Looks like you did it. The Beast has gone – or rather, I should say that he hasn't. After all that suffering, you finally helped free Old Snake from his 'end', from his destiny. It's kind of hard for me not to feel a little proud of you.
You know the 'Snake Tale' already, but how about a little story-time? For old times's sake? I knew I said I was done playing storyteller, but this is a special case. Come a little closer and I'll tell you.
I know he doesn't look like much now, but you know, nine years ago, he was as much of a Beauty as all those wonderful women were, in his own, special, Solid way. Tall, dark and handsome. A real James Bond; saving the day, winning the girl. Straight out of the movies. Of course, that was only what he showed on the surface. He pretended to be – maybe even began to believe he was – a cold-blooded snake, to shake off the predators and the wild beasts. In truth, he was a man, just like everyone else.
Legend has it that the gods wished to give humans the gift of eternal youth, but the confused little bird they sent down gave the gift to the snakes instead, allowing them to shed their skin. But, since he wasn't a snake except in his mind, he had to do what men did instead. And, like them, he began to grow old. It happened fast, fast enough that the next day he saw himself in the mirror, there would be a new line or grey hair staring back at him, a reminder of his mortality.
You'd think a soldier like him, already traumatised by killing his enemies and his friends and his family alike in the line of duty, would know he was mortal. But that was nothing that had ever occurred to him. Living only to survive, watching his body fall apart through no fault of his own did a number on his head. And one night, he found out that the billions of bases in his DNA were lined, end on end, between long, shining snakes. Their bright red eyes, the patterns on their scaled bodies, crammed against codons stretching into infinity, haunted his worst nightmares - and as they shed their skin to renew themselves again and again, their grip on the information that made him who he was began to weaken. They were condemning him.
Having to accept that he was not a snake, but a man at the mercy of snakes... It broke him a little. Because, he saw in his head that the 'bases' spelling out his name had 'mutated' into 'IS OLD'. And he was. You saw him then, the beast that he became.
You might not have made him shed his skin, but I think you made him realise that there's an Old Beauty still slithering inside all the years of war and ugliness. You helped him realise that he could accept his 'end', and start to live as a man. And, watching him come to terms... I think you've come to terms with it, too. I don't think it's any kind of exaggeration to say that he needs you more than anyone else. You accepted your curse and you helped soothe him through his, although I can't say you did it perfectly. There's no person alive who doesn't want to drop everything to run off with beautiful women, but even those piece-of-shit contacts didn't hide the fact that you lost 'sight' for a while. You understand now, though. The price of being cursed is that you always have to watch what you do.
Sorry to talk about such a depressing topic at a wedding. I've never been that much of an optimist; I like to think of myself as an opportunist. So I think I'll be seeing you again when there's an opportunity. Don't forget – WE. HAVE. YOURS.