She Belongs to Me
Epilogue
I’m taking a nap, coiled up around my big teddy bear. I’m, like, super flexible ’cos I’m a snake girl! My life is awesome. I have a big room, heaps of pretty dresses and human friends. Well, they’re my slaves but I like friends better. Mommy says I gotta be close to the humans ’cos I’m gonna be their leader one day. Mommy didn’t explain what it means, and I’m a good girl so I don’t question my Mommy. Maybe I’ve gotta pick what games we play all the time? I dunno, Ounenet always has the good ideas. Maybe I’m a Goddess but humans are smart too!
The door opens. I unravel myself and get on my legs, a large smile on my face. It’s Mommy. Kaili loves Mommy, Kaili must be a good girl. I run to her on my little legs and she picks me up. I feel like I’m in my egg again, warm and safe and listening to her voice. I hug her tight, and a coo escapes my lips. I want to cuddle with Mommy forever.
“Aww, were you napping, sweetie?”
“Well, huh, it’s lonely without you, Mommy...”
“I know it is, Kaili.” She murmurs as she caresses my long, silky, girly hair. “But Mommy had to deal with some very bad people.”
“They’re after your empire again, Mommy?”
“Yes, some objected to having television running up again, but with a more...faithful message this time around. Modern tech is hard to adapt to our new world, but they’ll stop regretting the way they used it eventually.”
I throw my arms in the air.
“I’ll do everything to help you, Mommy!”
“I know you will, sugar. But for now you’re just my little treasure, so don’t worry your pretty little head about anything.”
“Yes, Mommy.” I obediently reply.
“Good girl. By the way, your slaves are done with theology lessons. Do you want to play with them?”
“Yay! Of course!”
Mommy lets me down on the floor and claps her hands. My three human friends come in. Unlike me and my pretty dress, they don’t wear much, but since Mommy changed the whole world’s temperature I kinda envy them sometimes. Plus, they’ve gotta show my crest, the Smiling Snake, tattooed on their skin. Being a hemet-netjer, a servant of the Divine, is a real honor.
“Princess!” Shrieks Ounenet, the most energetic one. “Happy to see you again, let’s have fun!”
“You’re so pretty today!” Marvels Nefertiti, the girliest and most like me.
“Thank you!”
The third one, with short hair that’s weird for a girl, stands back, but still pays her respects.
“Hello, Kaili.”
“Hi Ioueseni!”
Mommy smiles. She selected three newborn girls to live in my service when I hatched, but she made sure that Ioueseni was educated right.
“Well then!” She declares. “I’ll let you girls play. The cleaning company comes in today, so don’t pull back...those ‘entrepreneur’ fellows like hardship, for some reason.”
“By your will, oh Empress Wadjet!” Chant my friends in perfect unison, as was drilled into them from birth.
“Good girls.”
She departs. My friends shudder, lost in awe for a few moments. They have been praised by the Empress. They love me but they worship Mommy. Everyone who was born after the change does. Even me!
“Okay!” I shout, using an old country word. “Let’s pillow fight!”
The three humans approve, and we rush to my big golden bed. Soon, we’re not Goddess and slaves, just three cute little girls and a tomboy. Ioueseni is bound to win the pillow fights, she always does. If I wasn’t the Goddess, she’d be the leader. She’s the strongest, she’s my favorite. No wonder...she’s me.
Yes, I remember the human I once was, sometimes. It just doesn’t matter. I know I killed people, but it doesn’t feel real. Being a good, pretty, obedient little princess is my reality. I am Kaili, the Smiling Snake, Princess of the New Empire, and nothing I remember has any value compared to it. I don’t even think about it at all for days on end. Most of the time, I’m just a kid. I suspect I’ll still be in adulthood, come full circle and be a bimbo. And it’s just right.
...Huh, what would I be if not a kid? One of my airheaded spells again, tee-hee! Anyways, Ioueseni is being raised as a tomboy by Mommy’s will. To be my counter-part, she says. She looks rebellious and headstrong, but that’s just because it’s her duty. The truth is, she’s the most obedient of my slaves. She’d do anything. When I’m Empress, she’ll be my Pharaoh. She’ll be fit to rule alongside me, but her loyalty will be, like, complete.
I try to hit Ounenet with my pillow, but I’m a total klutz and I fall to Ioueseni’s agility. She kneels over me, her usually calm face blushing from touching my Divinity.
“...Caught you, Princess.” She pants, trying her best to keep her dominant act.
“You win, tee-hee! Do whatever you want with me!”
She invites her fellow slaves to playfully wrestle, careful not to fray my precious dress. I use my snake powers to slither out and challenge them, and they catch my undulating form again and again. We laugh. We have fun. We’re best friends.
Ioueseni, the feisty but utterly obedient ghost of my past self, catches me three times in a row, then hugs me. She can barely hold back her longing. The magicians nurture her love well. To think I wanted to help them overthrow Mommy once...I’m so happy I failed and accepted Mommy. Being a princess is the best!
My favorite slave quivers, unspeakably moved from being so close to her dear Mistress. My snake tongue flicks out. I whisper.
“I love you too.”
She blushes like a tomato, and stands up, posturing once again.
“Q...Quit being so fucking tacky, all right?”
“Tee-hee!”
When she’s here, I have no need for my past self. She is Kylie, only properly educated for Mommy’s world. I do love her...after all, she belongs to me.
* * *