In the north, off the shores, there was another land filled with forestry and a dormant volcano. The first people who came here fled the ever increasing population of the animals on the mainland. Atilla, a woman of charisma and strength, led her people to survive the new world. As she made her new home, she told stories about the mainland. She was just a child when her nomadic people visited a settlement, which they called Ur after its founder, Urien. Being a true believer of being nomads, her people refused to join the static lifestyle. She was a young woman when she saw the flames destroy everything. It was like a fever dream. A quick flash of red and orange, then it faded, and nothing but ashes remained. Her people avoided the area out of caution.

As time passed, they noticed the rise in animals. And their hunger. The animal seemed to swarm around the fallen city more than any other place but would chase down anybody who'd come near. Over time, the growing population pushed Atilla and her people in a corner. They had two choices; first was to push back and hope they'd break through to the other side, or the second was to traverse the waters and hope for land. Evidently, they chose the waters.

It was not an easy journey. They lacked the materials to build adequate transportation for everyone. The boats were small and crowded. Then, there were sea creatures that did not like their presence. Atilla lost some of her people. When the sea serpent attempted to attack her boat, she took the initiative and jumped at it.

With a spear in hand, she jammed it into the serpent's mouth when it tried to bite. The creature dove into the water and tried to drown Atilla. She refused defeat. She held her breath until the serpent stopped moving first. Afterward, she removed the spear and swam to the surface. Her boat was waiting for her return.

Finally, they reached land. That night, they made their homes with branches, leaves, mud, and rocks. Just as things were going smoothly, they were visited by the beasts of the lands. Atilla rallied her people. They defended to the best of their abilities. The attacks stopped when a sea serpent emerged from the sea and sprayed the salty waters at the animals. The ones that didn't retreated were disciplined by it tail.

The snake didn't cause harm to her people. With closer inspection, it was the one Atilla had presumably killed. Its defeat was its subjugation. It bowed its head, signaling her to pet it. She was overjoyed behind her smile. As her hand touched its wet scaly body, she couldn't control herself any longer. She ran to its back and straddled it. At first, it was startled, flinging itself into the air, then calmed as it realized she meant no harm. She screamed with laughter as she wrapped her arms around its body.

Weeks passed as she and her people built their new home. She, also, made several straddling harnesses for the serpent. It refused many since they were uncomfortable. The harnesses either wrapped too tightly around its body or too loose, causing them to slip off. Some came with a mouthpiece that disrupted its jaw movement. So, it offered another solution.

The serpent scoured the sea floor and emerged with a squid. With inspection, Atilla obtained a sticky ink the squid secreted. She tested the substance and glued a harness to the serpent's back. The serpent showed signs of discomfort but not as severe as before. It laid still and waited for Atilla to mount it. She grabbed hold of the handles of the harness. The serpent lifted itself, turned and dove into the water. Atilla struggled to hang tight from the sudden motion.

Soon, her hand slipped. She was stranded in mid water. The serpent twirled around her. She watched it closely. The dancing light reflected off its scaly skin. Though she was nervous from his disposition, she was able to obverse the beautiful abyss of the waters. Down below laid a coral reef. Smaller fish swam about. There was another sea serpent present. It paid little to no attention to her.

Her serpent returned to her once more. It swam with its back, where the harness was, facing her. Believing the serpent wanted her to grab it, she did. She was jerked from her spot, and they breached the water surface. This occurred for a few rounds before the adhesive ink wore off. Atilla fell into the water holding the harness. The serpent carried her to the shore. From there, she refined the ink to make it last as long as possible.

The others tried to tame and mount other animals. The sea serpent and its kind refused to be mounted unless defeated or if the person was Atilla's descendants.

As Atilla's body grew frail from age, she rode her sea serpent onto land. They navigated the land as much as they did the sea.

Between a patch of groves was an open field of flowers. She dismounted to lay on the plants. Her serpent wrapped itself around her like a blanket. Insects crawled on them within minutes. A dragonfly landed on her arm. Its colour was like her serpent's, a shiny sapphire blue. She chuckled with tickled amusement.

Suddenly, her serpent shot up in alert. There were noises of crawling and crushing leaves and branches. The serpent hissed. Atilla sat up. She saw a black barricade around them. And it moved with millions of yellow legs she could only assume it was a titanic millepede.

"Do not fear," a reverberating voice spoke. The sound moved with the legs. "I only came to see and, if you allow, to show."

"Show yourself!" Atilla commanded with a readied spear.

The crawling stopped. Some legs lifted upwards. Stitching needles and writing utensils appeared. They then began to sew and write. The field was now filled with sounds of scratches. A face appeared between the tree. It spoke, but its mouth did not move: "Would you like to relive your memories?"

"Come closer. I need to see more of you," Atilla stated.

The face crept closer, revealing a carapace that it resided within. The head and thorax were essentially one and more broad with its own set of arms opposed to its crawling abdomen. One of the three pairs of arms was occupied with scissors as they snipped at a piece of string. The other pairs held a ball of strings and slowly unraveled it.

"Is this enough?" The millepede with a human face asked.

"What are you?" Atilla breathed. The imagery of millepede with human features was perplexing, curiously captivating. "Are you even human?"

"Neither human nor animal. I was simply born in this form. I know myself as Atrothesis." Aside from the subtle echoes of the voice, her voice was calming like a grandmother soothing a child.

"Atrothesis..." Atilla repeated. "So, what did you mean when you say 'relive you past?' You're not teasing me for my old age, are you?"

Atrothesis pulled out a set of clothes. She took the top and pulled out a string. "Take a look," she instructed as she slithered up to Atilla.

Atilla scrunched her eyes to peek at the thread. Then, a memory, vivid as daylight, played in her mind. It was the time she gave birth to her son. She pulled away from the thread, cautious of the phenomena of what just happened. "What did you do?" She asked with a conflicted tone of fear and happiness.

"Your past. This cloth, this set of clothes is your life. I hold records of everything that had occurred." She held the thread at a different spot. "Would you like to see more?"

Atilla felt this meeting was a sign that her life was ending soon. She agreed and fell into the trance of watching her memories. From birth to this very moment. Her emotions erupted high and low. She was surprised at sceneries she knew she had forgotten. Her mouth moved, reciting the dialogues.

Then, Atilla went peacefully. Her serpent made sure to lay her softly onto the patch of grass.

Atrothesis pulled the last thread, snipped it, and tied its end. The set of clothes was finally complete. She crawled away before Atilla's family came in search of her.

~{¤}~

"Hello, my dear sister," Lu'Omena greeted Tantetra in the courtyard of Mitos. She clasped his pointers behind her back and bent forward with a wide smile on her face. "Are you waiting for someone?"

Tantetra moved her eyes towards the orange girl. "That is one way of looking at it. I'm not particularly waiting." She took a pipe and took a puff. "Though if idling is synonymous to waiting, then I suppose I am."

Hexice chuckled within their ears. "Oh me, oh my. Fate seems to entertain this eye," he sang, referring to his diamond eye. "Your birth and interference to Nohl's fate sealed her end. I must thank you nonetheless for I have been enveloped with ecstasy." He let out one loud shriek of excitement.

Lu'Omena tilted her head, wondering what he meant. Her lips formed a soft, amused smile. "Is she sick? Does she need my help? Let me know where she is."

"My little sunshine of a sister," Hexice mused. "You already did... and with it, you simply prolonged her end."

"Oh, okay," Lu'Omena giggled. "As long as she isn't ill."

"Off with both of you," Tantetra spoke with slight annoyance. "I can not believe I am surrounded by hedonists."

"Unlike humans, we are born with a purpose and a goal. It is in our very nature to be hedonistic," Hexice stated.