I do not own Anaconda. I only own Michelle Harker.
Story Start
Disoriented and angry was how I woke up hours later. I looked around with blurry eyesight to see that I was lying in some type of nest like bed made out of pillows and fine silks. An angry growl left me when my headache made itself known. Running my hand through my hair to massage my head made me freeze. My fingernails were sharper than I remembered. Looking down at my other hand, I yelped at the sight of strong black claws where my fingernails used to be.
"Good, you're awake, I was so worried," a feminine voice hissed in the room and my head snapped in every direction to see if a naga had slithered into the room. "Down here, Michelle," the voice hissed again a little bit annoyed.
"Luna, you can talk," I shrieked and fell back on the cushions in my shock.
"I've always been able to talk. You just haven't always been able to understand me," Luna said with her head held high as she slithered to sit on my stomach.
"Luna, what happened after Alaric made me unconscious?" I questioned as I sat back up to stare at Luna,but something shining on my ankles made me sit up a bit more and move her gently to the side.
"The king of the nagas, Szayel, came in here to check on your progress and to talk to me. Don't worry, I already told him all your secrets, which are none," Luna said and I had no clue I had such a playful and sarcastic snake.
"Luna, what do you mean by progress? What am I progressing towards?" I questioned shakily as I sat up and touched my ankles. The realization hit me like a bag of bricks as I felt and saw the black and dark red scales on my legs.
"They're making you a naga so you can be the king's mate," Luna started explaining as I looked at the rest of my legs. I was barely listening to Luna as I took off my pants and shouted at the sight of the scales appearing all over my legs. I lifted my shirt and even saw some on my rib cage. "I know you don't know him well and I haven't formed an opinion on him yet, but he's definitely a strong mate. He'll be able to protect you and your young well," Luna continued speaking.
"Why in the world are you talking about babies? I'm turning into a naga here, I'm kind of freaking out. The baby talk does not need to be brought up today or ever," I snapped frightened before closing my eyes tightly as my headache grew worse and my eyesight was becoming more sensitive.
"You two will have such cute babies though, I'm godmother," Luna said happily before slithering close to me to wrap around me in comfort. "I'm sorry you're hurting. At least you aren't suffering like those other humans," she said softly and my eyes snapped open no matter the pain.
"Luna, we have to help them, we have to," I muttered as I struggled to stand up. I still had my stubbornness and two legs to get me there, so I had to at least try to save Danny and Terri's lives. "Hang on tight Luna, we're getting out of here," I said with gritted teeth as more pain shot through my skull and even now my mouth. Fangs were starting to elongate.
"How are we even going to get out of here?" Luna hissed as quietly as we could as I poked my head outside the door to see if any guards were outside. I was shocked to see that nobody, not even Alaric, was outside watching the door. "Well I call this slacking," she hissed as I started stumbling down the halls as fast as I could. I hid in the shadows or behind alcoves when nagas would appear.
I had been lucky so far as I reached the pool of water where the warrior from earlier brought me. Luna started protesting that I was too weak while being in the process of changing, but I had to at least try and warn Terri and Danni. I knew I was losing some strength because the pain level was intensifying with every step I took. "I have to do this," I whispered before diving in the water with Luna wrapped around my waist. I swam as quickly as I could. The underwater tunnel was longer than I remembered, but I finally reached the surface. With deep breaths, I felt Luna start swimming beside me as I tried to locate the boat. Serone must have gotten it off the bank because it was nowhere in sight. My headache was even worse now and I could barely see thanks to my eyes changing and not being used to the sunlight, but I was finally able to make out the shape of the boat and some old factory.
"They're in there, I hear them," Luna hissed beside me before slithering onto the dock.
"I do too," I said as Terri and Danny's yells filled the air. An angry naga's hisses were filling the air as well as Serone's laughter. "I hope they kill him first," I thought angrily as I gripped the dock and went to pull myself up. Pure agony ripped through my spine and legs. Luna's scream was the last thing I heard as my hands slipped free of the dock and I plunged under water.
The water seemed more than happy to surround me as the pain became blinding. My legs were on fire and the sounds of bones crunching, extending and thinning, made me gasp for air but only take in water. Luna's screams for help were still barely reaching my ears as more scales appeared on my body and my legs slowly disappeared and started to become a long tail. The transformation should have been the scariest part, but the pain was too much for me to even swim to the top. I was going to drown before I even finished becoming a naga. The feeling of the water rushing around me made me open my eyes.
Szayel was under the water with me. He wrapped his arms around me and quickly pulled us out of the water and onto the bank on the other side of the river. He pulled us further into the forest as I coughed up the water I inhaled and swallowed. His face was stony and angry before he immediately started saying how I have a death wish. Luna slithered over to join us and she was fretting over me. The pain was still there but as I looked down at where my legs used to be, all I saw was a dark crimson naga tail. More scales lined up stomach and rib cage, but my shirt covered the rest from view.
"Szayel, I don't have a death wish, but I had to at least try and warn my friends about the attack. Terri and Danni didn't come here to hurt the naga, the man Serone did. Terri and Danni deserve to live and get out of here. I promise you they won't be back, just call off the attack on them, please," I spoke loudly to stop his ranting. It felt good to know he was worried even though he didn't know me, but I still had to help Terri and Danni, and Dr. Cale if he's alive. "Just let them leave alive, please," I whispered as he approached me and placed a hand under my chin.
"You care for them, I understand that, but they have trespassed in our territory. If they can escape alive then they are worthy of living, but it is too late to call off the attack now. Now, we must return home to keep you safe. You are going to be feeling pain and sickness until your transformation has completely settled. You will stay with me," Szayel said in a soft but unquestioning tone.
"They're strong and smart, they'll survive," Luna whispered to me as Szayel picked me up and he disappeared under the water to take us back to the tunnel. I gasped for air before we went under, but he gave me a small smirk.
"You can breathe underwater now," he spoke to me mentally and poked my stomach, which made me breathe in. I thought I would take in a lot of water, but I didn't.
"So what happens now?" I thought and wondered if my thought went to him.
"You will learn our ways, become my mate, we will have children together, and live our lives as rulers of our people," Szayel's voice spoke softly and encouragingly to me.
"Never thought I'd be a queen," I thought back with a small smile. I didn't have many options now that I had changed into a naga, and I had even less options since the king had claimed me as his.
"You'll make a great queen and a wonderful mother," Szayel said and that was really one of the first things he said that earned him some points in my book.
"I think we might work out after all," I thought with a small smile before just letting myself relax as Szayel broke the surface of the water and we were back in the tunnel systems of the naga kingdom. "Well when we do have children then I know who is going to babysit," I thought while thinking of Alaric. I had to have some kind of payback since he did this to me without my permission.