The High Lady and Goddess With Many Titles

Not Human

We crossed the river, and Charon hugged Zeita goodbye. "Thank you so much for reminding Hades to give me that raise!" He exclaimed, waving goodbye as he got back on the barge. Zeita laughed. "It was no problem at all." She said, with a shrug, a smile still on her face. Charon shook his head as he pushed off the river bank. "Either way, it meant a great deal to me. Thank you." He turned and winked at her. "Don't forget to change back!" He called from halfway across the river. Zeita swore. What did he mean by that? Charon laughed, expecting that response. She shook her head and turned to face my wife, Ellyia, and I. We were all gaping. "Ok, how the fuck do you know him?" I asked, glaring at her in a way that typically would make her fess up. But she just shook her head and laughed my glare off. "I'm sure you want answers, and I'll give them to you." She said with a twinkle in her eyes. "You might just find I'm not your innocent little girl anymore." She said with a wink, and then she turned and walked in the direction of a dark and scary palace. What the hell did that mean?

I scrambled to catch up with her and the rest of my family, as I had stood in place while I pondered. "Where are we going?" My wife, Kathy asked, talking for the first time since this whole thing had started. "You'll see." Zeita tossed over her shoulder, lengthening her strides. In what seemed like no time at all, we were standing in front of the gloomy palace. Zeita then turned around and faced us, staring into each of our eyes. "You cannot disrespect anyone in here, do you understand me? These are all very powerful people, and this is a very important ceremony you're interrupting. I'm hoping because you're with me you will not be harmed, but there is no guarantee. I will change your clothes so you aren't as out of place, got it?" Her eyes had taken on a hard edge I had never seen on her before, and frankly, it scared me. Where had the little girl I had played soccer with gone? In her place was this woman, one whom I just realized I knew absolutely nothing about. We all nodded our heads yes. She nodded, and with a wave of her hand, our clothes changed.

Ellyia now wore a gorgeous floor length white dress, with tank top sleeves. They had a beautiful golden lining on the shoulders, that gradually tapered off. My wife now wore a forest green, long sleeve dress that fell down to around her knees. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a nice white dress shirt, with black slacks and shoes. Zeita sighed, running her fingers through her hair before giving a nod of approval. "Good. I have to change now, I'm warning you so you aren't surprised." What did she mean? Kathy opened her mouth. "What do you..." She trailed off and our eyes grew big as we watched. When the transformation was complete, our jaws had hit the floor.

She wore a dark blue satin dress, with a low back and off the shoulder straps. The thick off the shoulder straps were embedded with diamonds, and the floor length mermaid style dress had a long slit up the side. On the back of the dress was a pattern in diamonds that was displaying the night sky. Her blond hair was up in a bun, with waves falling down to frame her face. She wore a pair of silver, diamond encrusted 5 inch criss cross open toed stilettos. She had diamonds dripping off of her ears, and a beautiful crown resting on her bun. The crown was also encrusted in diamonds, and displayed both a moon and a sun. A diamond bracelet sat on her wrist and flashed when she moved. We were awestruck. Because in front of me wasn't my daughter. It was a powerful, strong, independent female. The only issue was, she was not human.

The diamond earrings dripped off of pointed ears, and dark red lipstick highlighted her white teeth-and fangs. She seemed to have an ethereal beauty, and she moved with incredible grace. On top of this, she had tattoos. They covered her hands and snaked up her arms before gradually fading away. The swirls of ink were in such a dark blue they almost appeared black. There was a band that contained various animals both real and mystical. There was wolf, a dragon, a panther, a lion, an octopus, a falcon, a dove, a pegasus, and a mermaid. As if this wasn't enough of a shock, the tattoos moved. They danced around her arms in whirls and swoops of ink, and the animals contained in the band pranced around. Now you might think that this is enough of a shock. But nope. She had bat-like wings, dark as night, claws adorning the tops of each. If you looked close enough, you could see the same colors of her eyes reflected back in her wings. She looked beautiful...and dangerous. She turned and smirked, displaying those sharp fangs. Then she turned to enter the palace, in which we could hear music and laughter. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Then she released it, and slammed open the grand doors to the palace.