729 Meeting Tara

Hera sneaked towards the closest doorway to the dungeon. The same one she used to get here. An additional benefit was that this was far away from the settlement. All this was to keep herself hidden. She knew the people here were not exactly allied with the guild. They were all members of the other sentient species but at the same time, knowing that she was alive could cause problems. Thankfully, it was the middle of the night in the room, and with her entire court scouting her surroundings, she felt confident that no one would notice her.

'Hera, you are going to have scales, right?' Livy asked.

'What?' the Empress looked back to the war axe floating behind her.

'When you become a Naga. You are getting scales, aren't you?'

'I… I don't know. Maybe? I do have a skill that says I have scales, but I actually don't. At least I never noticed actual scales,' Hera replied as they approached the doorway. She was still wearing the cloak she used when meeting with Blue and the others, covering her face as much as she could. Going to a doorway still came with some risk. If the timing was bad, someone might appear just as she was going to her private room.

'Personally, I think she would look better with feathers,' Nimbus was floating a bit higher for a better vantage point in his weapon form.

'She's turning into a snake. How does having feathers make any sense?' Amber scoffed.

'Oh, I'm sorry. How does any of this make any sense? There are some myths about a flying serpent. I just thought she might lean into that,' Nimbus huffed.

'That is a fair point, my man,' DJ nodded in agreement.

'She already has some Naga skills. And us,' Crimson said.

'That is also true,' DJ nodded again.

'But she is also human. If she is going to turn into something, it would be a mix of both, not something that is completely unrelated,' Lurize added.

'Yeah, that makes sense,' DJ nodded yet again.

'DJ! Can you pick a side? Stop just agreeing with everyone,' Chris huffed.

'Wow, chill out. Everyone is just making solid points,' DJ finally stopped nodding.

'Can you all focus. We don't know what will happen, so let's just wait to see what Tara is going to tell us,' Hera sighed as they approached the doorway, 'Daskka, you're up. Can you get closer and make sure no one is watching?'

'Sure, mum,' the herald replied with a smile before turning into black mist and approaching the doorway. It took a few moments for her to look around thoroughly, but after around 5 minutes, her voice reached the Empress again, 'All clear. It doesn't look like anyone came here recently.'

'Great. I'll summon you all when we get inside,' Hera dismissed the entire court and rushed to the doorway. Daskka jumped back into the necklace as soon as she got closer.

Touching the marbled white arch, the Empress saw the familiar notification asking about moving to the next room or to her private room. Picking the second option, the choice of which version of her room she wanted to enter appeared. Before she could press it, a soft glow appeared by her side, signaling that someone was about to arrive. Quickly pressing the first option, Hera saw her vision turn white as the familiar feeling of warm water covered her body. She wasn't able to see the other person, and she could only hope that they didn't have the chance to see her face.

As soon as she entered her private room, a holographic window appeared in front of her with all the messages she received from the guides during the last few months. Hera let her entire court come and turned on the large TV screen for them to watch whatever they wanted. The Empress herself would be doing something else first. Something she wanted to do for a long time. Take a long bath. Daskka ended up joining her in the tub, with the snake just floating by the surface, playing with the bubbles as Hera replied to all the messages.

They started simple, the guides just cheering on her. Then, there were some ideas about their infiltration plans, including a couple of suggestions that might have worked, like hijacking one of the deliveries. However, Capri and Peaches quickly shut that topic down. Hera wasn't going to see those messages in time, and leaving them there wouldn't help anyone. The actual infiltration seemed to have been like a movie night for the guides. Most of them watched and cheered as Hera and the team worked to save the people who were captured. Knowing that the guides watched all that gave her a weird feeling. It was a bit as if they were treating her mission as entertainment. But the worried messages mixed in between made her feel better. They weren't just playing around but watching like a coach watches a fight. Wanting to give advice but unable to do so.

From the looks of it, none of them knew what was going on in the prison. Isantha apologized for not knowing or warning Hera about it, and they all seemed angry about the spirit and the Daemon, but that's when the group chat died down. The next messages came a few hours later. Each of the guides the Empress talked with sent a private text giving their condolences about Silah.  They didn't talk about the dungeon, but there were some worried messages from a week ago when she had 'died.' But they soon relaxed when they noticed Lurize in his beetle form flying back to Pinnacle Mountain. Sammy also sent a few messages. Unlike the guides, he wasn't watching her, but he was made aware of what happened. The Empress replied to everyone and let them know what she was going to do. She included Tara in that conversation so she wouldn't be caught off guard but warned that she wanted to go through the ascension process in the morning. The ancestor replied very excitedly but understood the delay and promised to do her best during the entire process.

Hera relaxed in the bath, and when she came out, she called the therapist turtle. She was going through a lot, from the entire infiltration to seeing the guild in a new light. Silah's death also weighed heavily on her mind, and she was about to change her species. Even Sammy felt a bit overwhelmed, but he did his best to help her cope and understand everything. Then again, this was going to be a long process and not something that could be solved in a day.

When the call was over, the Empress talked with her court and prepared a meal with meat from the monsters in the dungeon. There were a lot of drops that she had to leave behind, but at least some of the gold was still with her. It was a bit frustrating that now, all the money she had was likely gone. Even if the guild didn't freeze her assets, withdrawing could raise some red flags. Maybe she could have her dad inherit her money since he was the closest family she had. Then again, that would likely be split between him and Stella. Unless the guild followed the will she left behind when becoming an explorer. It was standard procedure for anyone who went inside the MAZE to do that. If she was remembering things correctly, she placed her dad as the sole beneficiary of her will. Well, her dad and grandma Triss, but she was no longer here to get anything.

Going to bed early, Hera slept like a log. When she woke up, she wasn't feeling completely refreshed. Then again, ever since the infiltration, she couldn't get a good night's sleep. But at least her back was doing ok. Living in the dungeon wasn't that comfortable, and there were many days when her body ached as she woke up. After eating some version of bacon for breakfast, she finished the food she had brought here and messaged Tara.

The ancestor didn't take long to reply, telling Hera she should leave her private room and actually open the door like last time. With her court in tow, the Empress followed the instructions, revealing the reception where all her role tests began just outside. Beyond it, there was a passage leading to an open door.

"Hera!" a purple snake with a lavender belly wearing a giant blue velvet witch's hat filled with rings and decorations with a star motif called.

"Tara!" the Empress smiled as she approached.

"It's so good to see you. I was a bit worried you were never going to go through with this," Tara paused for a moment and waved her tail, quickly correcting herself, "Not that I didn't believe you. And I don't mean that I don't like the idea that you are going to ascend. I just didn't expect this,"

"Don't worry. It was just a big change. Then again. I can't say I would've decided to do this if… things didn't happen," Hera's eyes looked far away for a moment.

"Yeah… Peaches told me. I'm sorry."

Hera shook her head, "Don't be. You are helping me deal with all that," she paused, "Actually, can I just ask. Will it hurt?"

"Yeah," Tara nodded, "Oh no! I mean, the yeah was for helping you. This shouldn't hurt, but it will feel weird."

"What will happen to me?"

"Do you mean right now or during the end stage?"

"The end stage. Am I going to have the head of a snake?"

Tara glanced to the side, "I don't know. Not right now, at least. The thing is, we are going to make this new species together. It will be a mix of you, a human, with a Naga. Some details we will figure out with a sort of test. But you can't fail! Don't worry about it. You just need to do things so we can see how your body reacts to it and where it can mix. And there are a lot of things we need to talk about. Anything we miss, the system will take care of," Tara explained.

"I see… and how does the actual transformation happen? Like, do I drink a potion? Is it an operation?"

Tara paused for a moment, "Do you know how a butterfly works?"

"How do they fly?" Hera tilted her head.

"No, no. I mean, how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly."

"Oh, yeah. They go into a cocoon and turn into goo before forming the butterfly… Really?" Hera shook her head, realizing what Tara was saying.

"It won't be a cocoon. Well, it will, but one made out of mana. In essence, you will get inside a mana stone where you will change. But that only happens with people who change like this. If you ever have children, they will be born as this new Naga right away."

"And how does that work? Will I lay eggs?"

"Do you want to? That's one of the things we get to talk about," Tara gestured to a couch inside her room.

Hera looked inside and realized that the place was very different than she expected. The walls were covered in bookcases and large pieces of cloth going to the ceiling. There was a window looking out to a field with a single tree in the distance. The smell of herbs playfully reached her nose as if trying to surprise her, and a large candelabra mirroring the starry sky hung from the ceiling. Hera also noticed several Naga relics, or replicas, spread around the place, with even the winged serpent sculpture that sent her into a vision where she met Mr. Beetle on the corner.

"Honestly. I don't like that idea. I mean… pushing out a baby is already a struggle. Imagine an egg? Not to mention having to take care of it. I don't trust myself to keep an egg safe. If it's inside of me it's harder to forget about. Also, wouldn't my parts have to change?" Hera gestured to her crotch, "This is not equipped to lay an egg."

"True, but it would change to fit that. Then again, if you want to lay eggs, you won't be a mammal anymore. So you won't have breasts."

Hera frowned," Well… I don't like that. I mean, I'm already changing a lot. And I kind of like my boobs. They are not the biggest ones out there, but they are mine," she looked down at her armor. There was never a moment when she found her breasts to be an issue. They were in between a C and a D cup. They were big enough to give her some confidence and small enough not to get in the way during a fight.

"So you will be a snake with titties. Is that ok?" Tara asked.

Hera paused for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, that's fine. I've seen weirder fetishes."

Tara waved her tail, and an illusion of a human woman appeared with a female Naga by its side, "Ok, so keep your genitals. I'm assuming you still want to be compatible with all the other sentient species, right?"

"We are making a new species, right?" Hera asked, getting a confirming nod, "Then yeah. I don't know if I personally want to hook up with all the other sentient species, but I don't want biology to be in the way of love. Also, since we are around the topic of love. There are trans people in the world. What if one of them wants to become this new Naga? Will their new body be a man or a woman from the get-go, or be a body that transitioned?"

Tara stopped for a moment to consider, "We can let them choose. From what I know about it, identity is a big part of them. Like, it's a big part of everyone, but I mean that they take a lot of pride in being who they are and having gone through what they went through. If, for instance, someone who transitioned to a man wants to have a body that was a man from the start. That's OK. If they would rather stay in a body that was born female but transitioned to fit who they were later, that's okay too. I'll probably have to ask some questions like I'm doing it with you, but it will be more restrictive. We are making the blueprint right now. Everyone else who ascends will just be following that. Also, those are just my initial thoughts, but I think that the best option is for me to talk about this with someone who has transitioned. You are the only non-guide person I've ever talked to, so I might be understanding things in the wrong way." 

"I see. Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Hera nodded with a smile, "Shall we keep going?"

"Yeah," Tara nodded and started to mix the illusions, "What about hair? Do you still want it? Keep in mind that if you say yes, that includes body hair. I can't remove just one or the other."

"So I will have scales and body hair?" Hera frowned.

Tara looked at the illusion, "Yes… I'm not sure how that will work yet, but yes."

"Ok, now the color. Keep it to the same colors as humans, or will we have something different."

"I don't know… I mean, snakes are more colorful."

They continued talking about the details of this new species, with Hera deciding some aspects of her new appearance. The court didn't say anything during this process. After all, it was something the Empress had to live with. It didn't feel right to chime in. They all got comfortable to stay there for some time. Tara's questions were getting very specific, and they would take a while to finish.