Apparently, body possession is something that takes a bit of time. As the strange but adorable voice in my head exert its presence on my body, I found myself resisting in hopes to gain a few seconds to take a look at my captors. 

Just like most other beings that I encounter thus far, the appearance of these guys was intriguing. They stood in a tensed battle stance, waiting for me strike.

The one standing closest to me was a massive-looking turtle man. He had to be at least seven feet tall and feet wide. His skin was a pale green and his hairless head shined His most outstanding feature had to be his shell. It covered the entirety of his torso, making the possibility of wearing a shirt seemingly impossible. Then again, from the looks of it, wearing a shirt was probably pointless for him too. He had natural body armor.

Behind him were who I assumed to be his grunts. 

One was a blue tang fish person. She seemed rather unremarkable other than her hair. It was primarily blue with a couple of black dashes and a block of yellow at the end. 

The other was a swordfish man. Or at least that's what I’d assume he was. He stood just a little bit shorter than the turtle man. Mostly everything else about him seemed pretty ordinary. The one thing that caught my eye, was his nose. It had to be at least 3 feet long and pointed like a sword.  He totally looked like his nose grew when he lied, and his dream was to be a real boy.

I also took note of what looked like four other bodies restrained by rope and their heads covered by bags. Other victims.

And it seemed that they brought us to the desert that I started this circle in. Interesting.

Satisfied with my observations, I stopped attempting to resist, allowing the Cute-Ex Machina to take over.

 

—⁕🎕⁕—

 

I awoke again on someone’s back. 

Another kidnapping? This is getting ridiculous.

No wait, this time is a bit different.

There’s no bag over my head or anything restraining me. I can’t really feel much cause of the numbness that’s still persisting though.

So rather than a kidnapping, it’s more likely they’re just carrying me?

Assumably feeling me stir and shift on their back, the person carrying me spoke.

“Have you woken up?” she asked in a low whisper. It seemed like she felt me move and assumed I was awake but was being considerate and keeping her voice low in case I wasn’t.

That pretty much confirmed that she wasn’t kidnapping me.

I started to nod, before realizing that she couldn’t see me. 

Man, I wish I could talk. This snake body definitely has its perks but the whole no talking thing is a major downside.

You can talk now.

Seriously? Did you upgrade my body or something when you took over?

…

No answer like usual. That’s fine as long as it wasn’t lying to me.

“Y-yesh” I said, as my numb tongue slurred the word.

My new voice startled me a little bit. While I would have to be foolish to expect it to sound the same as it did in my past life, I still was shocked by the sound that came out.

It was soft, sweet, and melodic. In other words, completely and utterly adorable. 

As I was absorbed in the sound of my new voice, the girl had taken me off her back and placed me on the floor. Her companions quickly gathered around us.

The numbness must have spread to my brain, as I took the time to remember the appearances of the people who captured me and didn’t even bother to see if they were still around. Instead, I got infatuated by my own voice…

Attempting to correct my mistake, I quickly scanned the gathered people. Much to my relief, the three that I had seen before were not present. Instead of them, there was a pufferfish girl (who was the one carrying me), a guy who look like he was a sardine, a clownfish girl, and another guy that species I wasn’t too sure about. 

Putting two and two together, these guys must be the other people that those jerks kidnapped. I’m glad that they got away, and glad took me with them.

They were staring at me for the entirety of my inner monologue, which was a bit unnerving. Though in retrospect, I probably was staring at them too, so it's not fair for me to judge.

So, I shifted my gaze outwards towards the landscape. Not that there was that much to gaze upon. We seemed to be on a plain filled with grains as far as I could see.

Yep. Never seen anything like this before. Oh wait, I can talk now. I should just ask.

“So, um, hey there.” I waved, seeing them still looking at me in a sort of a trance.

The pufferfish girl was the first to react, shaking herself out of the stupor.

“Uh, yes?” 

“Well, I was just wondering if you all could maybe tell me where we are? And maybe who you are?”

“Oh, right!” she blushed. “Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there. To answer your question were in the First Circle…I think? My name is Chiri and these are my compa-”

The puffer girl, or rather Chiri, was cut off by a beastly shriek. 

Suddenly, ghastly figures appeared and started rushing the group. 

“Release the great one, you heinous fiends!” 

‘Great one? Could it be me they’re talking about?’ I contemplated. 

Chiri and her friends quickly brandished their weapons and got into a defensive stance with surrounding me, while vocalising a similar line of thought. 

The battle quickly became desperate, as the horde of relentless phantoms bore down on my temporary companions. 

“It seems like we're not the one they’re after. We should just cut the dead weight and run for it.” The sardine guy suggested as he slashed through another phantom.

‘He’s obviously talking about me. Not that I can blame him. He’s concerned for his own life, as he should be.’ 

“No way!” the other three shouted, surprising me.

They began to bicker back and forth all while the horde seemed to continue to grow.

You know you can stop this, right?

‘Seriously? How?’ I asked the other voice in my head.

Just tell them to stop. 

“STOP!” I yelled. 

The specters immediately ceased their attack, dispersing back into the plain. 

Chiri’s group collapsed onto their knees, tired from the fight.

I saw the sardine dude glare at me, obviously irritated that I hadn’t ended it before then. He didn’t say anything though, he was probably too tired for that argument.

I ignored his stare, relieved that Cute-Ex Machina’s advice worked and that I was almost out of hell, having skipped 5 circles. 

Of course, that would just be too easy.

“My, my.” A voice from the sky resounded. 

The source of the voice crashed downed just a couple of feet in front of us. She was a tall gorgeous lady, with golden dragon wings and large horns of the same color. Her lovely face was decorated with a golden marking on her right cheek.

She just oozed power, that had me trembling out of my scales. I somehow knew in my heart that she could crush me like a bug effortlessly.

“I thought I heard a commotion but it seems to be solved already.” 

Her eyes, which looked like they were formed out of solid gold, flew over the members of Chiri’s group, a smile forming on her face.

“Well, well, well. Looks like this mission is going to be even easier than I was expecting,” she hesitated, eyes falling on me. ” Except, who’s this?”

She turned away, calling out to something behind her.

“Mayari, if you would.”

For the nth time, I felt my vision go black as my consciousness faded.