Prince of Serpents

The Gorgon sisters and Dhampir weren't the only characters that Amy met at the ball. She also met some witches, a werewolf named Ardolf and his she-mate Livana, and even made friends with a few golems who were guarding the palace as the party commenced. Suddenly, as if by some unseen cue, everyone who was dancing on the dance floor departed and everyone formed a crowd around that same floor. She craned her neck to see what was going on, when she felt someone push her towards the dance floor. She saw that it was Ian.

"I-Ian, what's g-g-going on here?" she whispered in a curious yet suspicious tone. Ian smiled at her, but his eyes told her to shut up. Which she did. When she was close enough, she saw three very old woman that formed a triangle on the dance floor. They wore rags that were as black as night, and they each had one eye socket where one eye would be. One of them was holding a single eye. Ian stepped forward to these old women and proclaimed,

"Thank you for coming out of your own free will tonight. All of us are grateful," he signalled the whole of the guests at the party, "that another might be able to join us."

"Do not thank us yet, young Prince of the Serpents," one of the old women croaked. "Now, where is the young one known as Amy Cahill?" Amy tried to blend into the crowd, but she felt someone push her forward. Ian took her hand and guided her to the middle of the floor.

"This is she, great Moirae," Ian claimed as he positioned her in the middle of the womens triangle. Amy looked over at him, alarmed.

Moirae? She mouthed alarmingly at him. Ian nodded and smiled at her, as if there wasn't anything to worry. The woman who was holding the rotten eyeball tossed it so that it faced her from only a few feet.

"Ah yes, I see her now. She is lovely, isn't she Atropos?" one commented. The one known as Atropos nodded and replied,

"Yes, she is very lovely, Clotho." The three began to circle around her ceremoniously and simultaneously as the third one claimed,

"What are we waiting for, sisters? Let's do it!" Meanwhile, Ian was in the crowd, twiddling his thumbs very nervously.

"Nervous?" someone whispered into his ear. Ian turned to see Dhampir there with a smirk on his face and sympathy in his eyes. After holding it in, Ian let out a small, impatient sigh and nodded. Dhampir nodded as well. He whispered into his ear,

"Pray my friend. Pray, pray, and furthermore, pray." Ian nodded and smiled at his friend's advice, then turned back to the floor, where the three Fates began chanting their ancient rhyme:

Αρχαία εξουσίας, να μας αναζητούν έξω.

Ancient power, seek us out.

Πείτε μας τι πρέπει να γνωρίζουμε σήμερα.

Tell us what we should know now.

Μήπως αυτό το κορίτσι ανήκουν μαζί μας;

Does this girl belong with us?

Ή θα πρέπει αυτή να είναι σε βρασμού ποτ?

Or should she be in the boiling pot?

Αρχαία εξουσία, αρχαία εξουσία ...

Ancient power, ancient power...

I'm not sure if I want to know what that means, thought Amy as she stood there in the middle of the floor in total confusion. Suddenly, she began to feel a little...slimmer than before. Her arms were starting to attach themselves to her body, her legs got stuck together, and she was actually shrinking.

"Wha-what'ssss going on?" she cried, but then covered her mouth with her tail because of her hiss. Wait...her tail? When everything stopped rearranging itself, Amy took a good long look around, then took a look at herself, and was not happy with what just happened.

She had just been morphed into a beautiful, jade green snake. Ian let out a big sigh in relief. But then, he drew back his breath when he heard Ardolf mutter to his girlfriend,

"Well, she got the first part. If only it was over for her now." Livana sighed and shook her head slowly, as if remembering some disturbing memory. Ian tried not to get angry, and only took a few deep breaths to calm himself. That was when the Fates started chanting again:

Αρχαία εξουσία, αρχαία δύναμη

Ancient power, ancient power

Επιδιώξτε μας σε μία ακόμη φορά

Seek us out one more time

Μήπως αυτό το κορίτσι περάσει τις εξετάσεις;

Does this girl pass the test?

Ή μήπως αυτή έχει κλίμακες αντί του δέρματος μονίμως;

Or will she have scales instead of skin forevermore?

Αρχαία εξουσίας, να μας πείτε τώρα!

Ancient power, tell us now!

When this chant was over, it took a while. During that while, nothing happened. Ian was praying again and again in his mind, while the other monsters were thinking Oh, what a dissapointment. She really was a cute girl. Poor Ian. Much to everyone's surprise, however, the snake that was Amy began squirming around and began regaining arms, legs, and a jade green ballgown. After about ten more seconds, Amy was standing there once more, in her same jade green ballgown, hairstyle, etc. Ian looked over hopefully at the Fates who began whispering amongst themselves. The eyeball that was facing Amy rolled itself back to the hags and one of the old women picked it up as they whispered some more.

Finally, about three minutes later, the Moirae departed from their discussion and one of the old women announced,

"I'm sure we can make an exception with this one." Everyone smiled, especially Ian, who was smiling so big, you would think that it could reach all the way up to Jupiter. Everyone smiled, that is, except for Amy who had no idea what's going on.

"Okay, I'm sorry, b-b-but what exactly i-is going on h-h-here?" she asked the whole of the ball. Every monster looked around, quite nervous as to tell the human girl what was to become of her. When she didn't get an answer from the crowd, Amy then turned to Ian expectantly. Ian smiled nervously before claiming,

"Well, what it means is that you are able to join." Amy looked at him confused.

"I am able to join..." she left off, hoping for an answer. Ian signalled himself and all of the monsters and answered,

"Well, us. You passed the Fates' test, and because of that, you are able to join the Monstres and become a monster." He said this with a smile, but when he was finished with what he said, he realized how big of a mistake he made. Amy's eyes widened.

A...a monster? I'm supposed to become a monster? she thought with a panic. Dhampir, Ardolf, and all the other guys put their hand to the forehead and shook their heads from side to side at how grave a mistake Ian made. The girls scoffed in disgust at how he called them monsters and began murmuring amongst themselves. Ian's eyes also widened and he, too, began to panic.

"No...wait! I didn't...mean...that. I meant...well..." he tried to think of a good excuse, but Amy could see right through it.

"Oh. I'm sure. I get exactly what you're saying, Ian C-cobra." Ian's face fell even more then it already had as Amy stated, "In fact, I'm sure you're pretty happy with yourself. You're a monster, so why not turn other people who don't deserve it into a monster too? Oh, I'm sure you're very happy, and not to mention very proud of yourself. A pity, too. I was actually starting to like you." With that, she slapped him clean across the face, with a nice slap! that echoed across the tears in her eyes, Amy stormed out of the ballroom.

"Amy, wait!" Ian cried as he started going after her. But too late, she was already gone.

"Way to go, snake boy," Ardolf murmured under his breath.

A/N:

Yes indeed-y, Ardolf. Way to go, snake boy. Just so you know, the lines underneath the phrases are the translation, not what they actually said. The first phrase with the weird letters is what they said, the translation is underneath that. Until then!

~storyteller221 :)