Countess (Count Olaf x OC)

unedited

The room was truly incredible; there were hundreds of different reptiles living within the room, the dark blue gray walls framed the area nicely and the entire space gave you a sense of welcome and warmth (which made sense since most reptiles are cold-blooded and the room had to be kept at a warmer temperature).

"Feel free to explore!" Monty announced. "Here is the lizard wing... and here is a winged lizard." Monty led us over to a green lizard that indeed had wings. The creature crawled onto Monty's arm. "Now, see his yellow striped belly, a sign of camouflage and cowardice."

"Can he really fly?" Violet asked.

"He can fly on cue," Monty told her before launching the lizard into the air. "Fly!" The lizard spread its wings and flew above our heads.

Monty showed us several of the various exotic animals within his collection before bringing us over to a tall cage that had been covered with a sheet, preventing us from seeing what was underneath.

"This, my dears, is my most recent discovery," Monty said as we approached. "The crown jewel of the Montgomery Reptile Room. I discovered him on a recent journey, and I brought him under cover of night and a very large hat. Because next month, I am going to present him to the Herpetological Society as my new discovery."

With that, Monty pulled the string connected to the covering which flew up in the air, revealing what lay in the cage. Coiled up in the center of the space is a big black snake whose head rose to look at my siblings and I curiously.

"I discovered him, so I got to name him," Monty explained.

"What is it called?" Violet asked.

Monty turned to look at us. "The incredibly deadly viper," He answered.

We all turned to look at the snake again but in a split second, it had broken through the door of the cage and was striking towards Sunny.

Before I knew it, Sunny was on the floor with the incredibly deadly viper coiled around her.

"The snake!" Klaus shouted.

"What are you doing?" Violet added.

"You let a deadly snake bite our sister!" I gasped.

"I told you we couldn't trust him!" shouted Klaus.

"You're laughing?" Violet asked Monty flabbergasted.

Monty continued laughing before scooping up the incredibly deadly viper while I immediately grabbed Sunny and held her close.

"I'm terribly sorry, children," Monty said between laughs. "I'm so sorry. Oh! But the incredibly deadly viper is one of the friendliest and least dangerous animals in the entire animal kingdom!" He placed the snake back in the cage before properly shutting the door. "Sunny will come to no harm and neither will you."

"But it's called the incredibly deadly viper!" Violet reminded him, her face pale from shock.

"Yes, it's a misnomer," Monty replied calmly. "Do you know what that means?"

"A very wrong name?" Klaus said, uncertainly.

"Well, a very fitting definition," Monty told him.

"Why would you give your own discovery the wrong name?" I asked him, confused.

"Because... I intend to play a little joke on those stuffed shirts at the Herpetological Society," Monty responded. "Payback for years of ridicule. At our next meeting, I'm going to introduce the incredibly deadly viper, and then pretend it's escaped. And you know who'll be laughing then? Me."

"Are there any snakes in this room that are dangerous?" Violet asked, looking around.

"Well of course," Monty told her. "You can't study snakes and not find some that are dangerous. I have an entire cabinet full of venom samples from some of the most venomous snakes known to man. And woman. Which leads me to the heart of the operation." Monty wrapped his arms around us and led us towards several bookshelves.

"Now bambini," He said. "This is the most important part of the Reptile Room: my scientific library. The deepest secrets of the snake world can be found in these pages. And I hope that you'll find them."

"So we're allowed to read all these books?" Klaus asked, staring at the shelves.

"You are not only allowed but you are implored to read all these books," Monty told him. "You know, I always wanted to have a family of my own... but time flies like a winged lizard. Now, I know that the presence of some dangerous reptiles might make you skeptical of the entire species. But, if you learn enough to tell the difference between the dangerous and the good, I promise, no harm will come to you in the Reptile Room." 

A/N: Hey yall, I know this chapter is really short but I needed to get past it so that way we can meet Stephano in the next chapter. Sorry I haven't been active lately. I was going through it and then school was beating my ass so didn't have the motivation to update. I'm going to try to keep updating but it may take some time for me to get back in the swing of things. Thank you for waiting so patiently and happy reading! -R