a normal life."
Now Nevaris was stunned, but he quickly thought of something and asked. "Does this have something to do with me being the 'one', you were talking about?"
Ana nodded again. "The chief recieved a vision. He didn't know from whom or why, but the vision showed him a possible future for not just me, but for the entire serpent race. He didn't tell me much. He just said that this marriage alliance was the best possible thing for me. And if I agreed, my 'curse' could be ended."
Nevaris frowned at this information. Visions and prophecies were never a good sign in his books. And going off of his years of geeking over mythology, they were a short cut to self-destructions of epic cosmic proportions.
'Looks like I'm gonna need to visit that tribe chief. I don't like the feeling of something like this hanging over my head. Bad juju, really bad juju.' he nodded to himself inwardly.
Lilith, though, was still curious about one thing. "If your curse affects anyone who sees you or touches you, how are me and darling fine?"
Ana's eyes brightened as if a supernova had gone off in their depths. Her joy was evident for the two of them to see clearly.
"I don't know and honestly don't care. I had no hope to be able to talk to someone normally, let alone touching someone, o-or falling asleep in their arms." she blushed at that last part before continuing. "But to me, it proves that the chief was right. Hus–Nevaris, is the one meant to break my curse. And since you have bonded your soul with his, I assume you are immune to my curse as well."
Ana's eyes began to redden again as she spoke. Lilith couldn't help teasing her a bit before turning to the still silent Nevaris sitting there in deep thought.
Frowning, she nudged him before speaking in a sweet voice laced in venom. "Darling~, you aren't planning on refusing Ana…are you?"
Nevaris shook at those words before hurriedly denying such an outrageous possibility.
"Never! Ana is mine!"
Hearing the possessiveness in his voice, Ana, seated on his lap, blushed wildly as she lowered her head slightly.
Knowing now wasn't the time for wandering thoughts, he turned his head toward her and lifted her chin to look into his eyes.
"I know there is a lot you are still holding onto, I can understand that. But know that the things I have promised to Lilith, are promised to you equally. You will be an extension of my life, a member of this family. The one thing I will promise you, is that you will never be alone in this life. Will you accept me, Anantashesha?"
Ana's eyes swam with tears as she struggled to find her voice. Unable to speak she nodded her head frantically as she buried herself in her shoulder once again. Lilith, satisfied with his response, smiled with pride as she watched the scene.
Both women knew, while their pasts were far from haunting them. They could now start building the path forward, together.
======
Author Notes:
Hey folks, long one today but I tried to condense it as much as possible. I hope I am doing a good job of explaining things without giving away to much to soon. I know you may have questions, but don't worry, they will be answered as time progresses. Thank you for sticking with me so far, onto the next!