7 The Start of A New Beginning

500 years later...present time

Versailles woke with a start. Her arm felt itchy, sticky, and painful. She opened her eyes and discovered why. Her wound was festering. The offensive bite mark gathered pus and inflamed, looking horrendous. If it was not treated soon, she might fall severely ill.

Her brows furrowed. Looking around, she found herself in a small cramped shack, her hands and legs tied with rope.

The evening sun poured through the tiny hay covered window, weak and unstable, the only source of light in the dusty shed. Not much time had passed since she blacked out.

Recalling the events she experienced in the brief amount of time, she decided it was about time for her to leave the Sybil realm.

As she thought about leaving, the image of her Grandpa Al laying in a pool of blood, flashed into her mind. Her heart clenched and tears streamed down her face. She would never be able to see him again.

In a sick, ironic way, her attempts to leave behind her past only ended up bringing it closer. She didn't know whether what Lim said about her parents selling her off, was true or false. But knowing them, she wouldn't consider the deed beneath them. And her Grandpa Al payed the price of their selfishness.

Her good-natured, kind, big hearted Grandpa Al lost his life because of her. Not only in the past, even in the present, only death and blood surrounded her.

She seemed to be an omen of death for anyone that had connections with to her.

Well, except for her parents, that is. But then again, they abandoned her before she even had the chance to bring them harm.

"Maybe it's the reason why I am always alone." A bitter smile rose on her sad face, her forlorn eyes unfocused as she looked out the tiny window, the shadow of her gloomy and lonely silhouette swaying on the wall.

Yes, she was always a loner, in her first life, second life, and now, this life as well. Maybe this was for the best. If she was alone, she would never bring harm to anyone but herself.

She should leave this realm before she endangered the lives of more innocent people and shattered more families.

Anyway, her hands were already full. There were mysteries to solve and battles to fight, staying here had no significance.

To leave the Sybil realm, however, she needed to locate a teleportation spatial. She also needed strength.

"I need to regain my serpentine form and powers. Without my powers, I won't be able to accomplish much. And if the shadow happens to be related to the six clans in the Nar realm, than in my current state, I'll be dead before even starting." Versailles knew her own abilities well.

Even if her life was wretched, it was still her precious life. If she was not ready, or did not possess the ability to face the immortal beasts, than she would rather find a hole to pass the tide.

And if the shadow was related to the dark clans, then things were going to get really ugly, really fast.

As such, she needed power, fast and quick.

Just thinking of the dark clans, her heart filled with dread and trepidation.

However, what was bound to come, will come, whether she liked or not. Therefore, she needed to get out of this shack, unnoticed.

At this moment, approaching footsteps sounded outside the shed. Scooting closer to the wall, she attempted to hide out of sight. But such an act was doomed to end in failure. As the next heartbeat, the flimsy door was kicked open, and in came two figures. One scrawny, the other muscular.

Without suspense, Versailles recognized the comers. It was Lim and his two faced best friend, Burin. Their sinister auras doing nothing to quell the brewing fear inside. Once her eyes met their dark gazes, her heart dropped. And she knew, if she ever wanted to escape intact today, she was going to shed some blood.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her breathing. She needed to stay calm to face the storm ahead.

"Wench, we finally have you in our grasp today." Lim's mean voice entered her ears, but she ignored the man, controlling her breathing.

"Lim, talk nice. Even if she belongs to you, you should never stop being a gentleman." His hypocrite friend advised in his usual two-faced manner.

"What do we need to be a gentleman for? Gentlemen are only for gentle ladies. She is no lady, but my kept woman. My mistress. You do not give respect to mistresses. You mistreat them. That's what they are for. To vent frustrations on and take out your anger. Get it?" He chortled at his words, sounding proud at his speech.

"Well, if you say so. But we can still be nice. After all, it's not like we'll lose out on doing so." The hypocrite man still kept on his hypocritical act.

Versailles was no longer in panic. Having calmed herself down, she waited, waited for a chance. The deadliest part about snakes were not their venom. No, it was their strike. Swift and direct, they dealt the blow before their prey reacted. They waited for a chance and finished their prey in a single strike.

She was a human now, but that did not dampen her serpentine nature.

"Hahahah....enough with the talk. Let's get down to business. You do it nice if you like, Burin, but I like it rough." Taking off his patched up shirt, Lim impatiently moved towards her, his predatory gaze roaming over her figure.

The moment his eyes fell on the festered wound on her shoulder, his brows furrowed.

"Damn! I set up that fox to tire you out. But it seems the drug was a bit too strong for the beast. Although the flavor will not be as good, I will make do with what I got and endure the little stench." Moving in, he pulled her bound legs, dragging her across the bumpy ground.

Her eyes teared from the pain, but she did not make a sound. Some vile man enjoyed seeing the pain they inflected. Relished in the act of making their prey cry, scream, and beg them for mercy. They delighted in the feeling of being in power until their prey broke, shattered.

Versailles refused to give them the satisfaction of witnessing her scream. She would sooner bite her tongue and commit suicide, than cry under their disgusting watch, and die before begging for mercy.

"Let's see what you got under all those layers." Licking his lips in anticipation, Lim roughly pulled at her blouse. Behind him, the hypocrite shifted his weight to get a better view, his gentlemanly gaze now besmeared with lust.

Grip slipping, Lim got on his knees, his legs caging her own as he pulled again.

She clenched her teeth at the searing pain from her injured arm, tightly gripping her bound hands.

'I will not scream. Will not cry. And definitely will not beg!'

Shame filled her heart, the thought of being exposed raising the appeased panic and rage inside. If only she was not tied, than she would've made them pay the price. Made them bleed for having ill designs on her.

Hisssss!

Versailles clumped her mouth, hating the fact she gave a reaction. Defiantly looking to the side, she tensed in anticipation for another burst of pain to overwhelm her senses. However, the expected pain didn't come. Lim's hands stilled.

She frowned, wondering what they were playing at.

Hisssss!

Her mouth was clumped and she hadn't made a sound, so where was the hissing coming from?

Turning, she saw Lim's eyes widened in terror. His body was visibly trembling as he stood frozen in fear. She looked up and saw the same fear in Burin's eyes. The man was slowly backing out of the shack.

"Lim, dude, you need to move back slowly. Don't startle the snake or it'll pounce!" Burin's panic stricken voice moved Lim into action, slowly backing away as instructed. On reaching the door, the two regrettably looked at her bound figure once, and dashed out.

Versailles was stunned, baffled by the two's strange reaction.

From their few interactions, she had come to grasp Lim and Burin's personalities enough to know it wasn't within their nature to feel pity or sympathy for her. Than, for what reason had they let her go?

Hisssss!

"Ah, it was that."

The reason behind their terror, horror, and stealthily escape had to be related to the hiss. Stilling for a moment, Versailles gradually raised her head, her violet orbs meeting with elongated gold ones.

"You saved me from falling into a dark pit. Thank you." Her red-gold tresses glowed from the radiance of her pure and clean smile. Her expression content and at peace, she stared into the snake's gold eyes.

Even though the creature before her posed a threat to her, she was not afraid. Compared to the real beasts wandering around in human skins, the one before her was a lot simpler, similar, and closer. They were swift and direct, without any façade.

Such a beast's strike, she'll welcome with open arms.

In the next instant, the golden snake lunged forward, swiftly striking her forehead.

*

Nightfall in the Waru Mountain villages brought about cold winds and chilly nights, masking the villages in a veil of mist. On the north of the village stood a four-room shack. This shack was old, its mud walls decayed by the passage of time. With every gush of cold wind, the wooden fence and hay windows rattled and cranked precariously.

Outside this shack stood a thin, lone figure, who's silhouette blended with the shifting shadows. The figure stared at the shack for a long time, complicated emotions flickering in its violet eyes.

This figure was Versailles.

She was standing outside of the Skyler house, debating whether to exact revenge or not. After a long silent moment, she softly sighed, her voice resigned.

In the end, they were still the people that gave her life. Even though their crimes weren't worth forgiving, she didn't want to dirty her hands with their blood. Her Grandpa Al wouldn't have wanted such stain on her.

Turning, she left, her figure blending into the belly of darkness.

"For giving birth to me, I shall spare your lives this time. However, this is where our karma ends. From this moment forward, I am no longer Versailles Skyler, the weak human. From this moment on, I am Versailles Skyler, the golden serpentine of the Snake clan!"

Her powerful declaration drifted through the silent night, dispersing with her vanishing figure.