The Serpent Diary

It smelled like salt. Jack didn't remember falling asleep, but he knew he couldn't be awake. This world, this place he now resided in, could not be real. It was like he had been trapped in a palace suspended in the middle of the ocean, a place of made up of sand and seashell and multicolored stone, smoothed by eons of water and restless footsteps.

Pulling himself into a sitting position, the teen knew he was royally screwed. He could almost feel the pressure of the water pressing on both sides, the beauty of the palace shrouded in the darkness of what would inevitably come next. After all, he might be an idiot but he'd spent enough years looking for magic that he knew a faerie's place on sight.

Fear was the only thing that kept him from getting to his feet and exploring. For all he knew, the enchantments on this place would all crumble away to nothing if he pissed off the hosting fae enough. It happened often enough in the stories, and why should real life be any different?

Instead, the teen simply looked around, trying to take in as much of this usually forbidden place as possible before he faced his captor. It only took a moment more to realize that his clothing, usually rough and slightly uncomfortable, but familiar, was gone. Instead, he clothed in a set of extravagant robes. Everything was white, to his disgust, but for the base body suit, which was a violent red off set by delicate, pale blue embroidery. It was all made of some delicate cloth, much finer and prettier than mere mortals' silk. "Thread count on this thing must be crazy." He murmured to himself, his voice nearly undecipherable even in the quiet that surrounded him. It felt almost wrong to break the silence in this place.

"Well, only the best for my Jackie." The teen sprang to his feet, turning sharply on his bare feet to stare at the woman behind him. Her bare torso was hidden behind a length of free-flowing clothe, with the rest of her submerged in pool that took up the rest of the floor.

Her long, black hair suspended itself in the air as though she was still in the water, giving her an eerie look.

"Who the flipping hell are you?" The teen screamed, pointing at the woman. Instead of glaring, as any other would have, she laughed. It sounded like waves crashing against the shore, violent and wild and so very amused at his mortal foolishness. "W-what do you want with me?" He whimpered. Jack knew instinctively that he was kept alive only for her own amusement. She was fae, after all.

"You don't remember me, sweetheart? Not even a little?" The women pulled her self from the pool, and Jack watched in disgust as her fishtail- simply more proof of his 'fae theory', though it wasn't much of a theory anymore- melted into a pair of long, lithe legs. Climbing out of the pool, the woman wrapped pale clothe around the lower half of her waist in a poor excuse of a skirt.

Jack shot her a strange look. The woman sighed, a soft frown marring her beautiful features. "Oh, I should have known you would not know this face. My glamour was so different then, when you were a little boy. In fact, it almost looks as you do now, my dear

Jack!" She laughed, running hands through her smooth black hair. As her fingers passed over the smooth strands, they fell away to reveal short, windblown red. Jack gasped even as intricate tattoos rose up through her skin, making a mockery of his own black eye hook.

"Do you remember me now, boy? Your dear old friend?" She laughed at his horrified face, fingers grasping at his cheeks and landing soft kisses all over his face. "Oh, Jack, isn't wonderful! I have found you again, after so long!" Though her words were full of emotion, her face was colder than ice.

For a moment, with her love nearly drowning him, Jack let himself be swept away. He'd never known love like this, so complete and fulfilling and consuming that he just couldn't help but wish that it was real.

Then, with all the cruelty and strength he'd always strived for, he ripped himself from her arms. He remembered, if only faintly, the smell of salt and red hair and kind, beautiful smiles. He remembered, also, the feeling that came after the love: the pain and betrayal and sharp toothed smiles. He would not go through the pain again. She was the Evil he'd modeled himself after, so much worse than any Heylin. She was worse than any Evil he had ever encountered. That was something he could never completely forget.

"You love another?" She cried. The boy didn't deny this, but he also refused to answer. If she chose to come to that conclusion, he'd be a fool to deny it. After all, if he did he'd be lieing. Her tears suddenly dried up, and she wiped the rest from her cheeks. She gave an icy smile. "Well, boy, if that is what you want, I will not deny you. I love you, after all." Jack didn't trust that wide, toothy smile for a moment. "But, before you leave my realm, let me give you a gift. A parting memory, so to say, one that you didn't have before."

She pressed a small, stone pot into his hands. "You know the effects of fae blood on a mortal, do you not? If you ever wish to return to me, simply say my name, and I will come." She smiled wider. "And long hair suits you, my sweet Jack. Hopefully, you keep it that way."

A moment later, the world went dark. The last thing he remembers is his reflection, shown so bright in her inhuman eyes. To his immense disgust, he could see his long, pale hair tied in knot behind his head, the long white tail reaching almost to the floor.

His last thought was how it was not, in his opinion, a flattering look.