The Rise of Serpens-Aftermath

Aftermath
By born2beagator

From his cypress perch, Serpens watched the house that had been transformed into a den of snakes with delight.  His plan was going to work.  While Cynthia struggled at first, once the serpentine influence of Hercules took hold, the reptile within her nearly burst out.  The two anacondas had settled into a happy life together.  They hunted together every night in the everglades.  Serpens happily noticed that his magic had altered the natural order of reptiles.  While water monitors and anacondas were naturally solitary creatures these four appeared to have mated for life.  Cynthia had even opened her den to other snakes to come and go as they please.  Violence between reptiles had stopped.  Serpens saw that the jungle inside of Cynthia's house was beginning to push out of the windows.  "Someone is going to notice this." He hissed nervously.  Was this neighborhood ready, or would they respond with violence?

He didn't have to wait long.  The next day a man came jogging down the road and stopped to stare at the house.  He started towards it.  If he went in....Serpens hoped that Cynthia and Hercules were full from their hunt and wouldn't hurt the man.  A dead human would blow this plan up.  Serpens needed to be ready to intervene.  He slithered down from his perch and to a window into the living room, keeping watch.

On John's morning jog he had noticed Cynthia the zookeeper's house was overgrown...from the inside.  The door was encrusted by vines and strange plants were growing from the busted windows.  Knocking on the vine-encrusted door, he received no response.  Curiosity getting the better of him, he pushed the door open.  He gasped "Cynthia what did you do?" He asked himself incredulously.  She had transformed her house into a jungle complete with a shallow river running to her now green pool.  From her pool and another stream ran to the lake at the foot of the Everglades.  Exploring the house, he noticed he was not alone.  There were several snakes in the trees of the house staring at him.  Laughing nervously he continued into what had been the bedroom.  A kapok tree had been planted, and in its low boughs...were two twenty foot anacondas.  Noticing they were asleep, he slowly backed out and went to leave the house.  On his way out, he found an indigo snake blocking the door.  Trying to go around it, the snake hissed in warning.  Another snake joined it.  This one a large diamondback rattlesnake adding its rattle to the warning hiss of the indigo.  They slowly slithered towards him, backing him into the living room.  He was being held hostage by snakes!

"Please no." Serpens thought.  This was not going well.  The snakes in the house were holding the man hostage.  While his magic was strong, there was no telling what raw instinct my drive these serpents to do.  The man sat shivering with fear, surrounded by snakes of various kinds.  Finally, Hercules and Cynthia came from their room.  The man nearly fainted at the sight of the two massive snakes.  Serpens prepared to intervene if the two royal snakes tried to turn the man into a meal.  They both came to a stop in front of the man, raising their upper bodies to the man's eye level.  He stopped shivering and watched Cynthia and Hercules.  Cynthia gave a deep hiss, and a python brought her a carton of large eggs which she gave to the man.  Serpens watched as the man shakily took the carton.  Finally the man got up, gently picked up the indigo snake that had blocked him and began to walk out.  Serpens noticed a slight tent in the man's jeans.  He gave a sigh of relief and quietly followed the man.

John was glad to be out of that den of snakes.  What had happened to Cynthia?  Had she been eaten by one of those anaconda?  Shaking his head of the grisly thought, he headed to his house, not far from Cynthia's.  He had taken the carton of eggs the snakes had given him, not wanting to possibly upset them.  He also took the indigo snake that had blocked him from leaving.  He'd keep it as a pet to remember never to go near that house again.  Entering his house, he didn't think to put the indigo snake in a cage, instead setting it down on the floor, where it slithered to the couch and curled up.  John opened the carton of eggs.  They were at least three inches across.  He wasn't going to eat these!  
They didn't look like any egg he had seen before.  John scratched lightly at his behind.  A spot on his lower back had been irritating him ever since he had left that strange house.  He sank on the couch next to the indigo snake and adjusted a couple of times, trying to find a comfortable position to avoid the lump he was feeling wherever he sat.  Finally he lay on his side.  Eyes drooping, he fell asleep to a documentary about indigo snakes on his TV.  Looking at his new pet and thinking how beautiful she was, he finally fell asleep.

Serpens watched through the man's window.  This would be the first of the new converts that Cynthia and Hercules would rule over.  He was placing them in charge of all snakes.  His fear was misplaced.  Cynthia and Hercules were well in control of themselves.  Although he made a note to himself to inject a little more variety in the next area he visited.  While he loved snakes above all other reptiles for obvious reasons, it wouldn't do to have a world of snakes.  With Cynthia and Hercules spreading serpentine influence on their own, he didn't need to supervise them after this man.  He knew nothing about this human's personality.  If a few seconds of contact with Hercules and Cynthia was enough to awaken a snake within him, then he had a feeling that every human in this area would soon be discovering the joys of kingdom Ophidia.  Serpens kept watch over the man as he slept.  He gave a hiss of contentment when he saw the lump in the man's pants begin to worm its way down his leg, finally, the tip of a black tail was visible sticking out of the man's pant leg.  This one was happening quickly.  Without the slow transition, this one would be fully snake with just the hint of sentience he'd blessed all reptiles with instead of the hyper intelligence he'd give to his king and queen of serpents.

John woke in the morning with an almighty craving for one of those eggs the anaconda had given him.  As he walked to the kitchen he felt something smooth and cool rubbing against his leg.  Hearing something sliding across the floor behind him he saw the indigo snake he brought home with him.  Glad to finally have a pet, he grabbed the carton of three inch wide eggs and sat on his back porch. Adjusting once again to the lump all his chairs seemed to have, John took out an egg and examined it.  How was he supposed to eat this?  Squirming in his chair he gave a grunt of discomfort.  It felt like the lump was moving.  Ignoring it in favor of sating his hunger he returned to trying to solve the problem of an egg.  Suddenly the indigo snake slithered onto his lap and flicked her tongue out at the egg, then looked at John as if asking permission.  "Be my guest." He said.  "I can't eat it."  The indigo snake opened her mouth wide and swallowed the egg whole.  "Maybe I should try it your way." John said.  He picked up another egg and examined it.  He felt a pain at the tip of his tongue and then an incredibly strange sensation that quickly passed.  Flicking his thin black tongue out, he tasted the egg...then put the whole thing in his mouth and swallowed it.  Instantly satisfied, he gave a hissing sigh of content.  As he went for another egg he realized that they were gone.  The anaconda had only given him two.  Apparently one was meant for the indigo, and one for him.  "Let's go back to Cynthia's house.  I want some more of those eggs." He said to the snake.  He didn't care that the house was full of snakes.  In fact, it comforted him.   But first he needed to do something about the irritation that had been plaguing him since yesterday.  Pulling his pants down a bit, he paid no mind to the three foot iridescent black scaled tail that fell free.  All he cared about was the pressure was gone.  He walked out his door and headed for Cynthia's house.  After a rather uncomfortable walk, he reached the jungle house.  Knocking on the door, he heard a deep hiss.  Taking this as an invitation to enter, he opened the door to be greeted with the massive female anaconda two feet away.

Cynthia flicked her great black tongue out a few times, tasting the newcomer.  He'd willingly come back.  Her eggs had been irresistible.  Seeing something waving behind him, she slithered around him and saw the scaly tail hanging over his pants.  Yes he was one of her little ones.  He wouldn't be leaving again.  But she was not going to allow him to be here on two legs.  She used her immensely strong upper body to push the hatchling to his belly.  The moment his belly hit the floor, his body responded.  Face pushed forward, body lengthened, arms and legs withered away, and an indigo snake slithered out of the clothes.  Cynthia watched as the small snake slithered away into the dense vegetation with his mate trailing behind.  Their kingdom was growing.

Over the next few days after the new indigo snake moved back to Cynthia's Serpens watched with amazement.  There wasn't a human in the neighborhood that didn't have some serpentine feature.  Many of them had tails hanging behind them, most had scales breaking out on their skin.   None of them seemed to mind.  He had chosen well when he picked Hercules and Cynthia to rule the serpents of the world.  Speaking of the king and queen, as more and more humans shed their skin for scales, their power grew.  Cynthia and Hercules were now thirty foot beasts that would be the envy of Hollywood monster film directors.  Within a week, Cynthia and Hercules were forty feet long and there was not a human left within a ten mile radius of the Everglades, and Cynthia had somehow managed to transform every house into a new den.  Hissing with satisfaction, he left the serpentine kingdom to his regents.  He was needed elsewhere.  It was time to put a little more variety into his transformations.

One Month Later
This is Channel 6 news reporting on the situation in Florida.  The population of the entire state is missing.  From our Sky 6 choppers we have discovered that every house seems to be overgrown with lush vegetation.  Furthermore, the swamps of the state have expanded exponentially.  The entire state is essentially a swamp.  The president has declared Florida a quarantine zone, no attempts will be made to explore the state to ascertain the fate of the people of Florida.  What we do know is there is a massive number of snakes in the state living in the overgrown houses.  What's more, two sixty foot anacondas have been seen from the air living in the everglades.  Twice as big as any snake that has ever been discovered, they have been deemed the king and queen of snakes.  We urge everyone to stay away from Florida.