Daryn did see that rather thankfully that he was still in the library and not on some
strange alien parallel world where bizarre creatures were normal... maybe... with hope!
Then again at least then he wouldn't be vivisected! The idea was enough to spur Daryn to
run towards the book. Which caused him to fall over when he remembered he didn't have
legs. He then slowly but surely -slithered- towards the table, and saw, miracle of miracles
(or maybe doom of doom) that the book was still there, and still on the page it had been
on that had gotten Daryn into this mess!
Even though Daryn knew he couldn't read the book he was hoping beyond hope for
something -anything- that could get him back to normal! He hesitated to touch or even
look at the book but he had no other options.
-The Lamia- Daryn read the title of the picture. 'Wait! I just read the title?! Huh? But-
but.... but I can! The letters haven't changed! But I can now read all of them!... Have I
forgotten how to read english-?!' Daryn took a quick look around and saw that no, he
could still read the titles of all the other book in the library. 'Speaking of which, why has
no one run into this book before? Or get zapped like me? Or did they get zapped on a
picture of humans and changed the world-?!' Thankfully a nearby poster of Martin Luther
King Jr. disproved this theory. 'I... don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.'
Sigh, and hesitantly all the same, Daryn read.
-This book has been of extremely old age, resulting in no one really want to touch and
thus smudge the pages. Also, this book was bought via a whole sale from another library
that was closed down to shift funds to homeless shelters, and was barely looked at when
it was shelved into the index of this public school.-
"Huh?" 'Did this book just answer his question about why no one got zapped before him?'
Daryn read further, -Yes, this book has just altered it's text to answer your perfectly
logical question on why no one in recent memory has been altered by this book's power.-
Daryn shook his head, feeling a mental chill rather than a physical one feeling the long
waving hair. "Okay, then tell me how to get back to normal!"
-Can't change the hamburger back into the cow. Sorry.- Tears wield up in Daryn's eyes. -
But you have more important things to worry about, and do.-
"Huh?" Daryn blinked away the tears.
- You are now. The Lamia. Originally a queen who was cursed by Hera after the queen's
children were taken away from the queen. The curse transformed her into a snake like
being, but the real curse, was that she would HAVE to kill and devour any human child she
came across. She was ultimately killed by a paladin during the crusades.-
"Wha-wha-what-?!" 'Why would anyone MAKE such a horrible book-?!'
-Some mages have very sick senses of humor, or maybe a warped sense of artistic
preservation. This book was not with it's writer long enough to learn. And for the record
this book is not horrible, it simply is!-
"But, I'm a guy, I'm a human being, my name is Daryn Waves, I'm a high school student."
Daryn read gingerly onward.
-Correction on most of your points. You were male. You were human. You are now The
Lamia, as both your name and identity. The sooner you accept that, the better off you will
be.-
"THAT'S BS!" Daryn shouted, and then realized how stupid he looked shouting at a book,
(then again given his appearance), Daryn blinked a couple times then said, "I'm still me. I
still know my name! No matter how much my body's been screwed up by you."
-Again. This book is, what it is. And before you say anything, there is a disclaimer warning
on the book's nature on the back of the cover in very larger letters. You not being able to
read the language before being altered may not have been your fault but neither was it
this book's. And wile you have your own consciousness and memories, your instincts and
brains structure are still yours, but not the 'yours' you had before. -
Daryn groaned. He didn't once think about how the text seemed to fit without him need to
turn over the page. Then he remembered what the book had said about the curse.
"I don't want to be a monster." He whispered.
-Again. The soon you accept you are female, and not male no matter what you say or tell
yourself the more well adjusted you will ultimately be. But that is not the immediate
concern. This book's curse will enable wherever you go to see your current self as 'normal'
not as a human male named Daryn Waves, but as the creature named The Lamia who goes
to this high-school. This also means that when you kill and devour your fellow students
instead of being seen as murder it'll be seen as socially acceptable.-
"THAT'S INSANE!"
- That's why it's called a curse. Your choices are to kill yourself or exile yourself as far
away from any human child as possible spending your days all alone until you go mad and
meet the fate of the first Lamia... This book does have a third solution. But you will not
like it in the least... then again... maybe you will... you are a prankster after all.-
"Anything." Daryn whispered continuing to read.
- Beware those words but you have said them and can not take them back. This book
contains many, MANY creatures of myth. That are easily many that are not nearly as
accursed as the one you accidently doomed to spend this world's life span as.... You can
now touch this book without fear since you are already changed and one can only be
altered once by this book's power. A form of safety catch created by this book's writer.
With this book in hand or in your possession, you may alter any human human you lay
eyes upon into any creature from this book, as long you have seen that creature's entry in
this book and designate who you wish to change. This book doubts you'd wish to create
another The Lamia, but there is a much VASTER collect than this single entry.... -
"What good with THAT DO?"
- You curse, The Lamia, is to devour HUMAN children... children of other creatures is
ignored.-
"Why won't I just eat them when I see them before I can change them? And if I can resist
the urge why don't I just do THAT?"
-To be blunt, you can resist going to the bathroom, but not forever. It is the same thing
here. Try to resist for too long, and you will eventually pursue, murder and devour any
human child you have laid eyes on.-
"You're telling me to erase the human race."
-To be fair, by the time you managed THAT with this book's power, humanity will have
finally gotten to the moon and established long term tourist traps upon it. Humans are
just very good at replacing lost numbers.-
"So my choices are mutate a bunch of innocent kids, live as a hermit, or eat them?"
- This is the interesting part... I could alter your mind so you think you had always been
The Lamia, with the inconsistencies in your bed room and family members being an oddity
and those odd things people do for no good reason just like everyone else does now when
they'll enter your presence. But I doubt you'd want that... though if you wish to avoid a
global panic I suggest you do so to anyone you change with this book... unless you want
to be burned at the stake or be vivisected.-
Daryn wanted to scream in frustration. "I really don't have a choice do I?"
- This book has stated your choices. Do as you will. Think of this to soften the blow at
least as the chance for the ultimate pranks, only with only yourself in on the joke, the
children of this school and people beyond yours to alter to your amusement as you see fit
with only yourself aware of their change of species and often conversion to nudism.... OR
you can mope here until one of your school mates finds you, and you eat them, and are go
on with your life munch, munch, MUNCH!-
Daryn had to admit, the book did at least make a tempting offer by getting to ka-change
anyone he came across into anything, and if their perception did change, then he'd never
get in trouble.
-Again, you are the only one who remembers, he, Daryn Waves, all anyone else remember
is she, The Lamia. Now this book suggests you flip through the entries, you don't need to
read every detail, you just need to have SEEN the entry, then this book suggests you
finnish organizing the books you were assigned here for in the first place.-
The creature of myth in the center of the library sighed, and began to flip through the
entries of the many, many creatures of myth held within. Then began to organize the
library book as it, or rather Daryn Waves had been told to originally.