Becoming a Monster

Chapter 401: Chapter 401: A Name’s Insight

As the last tendril retracted, his creatures, one by one, settled into digesting his blood.

As they relaxed, Noah’s gaze drifted upward. Through the gap in Arachne’s nest, high above their home, the serpent basked in the sunlight. Its black scales seemingly absorbed any light that shined around it.

Its expression revealed nothing, but the way its body relaxed, uncaring about the noise and motion below, it looked... content.

At that moment, Noah realized he had not only forgotten about it now; he had forgotten about the serpent last night.

He recalled how Pandora had appeared before him, her aura carrying a quiet urgency. Even without words, in her own way, she cared about the snake, more than he had given her credit for.

This was the reason he made the decision to give everyone his blood in the first place, and yet he had still forgotten.

It wasn’t neglect born of malice, it was habit. He’d grown so used to those who demanded his attention, who voiced their needs, who acted, then the quiet ones faded to the background.

It was the same for Fenrir’s new member, it was also the same for the very creatures who were bonded to him. He spent less attention on Pandora, and the same could be said for Arachne.

He sighed quietly. At first, a rare regret flickered in his eyes. But that regret was replaced with his desire to do better. He didn’t truly understand what it meant to have a family that cared and supported one another, but he vowed to give his family everything he’d once wished for himself.

The serpent seemed to sense his intense gaze focused on it. Its head quickly turned to him, thinking that it was about to be chastised for lingering instead of patrolling to protect Pandora as it believed its existence was now meant to be.

"Pandora," Noah’s eyes lingered on the serpent a little bit longer before he called out.

He spoke her name softly, but it was enough. Pandora was always watching everyone, everything, and when it came to Noah, her observing was even more drastic. In the same breath, she materialized next to him.

"What... should I do?" she asked with a somewhat excited tone.

Noah shook his head exasperatedly. Never had he met someone who wanted to be used as much as she did. "I don’t need you to do anything...at the moment," he quickly added when he felt her become disheartened.

"I just think... it’s time we gave your snake a name."

Pandora’s illusioned form didn’t react, but her true form did. Her entire form flickered with a burst of energy for half a second before calming once more. Ever since she received her name, she understood the importance of having one.

She truly believed that someone without a name was living a life without purpose. Before meeting Noah, she hadn’t understood what it meant to exist, not really. She had drifted through the world, guided by instincts she never realized were controlling her, obeying urges that weren’t her own, but those of whatever had created her. There was no choice, just endless wandering and questions.

But when Noah named her, for the first time, the questions inside her began to gain meaning. Her instincts no longer drowned out her will, she was more than just a dryad. More than just the will of the forest and her race.

She was Pandora.

Now, when Noah spoke of giving her serpent a name, she understood exactly what that meant. She had been watching the serpent, given to her by Noah, venturing through the forest alone, fighting and protecting them. But in the end, Pandora always wondered if it truly understood why it did those things.

It fought because it was told to. It guarded her because Noah had assigned it that role after its defeat. Beyond that, there was nothing. The snake had no will of its own, just blind obedience, performing its duties, doing whatever it should just to survive... Just like she did before she met Noah.

"...Yes," she finally said. And then she waited, her soul radiated with anticipation again, yet she didn’t say anything.

She wanted the serpent, her serpent, to have a name. But more than that, she wanted Noah to be the one to grant it. Only when he acknowledged it could their shared purpose truly begin.

Although Noah didn’t know exactly what was going on in Pandora’s heavily devoted mind, he could at least understand that Pandora wanted him to name the creature.

With a deep exhale, he focused his thoughts on a name that would suit the serpent. Like every creature he’d named before, he didn’t just think of a name that fit his aesthetics. His goal in naming a creature was to use that name as a baseline of how he wanted to guide the creature to grow.

What he didn’t know, and still was unaware of, was that the power of a name was more mythical than he had realized.

His eyes traced the serpent’s body. Even with his enhanced vision, he couldn’t see its end. It was massive, easily one of the largest creatures he encountered so far.

Its seemingly never ending body made a name surface, "Ouroboros." It was fitting for something that might one day grow beyond measure, a being without end. The name lingered at the edge of his tongue.

But something about it felt... wrong.

He looked into the serpent’s eyes, and that hesitation deepened. It was intelligent, cunning; it was more than just its size. And thinking about it deeper, it was the first of Pandora’s kind. In some ways, it was no different than a progenitor of Pandora’s guardians.

When Noah met its eyes, the slitted pupils, the eyes of a creature, where despite the fact it acknowledged him and respected him, rather that was out of fear or respect for his strength. In those eyes it felt as if it was also looking at him as if it was scheming. It reminded him of someone who had just irritated him not too long ago.

Everything clicked in that moment. Without thinking any longer, the name left his mouth before reason could catch up.

"Ophis."

"...Ophis..." Pandora repeated the name to herself, more than once. Then she stopped, staring into Noah’s eyes. She wanted to know what it meant, the same way that he explained her own name.

"It means ’serpent,’" he said loud enough for the serpent to hear as well. "It’s an old word that’s tied to many older legends. In some legends, it represents a primordial serpent linked with divine hidden wisdom.

His tone then changed as he thought about the true meaning he gave the creature the name. "But it also represents the dragon that defied heaven. A being who may not have made the right decision, but they were able to see their own truth when others couldn’t think for themselves, and they fought for that truth."

The serpent’s gaze sharpened, that name stirring something ancient within it. Pride, long buried beneath obedience, rose from its slumber. It had once been proud, wild, unbound. But Noah’s strength had crushed that pride, forcing it to live in reality, tethered to Pandora.

Now that old fire whispered again, a hunger for freedom.

As that desire rose, it finally noticed that both Noah and Pandora were watching it all this time. Through its bond with Pandora, it feared she had sensed that faint spark of rebellion, feared even more that she might tell Noah.

Noah didn’t need her to.

"In time," he said suddenly, his voice cutting through the silence, "that same serpent became something greater... and far more dangerous. A being that rose against its own creators."

Ophis froze.

Noah’s gaze lifted, meeting the serpent’s eyes without hostility, but with a quiet warning. "But in the end," he continued, "that serpent failed. Its wings were torn away, never able to freely fly in the open again. Because... It had forgotten who had given it its wings in the first place."

Ophis’s emotions were in shambles. A fleeting thought urged it to flee before it was too late. Its gaze never left Noah, ready to leave the moment it sensed even a hint of hostility. Yet the longer it waited, it realized that Noah didn’t see it as a threat this whole time. Gradually, its tense body relaxed, coiling across the trees and the structure of their home.

It felt stupid to think otherwise. For all its pride and defiance, Ophis understood that Noah’s warning was more of a mercy. But not because Noah cared about it, it was because Noah cared for Pandora.

This led Ophis to wonder what Pandora thought about it. Yet, Pandora didn’t care at all. Even if she knew what Ophis was thinking, she would see it was only natural for it to have those thoughts, because it had still yet to find its purpose.

Unable to endure their stares any longer, Ophis slithered away to reflect.

Watching it go, Noah shook his head before his gaze went towards Fenrir. The beast was already watching him expectantly. This was the moment Fenrir could name his own pack member. He’d only been waiting for Noah to witness it.

But now that it was time, Fenrir realized something was missing. He didn’t have a name in mind... In fact, he realized that his names all originated from a certain someone who hasn’t insulted him ever since Stupid.

He smiled devilishly; he had won.