When I woke up it felt like I was on a mattress. I was in my dragon form with a blindfold on. I tried to fold out my wings but my torso was wrapped in something holding my wings. I took a sniff to figure out who was here and as I did I heard him talking to someone.
"It's been a while old friend. It's hard to believe the new world views are in our favor," I heard him say.
"They have changed, but then again so have we," I heard a robotic voice say.
"I think he's awake; he's sniffing the air," I heard a familiar but long-dead robotic voice say.
"So you're finally awake" I heard him say. I began to growl before he said. "I can ensure you that your friend is fine, she's asleep but alive." I tried to get some void crystal to spawn so I could cut the blindfold but I didn't fell the spirit in me and the Symbiote was gone too.
"I think you'll calm down after this," I heard him say. That's when the wrap I had on started to warm up. It eased some pains I had in my back. I laid down to enjoy the heat, letting my guard down. "There doesn't that feel better," I heard it say as I heard a pencil on paper.
It's not like I could do much else. He had me tied to the bed frame from my back leg. The only thing I could do was bide my time hoping to catch a lucky break. Suddenly I felt something drip on my claw.
"Do you trust me kiddo, because I trust you won't attack," he told me. "Here, have something to drink."
I was a bit thirsty, but I wasn't sure if he was telling me the truth or not. I slowly crept up to the front of the bed anyhow ready to attack if I had to. When I found the dish I smelled it first before taking a small sip, I was fine. Knowing that the water wasn't dangerous, other than probably being fluorinated, I started to drink up the rest of it.
"See, no harm done, wish I knew how to get the fluoride out though. Just listen to this and relax for now while I check on your friend," I heard him say.
It sounded like who or what I saw before but I knew precisely it was the one with the plague doctor mask from the smell. He smelled like he spilled a cherry Martini on himself when I first saw him and he still did now.
That's when I heard some music in my ears. Music straight out of the Aether Minecraft mod.
"That music kiddo, that was probably one of my favorites when I was in UN hands. They were so much nicer to me than they were at the foundation. Once they were convinced I had changed my ways they let me go on supervision. That was originally a ploy but when they let me into their lives I completely gave in to the idea. One winter night after I was home free on my own I headed from Finland to Belgium and there a child no older than the age of 4 had a nasty sinus infection. That with asthma could prove a dangerous mix and I knew just how to help. He was the first person I truly saved from a disease let alone a viral one," I heard him say.
A warm wrap and calming music was the combination that made me susceptible to being mind-controlled. It felt calming to the point that I closed my eyes and took a nap. The wrap keeping my body warm, while the music calmed my mind. After a few minutes, I started to feel different. I fell more into a trance by the second.
"He's falling under my spell. In another minute or so you can approach him without worry," I heard someone say.
When I woke up I felt a glove on my neck as if it was petting me.
"Glad to see you're finally awake sleepy head. Come on now, roll over," I heard him say. I rolled over onto my back before he rubbed the wrap over my belly. I started to lick his mask while he was doing it. "Okay, now you're just spoiling it kiddo," I heard him say to me.
I was like this most of the day. not in my right mind and unable to fight back if he stuck me with anything. The thing is, despite being mind-controlled by his friend, I remembered most of what happened.
When evening came I was coming back to my senses. "Well, this has been a learning experience for us both hasn't it," I heard him say to me. That's when he removed the blindfold and I saw the inside of the building we were in. It was a tent and she was in her snake form in a cage.
"Aren't you going to let him go now?" I heard out of one of their tablets.
"Yeah, him being here though felt like I had my kind for a change. "It's been years since I'd so much as heard from one of them," I heard him say.
Once he removed the rope around my foot I turned to my human form then said: "It's hard to believe so many of you have changed."
"Then again so have you, in more ways than one," he replied.
I grabbed her and headed home, thinking up a way to explain the heavy snake in my arms.
When I got there my grandma didn't sound happy. "Nathan you're in deep trouble this time. You ran straight into danger" She told me.
"I did save a life, Carol!" I replied.
"What life the snake?" She replied. That's when she transformed with me holding her in my arms. "Is that the snake you mentioned?" She asked.
I nodded yes saying: "she's the one I risked my life for and I'm glad she's safe." She then rolled out of my arms and went into my bedroom.
"You were letting her stay here. Why didn't you tell me?" She asked me.
"I was worried about what you'd think. I was having an intelligent life form in my bedroom after all," I replied.
When we went into my bedroom we saw the 4 children she took care of, one of whom was covered in black scales and had purple eyes. Their names were: David the youngest, Jasmine and Nicole who were twins, and Daniel the oldest.
"Nathan, is it just me or does Daniel seem stressed to you?" She whispered in my ear. I look at him and he did look nervous. but I wasn't sure if it was due to the new environment or something else. "Well, I guess you're off the hook for now, mostly," she said to me as she walked out the door with my phone.
When nightfall came we were all under the covers. They were cuddling up against me probably for my body heat. One of them had nicked my arm so I could hear them in my sleep. But the interlinked dream seemed somewhat like a nightmare.
It started with me in some sort of membrane. I could hear the others talking. "I can remember when you did this to me and Nicole," I heard Jasmine say. I looked like Daniel but taller so I used my fang to cut out of the membrane bag.
"OK, that was an odd spot to start," I said to them.
"Believe me, it hurts once it's done," Jasmine said to me.
"Wait, what do you mean by that, Where's your mom?" I asked them. That's when severe pain set in that woke me up. I was in that same membrane except it was filled with some sort of liquid. I started to thrash about from the pan until the liquid absorbed into me and I saw my new form.
I started to moan from the pain. That's when she got me out of the membrane and carried me. "Where am I?" I asked as everything became a blur.
"You're with me Nathan rest easy now," I heard her reply before I passed out
When I woke up I was under some brown sandy soil with the kids looking over me. "You okay?" One of them asked.
"what happened?" I said to them sluggishly. That's when I looked at my hands in shock, they were covered in white scales. "What did she do to me?" I asked.
I was in a sand bed in a wooden room, definitely not anywhere near my home. They each ran over and hugged me and hugged me under the sand. from the looks of their faces, they simply wanted a father to look up to, but why me. Regardless I decided to be there for them. Who knows I could kill 2 birds with one stone and document the world she lived in.
"Is he awake?" I heard her mother say.
"This is going to take some getting used to," I told her.
"How much time can you spare?" She asked.
"A week or so before engineering camp, then I can help till August 1st," I said replied.
"How do 5 days work out for now? see if you can convince Xavier to come," she asked.
"That can work, wait, how do know about Xavier," I replied.
"I can hear your thoughts for a few days after I transformed you," she replied.
"You might have to get my captor to get him I'm still sore from that transformation," I replied.
"Don't worry Nathan, the Infested under this sand will help you regain strength," Jasmine told me. I could barely feel parts of my body, but it was coming to me.
"You'll be able to be there for us will you Nathan?" Daniel asked me.
"When I can Daniel when I can," I replied.