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Unread 03-30-2014   #1
Leliel
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A Fearful Serpent [Teenage Superheroine to Coatl (Giant Winged Snake) and Back]

All right kids, this is somewhat unique among all fics on here, in that it's a single chapter as part of a larger fanfic I'm working on. Mother of Vengeance, I'll be posting this on Fanfiction.net soon. Thought you might like to see the process in it, particularly since I asked you for help.

It's a crossover between Birthright, a Dungeons & Dragons setting, and Worm, a web serial novel about superheros in a world that feeds on pain and misery. This focuses on one such superhero, Panacea, aka Amy Dallon, aka Unluckiest Girl in Worm, And Dear God Is That Saying Something. Her power is biokinesis (ie, reshaping flesh, so long as it belongs to someone else), but due to a combination of bad parenting, believing she's fated to follow her biological father's path of supervillainy, and her adopted sister Victoria (Glory Girl)'s emotion aura doing funny things to her mind, she only uses it to heal due to psychological blocks made of guilt.

Set up is that both girls have lost their mother (adopted in Amy's case), Carol Dallon aka Brandish. A thing I want you to keep in mind is that Carol is also an extremely sucky mother in canon, at least to Amy.

EDIT: Now with in-text explanation of Worm mythology! Sorry for telling and not showing there.

Disclaimer: Amy, Victoria, Brandish, Gallant, and Adrasteia's real identity (Taylor Hebert-part of the setting conceit is she gets a different power than her canon insect control) all belong to Wildbow. The concept of awnsheghlien belongs to Birthright's authors and Wizards of the Coast (I think they bought it), as do all awnsheghlien not Adrasteia or Amy (Chimera, Seadrake, Magian and Siren).



------------------------------------------
Interlude 2: A Fearful Serpent
------------------------------------------


Plant matter wasn't palatable anymore, and the prey was too fast.

That was what the monster had decided. The prey, while abundant, was simply too smart, too quick, too experienced with running.

The pain in the monster’s belly was overwhelming, compounded by the fact that the winged creature had eaten plants before that discovery. Oh dear sweet merciful everything, was that a bad plan.

Still, it was probably a good thing for the slithering, squamous beast that the hunger had put survival instinct in charge of the inhuman being’s brain.

After all, if that were the case, the still-human mind of Amy Dallon may have had time to think about the strangeness of this place she found herself in, half-mad from starvation, and subsequently panic. Or will herself to starve to death, lost forever in in the everchanging world where illusion and truth were one and the same. Just desserts for a monster like her, one that now looked like what she always was.

As it was, the more primal mind had taken over. What part of Amy not transformed into a predator was cycling through her human life, trying to keep from being absorbed into the desperate, starving beast.


---------------------------------------
17 Hours Before Plane Shift


Staring at nothing, Amy had decided, was a good way to avoid thinking.

Not avoiding thinking about...that, not thinking. Not thinking sounded good right now.

Because if Amy thought, that would mean she would be thinking about either that...or her reaction to that.

Unfortunately, not thinking still allowed it to play back in her mind. Constantly.

She was crying. The monster had made her sister - her beautiful, strong, caring, and utterly pure sister - cry.

And she was mocking her sister for crying. She was reveling in the fact that her sister was crying. Her brain’s pleasure centers were alight like Chirstmas lights, her adrenaline rushing. Chimaera was
getting off on the fact that Vic was crying.

A terrible clarity came over Panacea’s mind. A terrible clarity, where there was no fear, no restraint, not even any anger. Only hate.

Contrary to what she presented to the world, there was no such thing as a purely defensive parahuman power. Hers simply had a lot of healing applications, and she had taken a vow of pacifism a long time ago to prevent her from being tempted by its true power.

A temptation she just fell to, "reaching" with her mind into Chimaera's arm.

The forearm’s muscles were pulled out into the upper arm, rendering it useless, and allowing her to escape.

She didn't, though. There was a score to settle.

The feel of a windpipe, the rest of the throat ignored. Her hand constricted around it, swimming through her flesh like it was water.

The monster couldn't win. Not in any way.

“Medicines come from poisons in the natural world, you know,” said Amy. The only thing preventing her from saying that in the tone of savage joy she felt was that she was too focused on her hate to express emotions.

Now, to get rid of her altogether. She was after Adrasteia’s heart, was she?

Panacea appreciated irony.

She looked back up in the monster’s face. Yes, show fear. Show that you’re just as weak as the parahumans you….demean....

There was no life in her eyes.

Slowly, sanity returned. Slowly, Amy realized what she had just done.

Among the expected emotions, though -shock, guilt, horror- was something that would have been surprising, at least if you weren't Amy Dallon.

Relief.

No more wondering when the other shoe would drop. No more fear of becoming a monster.


“Ames?”

The absolute worst possible person to break her not thinking put a hand on her.

“Ames, I’m here. It’s going to be okay.”

No it won’t, the viciousness that was always there snarled at her sister. Amy kept a lid on it though. The person wasn't completely devoured by the monster yet.

Her body interpreted this by turning away and tucking her arms and legs together.

“Amy, please. Just let me talk to you-”

“Go away,” she murmured.

Victoria backed off, somewhat. Good. That meant she couldn't be hurt.

This was how it started, wasn't it? She gave into her rage and anger, and because of that, her control over her power finally slipped. It slipped because she slipped, and destroyed someone out of hatred. More than that, she enjoyed it.

If it was just about Brandish, it would be one thing. But it wasn't. It couldn't be, even after twelve years, before which she didn't remember, her adopted mother was a stranger to her - it was about Victoria. The focus of Amy’s warped affections. Her incestuous possession.

It was only a matter of time before she turned that into something more than a metaphor. The rock was rolling.

Maybe it was better if-

Panacea almost flinched as the full force of her sister’s emotion-manipulating aura hit her. Just because she was immune to casual use did not mean she couldn’t feel the full force of it if she was incredibly emotional. Or trying for maximum.

In this case, it was affection, calm, and protectiveness.

“Amy, I’m sorry it got like this. I miss Mom too, and undergoing a secondary trigger like that, shortly before killing someone has to be utterly horrible.”

Amy looked up from the bed for the first time, to her sister’s face.

For the second time in recent memory, Victoria was crying. But the expression on her face wasn’t pain, not really.

It was fear for Amy.

“But no matter what happens to you, you’ll always be my sister.”

It took a second for Amy to realize she was crying herself.


----------------------------------

In the Shadow World, the birthplace of magic and madness, the beast that was once Panacea tasted the air, desperately seeking food that was slower than the rest.

A bit of the strange smell (the taste of illusion, she had decided) almost seemed alive. Scratch that, it was alive, but no meat. Only the illusion of meat.

Pain.

Very vicious, very physical illusion of meat.

Amy wheeled around to face the threat.

A pair of too-human eyes widened. Not the threat’s.

Before her was a warped version of her human form. Older, more attractive, a lot more provocatively dressed. Plants withered about her, and illusionary people broke out in horrifying boils as she passed them. Following dutifully behind the not-her was a not-Victoria, eyes vacant and adoring of her mistress.

“Intruder,” the false Amy hissed, warping the plantlife into weapons.

The monstrous Amy drew back, hissing a wordless warning as she coiled defensively.

“You can’t run from yourself,” the false Amy whispered, standing aside to allow the Victoria clone to go before her.

The monstrous Amy glanced around, warily looking for any way to escape.

A part of her heard the rest, and reached out to touch the mind of the not-Vic.

Or rather (horrifyingly), an extension of-

Wait.

The beast poked her head out, too confused to be scared. I want her, not her body.

The entire scene rippled before the false Glory Girl vanished.

A weakness. Amy searched the being for more thoughts.

And right there, in the false thoughts around the alien core of the living illusion, was a large flaw.

Our real father is Birdcaged, sealed in a mountain overseen by the world's greatest scientist. You can’t possibly have ever worked with him. No escape from that prison.

The false Amy flickered like a mirage, attempting to counteract the logic in that statement and thus prove she existed.

No dice. In a flash of blue, the being’s existence unraveled and its mind dissipated.

The part of Amy not focused on surviving chuckled darkly at the irony.


----------------------------------
15 Hours Before Planeshift


Amy supposed she should be happy her sister went to see her before the unconscious Dean - her actual boyfriend (or ex - he tended to shift between the two). Then again, that could easily be that she couldn’t help her sister’s boyfriend until she was capable of moving from her bed.

That Victoria had not asked Amy to heal Dean did not occur to her.

Nor did Victoria ask her to wait with her for him to come out of his unconscious state after she was done repairing the physical damage to the Wards, but that was to be expected.

Absolutely nobody asked her to heal the shapeshifter Chimaera had brainwashed into working for her currently being given a thorough psychological evaluation, as per the Master/Stranger protocols that made sure he didn't have any sleeper commands or lasting psych damage from her control, either. He seemed rather...amused.

And very strange, biologically speaking. Almost like his entire body was a chameleon, even down to his bone structure. He even had a pair of non-functional female genitals hidden in his abdomen, presumably for imitating the other gender.

But what mind would give rise to such a species (Amy doubted that kind of biology could be anything but created deliberately) was a mystery for another time. Or why Chimaera's world thought creating a creature like him was necessary. Frankly, Amy didn't want to understand the paranoia that went into creating and generated by such an ideal spy.

Slowly, Dean’s eyes opened, before breaking into a pained grin. “Hey Vic...didn’t know you were actually an angel…”

Victoria said nothing, only cracked a grin before looking away.

As much as it pained Amy to admit it, Dean deserved his superhero name of Gallant. His eyes suddenly grew aware with alarm. “Vic? Something wrong?”

“I….she…” Victoria began to cry.

Our mom is dead. Chimaera’s monsters got her, Panacea thought.

Then she thought where’s that buzzing noise coming from?

Gallant looked utterly shocked. “Oh God. Oh God. She’s-I’m so sorry.”

“About the bu-” Amy began, stupidly. Not so stupidly she finished that thought, but…

How did Dean know? His empathy for emotions wasn’t that strong.

Victoria didn’t seem to realize this though, instead going into a full wail of sorrow before collapsing into her boyfriend’s chest.

Not wanting to upset Dean and thus her sister with her jealousy, Amy respectfully left.

And walked into a wall of chatter, it seemed like.

She’s been crying all day.

Poor girl. Both of them

I liked Brandish, too.

I wonder when dinner is.


Rage blossomed in Amy’s heart. She spun around to the source of the last voice.

“Victoria just lost her mother, and you’re worried about...lunch?”

An old, infirm man, his mind lost to age, whimpered and drew back. His nurse was nearly as startled.

“Oh God...I didn’t mean…”

The medic stepped back before running off, ashamed of herself.

It was only a few minutes later she realized that she never actually heard the voices. Not with her ears, at any rate.

That same few minutes later, an unfortunate doctor passing by her room suddenly started to believe in ghosts. He swore he heard an insane laugh, the kind that a broken mind mistakes for crying, even though no one else did.

It was understandable. There was only one known telepath in all of Earth...and she wasn't human. At all. In fact, she resembled an angel, but as far as anyone knew, her only goal was implanting subconscious commands in the populace of the cities she attacked, purely to cause discord and strife.

As if she wasn’t already a monster, now she was the Simurgh. Most feared of the Endbringers.

Amy quietly wondered what she did to make fate hate her.


------------------------------------



Back to the search. Amy tasted the air again.

Yes, that was definitely meat. Smelled of civilization. Good. Lots of prey there.

The monster slithered off, following her tongue.

A floating river apparently took offense at this at attempted to smother her, flowing around her in a white tide of rapid waters and beginning to constrict, a slow-motion splash.

The monster hissed a little at this, before taking to the skies, the river flooding nothing but empty space.

Her mind immediately went elsewhere. Perhaps her poison with a little flesh shaping could make it quick?



---------------------------------------
10 Hours Before Plane Shift


“Sis! Sis you okay!?” Almost immediately the door broke open, wood spraying everywhere, revealing Victoria.

“Fine! Fine...just a stupid nightmare…” Normally Amy would have followed up that plead with a silent prayer for her sister to not notice she was standing up and not the bed. But caution about her newfound telepathy won out.

Victoria paused for a moment, full wakefulness returning to her. One could hear the cogs in her mind restarting.

“...Do you want to sleep with me? Like we used to?” she asked, sounding exactly as awkward as the question did.

Internally, the healer weighed the benefits and faults of this. On the one hand, this probably would make her feel a lot safer when she really, really needed it. On the other, it wouldn't exactly be innocent anymore, and Vic might pick up on that. More importantly, Amy wasn't exactly sure when her...upgrades would end, and Vic would feel those if they grew in while touching her.

“No...no...I’m okay. We’ll talk about it in the morning…”

Victoria looked rather skeptical about that, “O-kayyy...If you ever change your mind, the door’s open.” A pause. “For the next week or so, I don’t know how quick the repairmen are.”

Both sisters tried to laugh at the lame joke before Vic went back to her own room.

As soon as she heard the other Dallon’s door close, Amy darted into the bathroom and shut the door to prevent light from escaping.

Light on. Mouth open.

She tried not to scream again.

Yes, those were fangs. Long snake fangs that otherwise could be retracted and hidden. On a whim, Amy urged them to see if they had what snakes were known for.

There was a brief squeezing sensation at the roof of her mouth, and clear fluid leaked from them. Her ability to analyze biology immediately set to work as the venom stopped being a part of her body. Neurotoxin, deadly and mercifully quick.

Amy though back to the tongues of lighting that licked her. Chimaera’s revenge on her killer, she guessed. The person who slew the monster was fated to become exactly like her. A quick accounting of her own cells proved it - she could sense the weird, stem cell-covered neurons she had felt in the shapeshifting Chimaera and Adrasteia, newest member of the government-sponsored teenage parahuman team, the Wards, being produced from a colony in her heart, a mass of dividing and mingling mutant cells that even now were working on reshaping the flesh shaper.

By all rights, she should have turned herself in, right then and there. But that would likely result in her being locked away, unable to heal people. Unacceptable.

So she started planning on how to conceal her mutations as long as possible. She willed the fangs to retract...

Which would cause her to look like she was missing her top canines. Damn. Well, she could always fake them being knocked out-

An itch on her shoulder. Already dreading, she adjusted her gown-

Huh. Those rainbow feathers were actually kind of pretty.

So were the blue scales under them.

But they were still feathers and scales.

Numbly, Amy went back to her bed, put her head under the pillow, and screamed as silently as she could.


----------------------------------


Not here.

Food was not here.

Amy’s tongue told her food was here, but she neither saw nor touched food. If anything, this part of not-Earth was rather barren. Even of plant life.

A strangely human cry of frustration and despair came from the monster, who buried her head in the ground.

What was she going to do now? She didn’t have enough calories for another day-

Wait. The smell of the earth...the smell wasn’t like this not-Earth…

On a whim, the monster nuzzled the ground away, revealing…

Blue. The same blue she saw when she crossed here.

The smell was coming from the blue.

Silently thanking whatever gods were listening, Amy willed herself to push through the wall again, and with a flash of blue, she was gone.


---------------------------------------
2 Minutes Before Planeshift



In retrospect, this should have been obvious.

“Ms. Dallon? Ms. Amy Dallon? We don’t want to hurt you, just please come out the door.”

She didn't deserve to be happy, even if it was on a time limit before she looked (and probably acted) more like a feathery snake than a human.

“Ms. Dallon! We believe you’ve been exposed to a biological agent even your power can’t fight off…”

Amy tuned out the PRT agents knocking on the room door. It would have been nice though. She had read somewhere that grief bought families closer together. Would be nice for Mark to not be a complete stranger to her anymore. Would be nice to call him father.

Oh well. Nothing to do except stare at nothing until they came through.

“...I’m sorry, but you can’t-”

“No, no, please let me try, she’s my sis, she’ll listen to me.”

The stare was broken as her heart stopped.

“We’re afraid you might be exposed-”

“I have a suit, too! I’ll just go in, calm her down and-”

Amy’s perception of time slowed.

If Victoria came in here, she would see the growing feathers, now on both arms. Her fangs were extending from agitation.

In other words, Victoria would see a monster. And Amy knew how her sis reacted to monsters. See Adrasteia, and how Victoria injured the snake-haired lie detector's wing pretty badly on their first meeting out of a desire to protect her sis (Amy hated irony).

She couldn't know.

“Okay, Ames? I’m going to come in there in five…”

But the PRT was surrounding the house, she couldn't get out through the window.

“Four...three…”

Nowhere to hide in here, nothing within reach to hide the feathers.

“Two…”

Thus she pushed up against the wall further, feeling it stretch-

Huh?

“One!”

A sensation of something being torn, a flash of blue light, and-

She was hallucinating.

There was no way that waterfall could be flowing up as well as down. Or there be a waterfall there. Much less the cliff’s face be curved in an elliptic, non-Euclidean slope and still seem natural.

Slowly, she began to laugh, helplessly. Well, if this was her delusion, at least she didn’t have to deal with Victoria’s reaction. Actually, this place looked kind of nice-

Her blood was on fire. It wasn’t painful yet but she could feel the mutant neuron-like cells suddenly start to divide exponentially. One is two is four is sixteen...

Pain.

Bones shifted, organs reconfigured, entirely new muscles were constructed by the mutant cells, and Amy barely registered the tearing of her undershirt as she expanded.

A scream of pain that gradually deepened into a pained roar. Arms developing extra joints and losing fingers. Legs fusing.

After what felt like millenna, the pain subsided. It took a second before Amy registered the agonized, deep breaths were her own.

A second later, her stomach started screaming at her as her new muscles began to break down. A quick examination of her new biology told her why - her transformation took almost every free floating calorie in her body to complete. It was simply too fast for her biology to balance out with cravings and such.

She needed to replace those calories. And quickly.

And so did Amy’s mind become beastial as well. Her brain decided that there were more pressing matters than thought.


-----------------------------------



If Amy had human vocal chords, she would have laughed in relief as she crossed dimensions. As it was, she settled for roaring in triumph.

The two-legged animals screamed and ran. No matter, she was fast and strong.

Right in front of her, in fact, was an entire row of prey, all neatly arranged and huddled together.

Why, one of the two-legs was holding out its hand! Prey being presented to her!

Salivating in a very un-reptilian manner, Amy lunged.


------------------------------


In retrospect, Sheldon Bixby decided, taking a job at a supermarket was a bad plan. Supermarkets were in the Top Ten Favorite Supervillain Targets anyway, right after McMansions and the Department of Motor Vehicles office. He honestly thought that was a perk, given how the monotony of unemployment and odd jobs could be more easily broken.

That was before the giant fucking snake grabbed the roast chicken out of his hand, tore open the packaging with its fangs, gulped it down whole, and began to repeat the process with everything else in the meat section, favoring whatever fatty cuts were there. And birds, for some reason.

And knocking down the aisles with a pair of absolutely enormous wings.

Congratulating himself on his quick thinking in giving the snake the chicken, Bixby quietly ran towards the employee exit. If he got out in the confusion, maybe he wouldn't have to clean-

“Bixby, it’s safe in my office! C’mon man!” A strong arm grabbed him around the shoulder.

And with that, all of Bixby’s (petty) hopes and dreams were dashed by a well-intentioned boss.


------------------------------


So much stupid prey. Unmoving prey. Fresh prey.

Amy had found Paradise.

Yes, those shells were annoying, but so much meat awaited her underneath them! Juicy meat, high-calorie meat…life-saving meat…

Amy could not be happier in this state. Already the pain was subsiding, her mind was clearing, she could swear her scales were developing a healthier...shine…

Scales?

The beast receded to the depth’s of Amy’s mind as she remembered exactly what had happened over the past day or so. Comprehended exactly what she had become.

Slowly, dreading, the great serpent turned her power upon her own cells once again, surveying how inhuman her body became.

Even her cells were only recognizable as human due to the genetic code twining through each of them.

A piteous cry came from the snake before it vanished the same way it came - in an explosion of blue light.


------------------------------



If one was passing by the north end of the feature that gave Brockton Bay its name, one would have heard a splash. This was not too strange, given the rather large fish the parahuman marine biologist Benthos had seeded the bay with during his “vacation” from Australia a couple years before (he was not a fan of certain oil companies whose tankers were parked there at the time). Nor would one pay that much attention to it, as the fish only ate toxic chemicals. This resulted in about the only advantage Brockton Bay had over other cities in scenery.

The sound of quiet sobbing that followed as Amy’s reflection returned to the smooth waters was much less noticeable.

Slowly, the winged serpent curled up under her bridge in a miserable coil, despite her best efforts at remaining straight. At least she still seemed warm-blooded from looking at her metabolic processes, so she wouldn't hibernate in the cold winter air. Just freeze.

Now what was she going to do?

The homeless man she had inadvertently scared off proved it; she was a monster now. A creature out of myth, fit for a dashing hero to slay. Nobody would want her help like this. Victoria would more likely believe she had eaten her human form rather than become this...thing.

And the psychological effects! Chimaera could have been a perfectly sane, normal individual before she became...that. With the darkness in her own native genes, who was to say Amy wouldn't become worse? Especially given what her power was truly capable of?

Staring at the water, Amy’s stomach lurched as she realized another way to protect the world from herself.

The only way, before Chimaera’s madness made her enjoy the screams and suffering.

Slowly, hesitantly, the snake slithered into the sea.


-----------------------------



….Peaceful. The water was clean, and peaceful.

Amy focused on the cold, purifying sense of the water. Actually, no, she wasn't that cold. Scales protected her warmth, it seemed.

Her eyes also weren't nearly as sensitive as they were as a human. Not unlike those of a water moccasin or sea snake, she guessed. Her wings obviously weren't adapted to swimming, but she was...buoyant enough.

Not that it mattered.

Hesitantly, Amy began to try and exhale. Attempting to trick her survival instinct, she embraced the sense of the water….

The feeling of fish swimming by…

The rocky seabed….

The large, scaly thing that brushed her wing….

…the fuck?

Amy was snapped out of her trance, just in time to see the green jaws that opened like an ivory flower-

The water fell away as a screaming medic attempted to instinctively take to the air-

And choked on the water. The jaws caught her in a tight hold…

Amy waited for the pain to begin.

And waited.

And waited.

...No, these teeth held her gingerly, being careful to not cut.

Ah, okay. So she was being taken to feed the owner’s young then, probably. Alive.

She passed out. Her last thought was realizing she probably could have shaped her way out.

Shit.

------------------------------



Amy wasn't expecting to come to at all, much less on something comfy.

For a moment, Amy almost went into delirious joy about that all being a bad dream. She laugh-roared in relief as she lifted her wings in celebration.

Wait. Fuck.

At least she was safe. If in a rather lot of pain. From the feeling of the “bed,” it actually seemed like a bunch of them had been thrown together with pillows haphazardly.

As her eyes adjusted, Amy saw she had been right in this guess. Then her gaze was drawn to the rest of the room.

This place was a salvager’s paradise. Bits of sunken ships and various waterlogged items covered the walls of the cave, each lovingly sorted and displayed. In one corner, various items from wrecked bridges. In another, a stack of shipping containers, with their contents.

“So, the lass finally awakes.”

Startled, Amy spun to face the source of the accented, deep voice.

There was a clang as she hit one of the bulkheads on display in her efforts to fly back.

An enormous sea serpent, straight out of a medieval map (specifically the part labeled “Here Be Dragons”) looked down upon her. Mottled emerald and sapphire covered its hide, giving it the air of the primal majesty of nature. Completing the regal appearance was a fan-like fin that ran down its back like a crown. Two great eyes, brimming with intellect, bore into her.

Amy, of course, did not notice the beauty of the beast. She was too busy watching her life flash before her eyes while attempting to shrink by coiling tight enough.

“Oi, calm yourself, Miss! I mean ye no harm.”

Amy’s thought process (I’m dead. I’m deadImdeaddead died I’m dead) came to a screeching halt. That thing could speak!?

…And was male, given the sound of its - uh, his - voice.

Slowly, Amy’s head poked itself out of her coil. She tried to speak, only for it to come out as a terrified hiss. No dice.

...Except that illusionary thing had heard her, didn’t it? Um, how did she speak then, how did she mind-speak to Gallant…

Please don’t eat me, she thought, willing her captor (?) to hear her. Short and to the point.

There was a buzzing sound in her mind as the monster chuckled. “Eh, if we be speakin’ of sapient prey, I not be one to go for yer planet’s. Given the kinds of things ye eat I be needn’ ipecac if I be not unloadin’ bilge from both aft and bow from both directions, if ye get me point.” A laugh.

My...planet? ...Wait. Amy uncoiled and slithered out. You’re...one of them, aren’t you? An...awnsheghlen from Chimaera's world?

“I not be an awnsheghlien, on the basis I be neither an adjective nor multiple people. The proper term be awnshegh, and that I be, and from Cerilia too. Native and creature of the land of magic. As are ye now, Miss.”

A brief pause. Then: Oh.

It was blatantly obvious, in retrospect. Chimaera had talked a good game about taking her powers through strength rather than awakening in emotional trauma as parahumans did, and Amy had only started noticing the changes after Chimaera’s death. Given how Adrasteia mutated after killing another apparent awnshegh, it only made sense that she now had Chimaera’s power.

Both serpents sat silently for a second, before Amy politely coughed. Um, Amy Dallon, alias Panacea.

“Garrilien Suliere, and I also be known as the Seadrake. But if the lass would be so kind to call me Garril instead, would ye?”

Pleasure to meet you. Another pause, as Amy considered her words. Er, what were you doing in that wharf, anyway?

“Huntin’. The fish there be giant. Good eatin’.”

Another pause. How do you speak to someone who just stopped your suicide?

Eventually, Garril broke the silence. “Er...pardon me askin’, but was there any reason you decided to inhale the ocean? I be havin’ both gills and lungs, but is there any reason ye be testin’ to see if ye have them ye self?”

He’s playing dumb, Amy realized. She didn't need her mind reading for that. I...don’t want to talk about it.

“Okay, no need to be rushin’.”

A thought struck Amy. Um, were you...friends with...her?

Garril caught on to who “she” was immediately. “By the Abyss and the Winter Witch, no! The Chimaera’s death be a service to the universe, that it be!”

Okay...any reason you’re here instead of...your own world?

“...Following my crewmates. But I be left to my collection in this cave, for the moment. It be gettin’ rather lonely at times.”

Yes, Amy supposed. That did sound kind of-

Wait, crewmates? There are other awnsheghlen?

“Ye be pronouncin’ it wrong. Well, not pronouncin’, but the way you think it be pronounced...In any case, it’s awnsheghlien, draw out the ‘e’ sound. But yes. Not the Sphinx, but I be havin’ other refugees of Cerilia with me as well.”

One could almost hear the tick-tick-tick of gears going off in Amy’s skull. ...Can you introduce me?

Garril was silent for a few seconds as he looked Amy up and down. “...Ye be lookin’ for a place to go after ye grew scales and wings, ye be?”

Amy looked extremely downcast. Where else is there?

“I may be alone in me cave, but I be no hermit. I know ye have a family to go back to.”

Irrational anger bloomed in Amy’s chest

Oh yeah, because Victoria is going to be so thrilled upon learning the fact her sister’s a monster! Everyone is going to be so happy to be healed by the giant snake! No, I think I’ll slum it with the monsters, thank you! At least I don’t have to pretend that everything’s fine!

The fury abated, and Amy saw Garril’s face suddenly become an all too human expression of pain.

Oh God, I didn’t mean that.

“Yes, ye did.”

...I’ll make it up to you somehow, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight-

“Ye weren’t callin’ me a monster, I ken, though.” The great sea beast looked thoughtful. “And somehow, I be doubtin’ ye got that opinion of ye self from a few scales and parrot feathers. There be somethin’ you wish to speak of, lass?”

...No. Can’t show weakness, a heroine showing weakness unloads that weakness on others…

“Like, for example, not installin’ a filter between telepathy an’ ye private thoughts?”

Guh. Telepathy willed off.

“Come now, miss. I ain’t havin’ any reason or ability to spread nasty rumors about ye on the mainland. Ye have an ear with me.”

Amy glanced around, trying to think. On the one hand, she was about to load her problems on a stranger…

But on the other, there was only one problem he would judge, because everyone judged that.

It would be a dark judgement, but she needed to let all of this go before it made her try and kill herself again.

...Did you know I’m adopted?


------------------------------


“So, ye think yer blood dad makes ye a villain.”

Amy nodded, having long since discovered her new body still had tear ducts.

“And ye think ye are doomed to become even worse than Lady-TaLkS-lIkE-tHiS,” he said, nailing Chimaera's warble in her monster form perfectly, "because of his bad genes."

At some point, Garril had climbed onto the cave shore, listening intently. He had leveled his head with Amy’s body, laying it on the ground.

“...I got nothin’. Sera be hit by your afterbirth, ye life sucks more than a starvin’ whirlpool. Sera be the goddess of luck, by the way.”

You know, I wouldn’t be surprised. Frankly it would explain...everything! She laughed, a bitter, hollow sound that was made even more so by the hissing under it. And you know? Even the one fucking thing that makes it all better is tainted too! You know my sister? Victoria? Glory Girl? The one person in my entire family who gives a rat’s ass if I live or die? You know how this rotted, genetically cursed brain of mine interprets that!?

“I already be dreadin’ the answer.”

Picture this: A lonely, neglected girl, saved by a blonde bombshell and nursed back to something resembling happiness. Scene from a tween romance, or…?

It took a second for Garril to catch on. “Oh. Ohhhh.”

The only reason it isn’t fucking incest is because I’m not her blood sibling! I’m just a warped, sick...twisted…

Amy collapsed to the ground.

...broken….

Then sobbed into it..

….monster….

There was nothing except Amy crying into the ground for a minute or two.

Her misery was interrupted by Garril nuzzling her.

“Oy, give blame where it be due.”

She shot up. Sorry?

“If ye need to hate someone for the state of ye mind, blame Carol! From the sound of it she have a heart made of stone and arctic ice! Ye ain’t to blame for the troubles in ye life.”

For a moment, Amy felt that rage blossom in her heart again…

Then realized that she had thought the same exact thing about her adopted “mother” at times. Really, she was more mad for Victoria.

I...guess…

“And look here miss - when faced with a bunch of fresh long pork and gods know how stale meat, which did ye go for alone, even when ye were faced with a regular idiot literally servin’ ye a platter and your mind be that of a hungry wolf?”

Amy nodded. Actually…

“So, ye ain’t inherently a killer. Also, I ken ye may have gotten lucky with the awnshegh mutation lottery.”

Her mind skipped a thought. Er, what?

“Well, given the Chimaera could make herself look like an elf…”

...It was worth a shot. Um, before I try that, though…? A wing gestured away from her.

“Right, no costume. Got it.” Garril looked away and closed his eyes.

Trying not to get her hopes up, Amy willed herself back into her human form.

Almost immediately, she shrank. Her left lung reinflated and became useful once more, her tongue’s fork fused, and her organs un-staggered. The thymus gland migrated from above her heart to its place between her lungs, her lymph nodes reappeared, and her skeleton restructured itself. Fingers separated from the ends of her wings as they compressed and reabsorbed feathers.

When she opened her eyes, she was once again a human girl, lying face down on the surface of the cave’s shore.

...No, actually, her ears were pointy and her build was a bit more willowy. Had to work on that, see if being a plain human was possible..

But she had hands once more...and vocal chords!

Rolling over, she laughed. Finally, fucking finally, things weren’t as bad as they - Holy shit it was cold.

“I-It worked,” she shivered.

And almost instantly, she willed herself back to being a winged snake. Odd, that was actually a little easier to will than shifting out of that form. Oh well.

Garril looked back, smiling impishly. “Not too warm, is it?”

Amy shook her head as she rolled back over on her belly.

Then, something occurred to her. Why don’t you do that? It’d be less frightening. Or are you missing clothes?

She chuckled. Garril didn’t.

The laugh died. You can’t, can you?

“Not all of us be so lucky to pretend to be normal mortals for a while, no. Not without help.” He shook his head. “But what is done be done. If you want, I can take ye back to the mainland, or at least as far as I can without givin’ myself away. Less potential wannabe monster killers, that way. Ye can fly the rest, can’t ye?”

I can. Amy winged on top of the Seadrake’s back. And thanks for helping me snap out of that.

“You be welcome,” he said as he slithered to the sea. “Just...pay a visit, once in a while? It gets lonely out here and I like to know what be on the mainland.”

Sure!

As the two swam out back to Brockton Bay, Amy suddenly realized she could have read his mind, too.

But then again, he didn’t seem untrustworthy enough to violate his privacy like that, and it seemed terribly rude otherwise.

Oh well.


------------------------------



The amount of gloom hanging over the Dallon house was palpable. Even looking at it spoiled the good mood Amy was in. She almost lost her nerve right then and there, but she shook it off. Even if she could do it tomorrow, she couldn’t torture her sister like this.

Clutching her coat tight, Amy quietly positioned the ladder that led to Victoria’s window, and climbed up.

Even looking in, Amy could tell her sister was in a bad shape. Several of her things were broken, the normally immaculate bed was in disarray, and Victoria herself was clutching a pillow for dear life.

“...Vic?” Amy spoke hesitantly.

No response.

“Vic, I’m here.”

A small twitch. Victoria probably thought she was still dreaming.

Hoo boy. Bracing herself for her sister’s reaction, Amy pushed the window just enough to trigger the burglar alarm.

The siren blared, causing the startled blonde to fall out of her bed. Her aura started to activate again as she jumped to her feet, terrified and angry…

…Then she saw who triggered it.

“...Ames?”

Amy said nothing, just smiled apologetically.

“YOU BITCH!”

There was the sound of shattering glass as the elder Dallon tackled her sister through the window.

“YOU’VE BEEN GONE FOR A DAY WE’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU HOW COULD YOU JUST RUN AWAY OH GOD NEVER DO THAT AGAIN OH GOD I MISSED YOU...”

Slowly, the Dallons lowered as Victoria regained control of her emotions and descended from flight, setting them both on the ground.

“Oh God Amy...don’t scare me like that...Thank God you’re safe...why are you naked?”

Victoria stood back, looking confused at the complete lack of anything under Amy’s trenchcoat.

“It was the best I could scrounge.”

The blonde rolled this around in her head. “Did someone...take...your clothes?”

“No, actually. They were torn. By me.”

Confusion.

“Vic, please don’t freak out, but...I got something, from Chimaera.”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry if you’re sick there are other healers-”

“No, I mean a power. Victoria...please don’t be scared.”

The trenchcoat fell.

Victoria was knocked back by the growing body of her sister.

She fell over in shock.

...Surprise, Amy said glumly. This was the part where Victoria would run away and hate her forever damn it why she’d have to get her hopes up-

A strangled hiss came from the winged snake as her sister affixed herself right around her midsection

“Oh God. Ames...I’m so sorry. This has to be horrifying…”

And you’re on my lung. Please stop, Amy said, even her telepathy sounding strained.

“Oh.” Victoria flew back, allowing her sister to breathe.

A second passed as Amy regained her ability to breathe.

“...So,” Victoria said, utterly deadpan. “Does this mean we can finally get a sun room?”

It took a second for Amy to get that joke.

Both sisters began to laugh uproariously.

Even the well-intentioned exploding light sphere from her adopted father when he finally came out did nothing to spoil Amy’s mood. Finally, things were looking up.


------------------------------


One-hundred eleven, one-hundred twelve...ah, perfect.

Garril shoved the newest pieces of his collection of ship wheels into place. Looked nicer when things were even and all. He was mildly obsessive compulsive in that respect.

Now, to arrange the containers.

What the Hells was that!?

And, here comes the pain.

Garril swiveled around to face the otherwise functionally mute source of the synthesized voice. “Givin’ the lass a shoulder to cry on, I think. Not somethin’ the baatezu are particular fans of, I ken.”

There was a brief pause as Jersha Fjoldan, also known as the Siren, typed furiously on her speaking keyboard. “Don’t joke with me, Gerril! You and I know perfectly well what she’s going back to!

“This again?” If Gerril had a hand, he would have brought it to his face. “Look at it this way, Jeru. We be gettin’ a new way to spy on both our rivals, keep up to date with both our lil’ sis's, and save a girl from offin’ herself down the line. I don’t ken the Proclamation has the story of what happens to the Fearful Serpent after it’s all over and done with. Or even if she be the Fearful Serpent after all.”

That doesn’t excuse sending her back to a FUCKING SATYR!

The planar slang for an emotional abuser using mental powers - a mystical date rapist, to put it bluntly - echoed through the cave, no passion lost in the transition from thought to speaker.

Sighing, Gerril affixed his eyes on his fellow awnshegh. “Look. Vic ain’t comprehendin’ she bleeds her aura like that when she's upset or happy, or that boss guesses her sis' 'resistance' be more like a drug addiction than anythin;. It sounds like I’m tryin’ to justify other satyrs, and believe ye me I get a bad taste from those words alone.”

He leaned a little closer. “But even if that be the case - tell me, what is more likely to stop her offin’ herself? Being shown her sister will love her forever no matter what happens, or told that she be a sadistic egomaniac who loves no one but herself?”

A pause before Jeru reluctantly started typing again. “I still hate it.

“So be I. But even she be wantin’ to be free from that trick of her sis. As soon as the Magian lets us be public, I be going to get someone to repair her mind so she can live with herself.”

Jeru grumbled, but pulled on the reins of her griffon anyway, taking off.

That out of the way, Gerril went back to much more pressing business.

Hm, the red container did clash a tad….


------------------------------



A/N: Behold. The voice of sanity and and compassion in Worm: The bad guys.

Of course, both these guys are True Neutral by Birthright Canon, so not really bad guys.

The thing Amy fought in the Shadow World was a seemer, a sort of autoimmune system against mortal intruders. Take the form of a person’s worst fear.

And Amy’s become a coatl, so...not a very monstrous monster in any sense of the term.

Last edited by Leliel; 03-30-2014 at 07:59 PM. Reason: Expanding lore for the non-fans
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Unread 03-30-2014   #2
CNash
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Re: A Fearful Serpent (Teenage Superheroine to Winged Serpent and Back Again)

This is very well-written in and of itself, but as I don't have any context for these characters - I don't know either of the source materiel, let alone how to process them into the fanfic crossover you've penned - there are obviously going to be aspects of it that I can't judge. Unless your aim is to limit your audience to only fans of these particular universes, you might want to think about trying to make it more accessible and less bogged down in world-specific terminology.

Still, I always enjoy process-related stories where the subject has to deal with the consequences of his/her transformation in a mature and human fashion, as opposed to the "tortured soul becomes mindless beast" cliché, so I found this story quite entertaining.
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Unread 03-30-2014   #3
Leliel
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Re: A Fearful Serpent (Teenage Superheroine to Winged Serpent and Back Again)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CNash View Post
This is very well-written in and of itself, but as I don't have any context for these characters - I don't know either of the source materiel, let alone how to process them into the fanfic crossover you've penned - there are obviously going to be aspects of it that I can't judge. Unless your aim is to limit your audience to only fans of these particular universes, you might want to think about trying to make it more accessible and less bogged down in world-specific terminology.

Still, I always enjoy process-related stories where the subject has to deal with the consequences of his/her transformation in a mature and human fashion, as opposed to the "tortured soul becomes mindless beast" cliché, so I found this story quite entertaining.
I thought that might be the case. *grins apologetically* It is part of a larger work, though, so that's part of the reason for everything being all out of context..

I got sick of bolding all the right parts and such, so I didn't expand it as much as I probably should have for the sake of the Process forum. I'll try that right now.
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Unread 03-30-2014   #4
Leliel
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Re: A Fearful Serpent (Teenage Superheroine to Winged Serpent and Back Again)

Okay, lore expanded!

Had to tell and not show, but I think that's understandable given how this isn't an exposition chapter explaining the background.

The part about the Shadow World is supposed to be confusing, though. It's a place where illusions are real until you don't believe in them anymore, and frequently hostile.

If anyone wants the link to the full story, I can show it to you. Both mine and Worm (warning about the latter: Long and Dark).
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