Descent

      How did it come to this? I tried to play the day’s events over and over in my head, to try and figure out where it changed. Did I do something wrong? Is it just bad luck?

      It was a day like any other, I swear! I woke up, did my morning routine, spent most of my day at work, and headed home on the same bike I take to work every day. Everything the same, nothing out of the ordinary! So why? Why am I falling?

       Did I ride off a cliff? In the middle of the city? Was it a manhole? Why? And HOW am I falling for so long? I can hardly see anything, it’s all dark. I can barely see my own hand in front of me. Yet, if I turn to look up, I can see something. A big black...bubble? With stars all over it. And it was getting further away. Below me, where I was falling to, it was just a red haze that was growing brighter and brighter as I approached. Then, darkness again.

       I had stopped falling. I was laying on my back, and the floor was some mixture of hard and jagged things stabbing into me. The air was hotter than I’ve ever felt, like my skin was burning off. I inhaled and immediately started choking. Smoke and ash filled my nose, making it sting and burn, and the moment I tried to open my eyes, the same happened to them too.

      My ears were popping, my skin was burning, and all of my senses were stinging! It hurt! Where the hell was I?! Am I dying right now? Am I going to die like this without knowing anything?!? With what breath I could muster, I cried out with a ragged voice,

“Aaaaagh!! H-help! Help! Please!”

     I didn’t want to breathe back in, it hurt too much, but suffocating hurt too. But I heard it. Crashing, crushing, striking, cracking, sounds of movement. A masculine, but warped and reverberating voice, “Hey Siti! I think that one’s still alive! Can you finish him off?”

       More footsteps, these ones approaching me, then a woman’s gentle voice, “Oh my. You’re not a demon!”

       I could feel hands touching me, delicate fingers exploring my arms, then my neck and face as she spoke again, “Hmm, but you won’t be alive soon either. Libero! Toss one of the living ones over here please!”

“You asked for it! CATCH!”

       A muffled WHUMP followed by groaning and struggling. The woman resumed, “Hang in there, this will probably hurt. A lot. But better than being dead, right~?”

      But I didn’t feel any pain. I felt something like thousands of hairs touching all over my body, then that kind of tingling you get when your body goes numb, then nothing…

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“Mmmmngg ah…?? What time is it? H-huh? My alarm…?!”

     I reached out to my side, trying to find my alarm, then I sat up abruptly. Did I miss my alarm? Am I late for work again?! What time is it???

      I looked around, but I didn’t see a single familiar thing. Not the ground, not the sky, and not me.

      My arms and lower body were covered with something. It looked like one of those musculature dioramas, but with claws on my hands and feet. Also it was weirdly green? I moved my arm around and, yep, this sure was me. But this wasn’t my home or anywhere I recognized.

     The ground was hard and jagged, made up of piles upon piles of claws, nails, horns, shells and carapaces, with trails of rotting flesh and blood running between them. The sky was a featureless haze of reddened glow that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. No sun, no moon, no stars, nothing in any direction.

     My body wasn’t burning and my senses weren’t stinging anymore, I felt normal. No, better than normal? My body felt that sort of...loosened and strengthened feeling after exercising for a bit. But more than anything, I put my hand on my chest and sighed. I felt relieved. So relieved that I almost wanted to cry.

“I don’t have to go into work today~”

“That’s good. You get to relax and do what you want today, huh? What are you gonna do first~?”

“Man, I don’t even know~ I’ve got some shows to catch up on and...huh?”

“Hm?”

      Crouching beside me was the most visible thing on this landscape: a green woman. Her features were mostly human, hands, feet, flawless skin, an incredible figure, and a beautiful face. But her skin was green! Her pupils were pointed crosses with faintly-glowing amber irises behind them. And her hair, white and...it wasn’t hair. They looked like flower petals layered over each other like scales.

     I was taken aback by her beauty, but scuttled away quickly when I realized that she was definitely NOT human.

“Wh-wh-wh-who the heck are you?! WHAT are you?!?”

     To which, with a proud smile, she stood up and pointed a thumb to herself,
“I’m glad you asked! I am Sitiens Meretrix, the one and only Omnibus Lily! I am also the one that saved your life! You may bask in my greatness, and you may call me Siti~! Non-negotiable!”

I promptly got on my knees and bowed my head.

“Ahhh Siti, my beautiful savior~ Long may she reign~”

“And don’t you ever forget it! Oh, and that guy over there is Libero, he helped too.”

     I looked over to where she was pointing and there sure was a thing there. He was human in shape...kind of. But he had spikes and horns growing all over his body, every part of him was hard, sharp, and jagged. His body wasn’t symmetrical in the slightest, every part of him having scales, skin, and shell in different places. He was laying on his side, propping his head up on his wrist. He gave a simple wave.

“S’up.”

“S...s’up.”

There was a long pause. Was he...was he not going to introduce himself too?

“And who might you be?”

“Oh, right! I’m James Cassidy. Uh, I’m a human...I think? I’m pretty confused, that much I’m sure of.”

     Siti got down on her knees, and I was surprised that she’d be fine with all those hard spikes in the ground jabbing her legs, but then I heard a CRUNCH of all that stuff being crushed. Ah, what am I even dealing with here? Omnibus Lily? What even is that?

“Okay then! Ask all your questions! Lightning round! Go go go!”

“Okay?! Uhm, where am I?!”

“Hell! Demon Realm! Underworld! Whatever you wanna call it!”

“What happened to me?!”

“You were dying, so I used a living demon to make a living suit that will help to keep you alive in this hostile place!”

“A...living demon?”

“AND I’LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF FOR IT!!!”

“. . . ?”

That...wasn’t me? It came out of my mouth, but that wasn’t me…?!

“W-was that him?”

“Yup! He’s still alive in there!”

“I’LL KILL YOUUUUU!! RELEASE ME FROM THIS FLESH PRISON! LET ME WRING YOUR NEEEEEEECK!!!”

“O-kay! He’s acting up so back to sleep he gooooes~!”

“DON’T YOU DAAaaauuuuhhh…”

“...That’s terrifying.”

“You’ll get used to it!”

I want to go home.