Waking up, all I could see around me was an endless void. Groggily, I get up and look around, with a little bit of a stumble. Who knows how long I’ve been out for. I could see swirls of some kind of cosmic energy that were flowing in every direction, seemingly centered around me. Curiously and to my surprise, I grabbed one and took a closer look at it, only to be assaulted with another wave of soul-breaking pain. I heard that same sweet-sounding voice again before I fainted and was sent here.

“That’s quite rude, my love. Don’t you know how much time it took me to set all of this up? I wouldn’t want all of it to crumble before I got the chance to introduce myself.”

Is the voice mocking me? And what’s with it calling me “my love”? Something feels off and I couldn’t help but ask.

“Who the hell are you?! Why have I been sent here and what do you want with me!”

“Why, don’t you remember?” the voice said, teasingly “you chanted the spell to get here! You can’t say it was my doing, you were the one who came here of your own free will.”

I couldn’t help but notice how she emphasized the words “free will”. What does she mean “of my own free will”? I would never willingly come to this desolate dimension or wherever it is. Then suddenly a memory struck me. I remember being in the library and chanting the spell, with a silver-haired girl standing next to me. But that couldn’t have been me right? No, no, NO! I must’ve been under some kind of influence! But wha-That’s it! If she had enough power to leave the dimension in the book, she probably had enough power to make me do what she wants! I must’ve been under some kind of charm.

Figuring out what must have happened, I turn to where the voice-first spoke from.

“You’re that silver-haired girl, aren’t you? If so, then let me leave this place! I never “willingly” came here! You just forced me here!”

Amused, the voice gives out a little chuckle, before turning into that same girl I saw back at the library. She started to speak, and in her eyes, I could see something. I could see a malignant aura of something dark and sinister. Of something that would never let me go, no matter what I did, and no matter where I ran. The dark aura...of obsession. And within that gaze, I felt like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. Trapped forever.

“Oh dear, looks like you found me out. I was planning on making it a surprise but since you figured it out so quickly, I’ll give you a little reward.”

Flying over to where I was, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to run away, but I had some kind of paralysis spell cast on me. Defeated, I gave a heavy sigh. She had got me then and there. Even if I wanted to escape and run, I couldn’t. I was trapped again, this time waiting for her whims, and could only resign myself to what she wanted to do.

After giving me a kiss, she leans back and ponders something. It wasn’t long after that she jumped up, startled.

“How rude I am” I could barely hear her whisper “I haven’t even introduced myself to my husband yet.” Her husband? Wait, is she talking about me?! 

I didn’t have long to think about it before she walked back over to me and gave me a small bow.

“Such a rude wife I am” She started, thinking that I didn’t hear her whisper “I haven’t even told you my name. My name is Mizuki, this world’s Goddess of the Moon and Love.”

If I were to be honest, her being a Goddess didn’t surprise me. After all, she must’ve had some type of immense power in order to bring me here and change her form. What did surprise me, was her calling me her husband.

“What do you mean my wife? I’ve never had a marriage in my life!”

“I would love to answer your questions, but you see, I can only keep this realm materialized for a few more minutes. Any more than that and I would have to sleep for a few centuries. I wouldn’t want to miss your adventures in my world after all. As a parting gift from me, I’ll give you this system!” She said and created a crimson red ball of light, which promptly flew straight at me.

I was a bit ticked. First, she didn’t even answer any of my questions and now she expects me to willingly accept whatever this ball of light flying at me was. She said it was a system but for all I know, it could vaporize me or erase me from existence. I couldn’t let that thing touch me, or so I thought, before realizing I was still paralyzed. 

Bracing for the worst I close my eyes and felt the ball of light hit me. Instead of vaporizing me, like I thought it would, it sent a warm tingle throughout my body. That tingle only lasted for a few seconds, before I heard a *ping* sound in my head.

While all of this was happening, Mizuki was looking at me with an amused face, as if I had done what she had expected.

“That was quite cute. I expected you to react like that, but you still blew my expectations. You didn’t have to worry so much, I would never do anything that would directly harm you.”

I didn’t believe that last sentence, as even if she wanted to harm me there was nothing I could do against her. Almost instantly and all around me, the void started to crumble and crack, showing slivers of white.

Mizuki then starts to disappear, fading into crimson red hearts, but not before giving me a final message.

“I will always be watching over you dear. So please, try not to get into too many relationships okay? I don’t know what else I would do then...”

With that final ominous message, Mizuki disappears. I don’t know why, but when I heard that final message I felt shivers down my spine as if deep inside I didn’t want anything to happen. I couldn’t ponder it for long though, as the void around me was crumbling with me having nowhere to escape. Sighing heavily, I wait for the inevitable of me dying with the void. At the last second, before the void completely vanished, I had a sense of freedom, of no gravity, no rules of the world, nothing weighing me down. After which, I felt that same pain as when I came here. Before losing consciousness, my last thoughts were, I’m going to have this happen a lot aren’t I, and, Hopefully I don’t become an M. But the difference this time was that the pain felt less intended to rip my body apart, and more whisking my body away. Either way, it didn’t matter as I still fainted.

Kuniza

Sorry for the delay everyone, I was busy with school and couldn't get around to publishing this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, please feel free to give any advice as it's greatly appreciated.