Echoes of the Abyss

"Ugh... What happened...? More importantly, why do I feel so... familiar?"

... WAIT A SECOND.

"I-I recognize this feeling, no, rather, I know this 'lack' of feeling... And above all, this physical disconnection... P-please tell me this isn't true, this isn't real! Is this the abyss?!"

... "I have no mouth, I have no eyes, I have no hands, I have nothing!"

"!!!NO, NOT THIS AGAIN, PLEASE!!!"

(SLAP!!)

"Calm down, you're not there."

"Huh...? Could I feel that? No, forget that, who are you?! Or rather, where am I?!"

"Mmm... I really don't know, I just woke up here... although when you arrived this place changed."

".... When I arrived...? Wait a second! What do I look like now?!"

"Oh, right now? Well, I'd say you look like... Mmmmmmm... well, I really don't know how to describe you or rather, do you know what I look like?"

"Now that you mention it... Actually, I don't know how to describe you either, or rather, have you been reading my thoughts?"

"I don't know!"

"So how did you slap me?"

"I don't know~"

"At least do you know where we are?!"

"No~♪"

"... Haa... Alright... Well, at least knowing I'm not alone helped me calm down a bit..."

"You're welcome~♡!"

"You know, I'm not one to talk, but aren't you weird?"

"How rude! You're weird too, but you still feel familiar!"

"... So I wasn't the only one who felt that way, right?"

"Hey, hey, hey, do you know something curious~?"

"What is it?"

"That the space is changing!!"

"Huh...? No way?!"

"Hahahaha, it's so strange!"

"Ugh, I need to focus and start to understand what's happening here, so please, slap me!"

"... Are you a masochist?"

"!!!Damn it, NO!!!"

"I'm just asking you to slap me to help clear my mind and remember!"

"Oooh, why didn't you say so before? If that's all you need, then I can do it!"

(SLAP!!)

"Ouch...! I don't understand how it can hurt so much?! But it's still working!"

"That's good♪!"

"Ah, but please, be quiet while I try to remember what happened, can you do that?"

"I'll try~"

"....Well, better than nothing, I guess."

"Now let's see, what happened to me and how did I get here?"

"Let's see, first I remember that, after discovering how my gender change, caused by entering that literary world, had affected me without me even noticing, making me more feminine despite my original innate gender and masculinity, I remembered thanks to Echidna before it was too late."

"Wow~... Did that happen?!"

".... Yes, that happened, but didn't you say you wouldn't interfere?"

"I said I'd try!!"

"Of course..."

"But go on and tell me what happened next!"

"Alright, alright, well, after learning that terrible truth, I immediately set about thinking of something that could complete the plot to get out of this world and recover my original gender."

"To which I came to an answer!!"

"And what was it?!"

"Yes, you see...."

"Gulp...!"

"I came to the conclusion that the key was the heroine of the story!"

"Hoooooowwwww....!?"

"Heh, heh, heh, I know you're wondering how, right?"

"Well, yes, but how did you know?!"

"It's because the reader usually has the same reaction!"

"I see, it's the reader's fault!"

"That's right, but let's continue the story — ahem!— I mean, the memory, shall we?"

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Continue!"

"... You know, talking to you makes me lose focus... Well, alright, let's answer your question first!"

"You see, the first thing I saw when I entered this literary world was the cliché engagement annulment scene, right?"

"I think so...?"

"Well, that same cliché scene nowadays has many variations, but they all share something in common."

"Something in common?"

"That's right, something in common, and that is... That all of them involve either a heroine or a villainess as protagonists!"

"Is that so...?!"

"Well... Not all the time... But in most cases, yes! Which means that perhaps what would complete the plot would happen if I found the heroine."

"Wait a minute... How do you know she was the heroine?"

"Oh, that's easy. I got all kinds of information from the guy who tried to defile my 'purity' when I woke up in the castle dungeon after 'training' him carefully."

"Train...?"

"Aahh... Well, 'training' is... In short... Something you do to release stress! Understand?!"

"I understand!"

"Awesome, then let's continue!!"

"Following my hypothesis at full speed, I took my trusty allies Silver and Goldie along with a small battalion of my babies to find the heroine throughout the royal palace, but let me tell you something..."

"What, what, what is it?"

"That place was immense!!"

"You can't imagine how many times I got lost in it while searching... It was horrible..."

"... It must have been terrible."

"And it was, seriously it was, but in the end I managed to get to where the nobles were, which meant that consequently the heroine would be there!"

"... Although there was a guy who interrupted saying something, which I decided to ignore, and then, then.... I REMEMBER NOW!!"

"WOW, WHAT HAPPENED!!"

"Oh, I'm sorry for shouting... if you can call thinking or whatever I'm doing that?"

"Don't worry, I was just surprised, so go on and don't leave me in suspense."

".... Well, you see, what happened next was that I turned around when someone spoke, introducing the heroine, throwing her near my feet, so I decided to thank him for his help that facilitated my search when out of absolute nowhere the medallion on my chest lit up, shooting a ray of light that was the last thing I remember."

"Hey, I have a question."

"Huh...? What question?"

"The person who gave you that heroine, wouldn't it be that one?"

"That one....?"

"Yes, look at the one over there."

It was only when my gaze? It directed towards where it was (I guess?) pointing that I noticed how the entire space had now transformed into a replica of the castle and how two figures stood facing each other, chatting.

"Tell me, did you learn everything~?"

The first figure was a woman in a kimono with fox ears and tails, elegantly smoking a pipe, appearing like some kind of courtesan.

".... That's right, but why are you giving me all this valuable information?"

The second figure was what appeared to be an old man in a black robe, hiding his face.

"Do you want to know why I grant you all this~?"

"That's right, what do you gain from all this after giving me so much? You must have some motive."

"Well, yes, I have a motive, you see~..."

At that moment, although I couldn't understand their expressions or faces as if there was some kind of force hiding them, still, without a doubt, I could "feel" the silhouette of the fox woman's face...

"Because I have a personal yearning~"

As without a doubt she smiled with a twisted grimace of joy while the worst and darkest emotion I had ever felt until that moment invaded me.

... Honestly, I'm very glad I didn't have a physical body at that moment, because if I had... I would have certainly collapsed...

"But if you're looking for a simpler reason then~... I do this to test these 'prototypes', nothing more, nothing less~"

"... You're a monster, aren't you?"

"You're not so different from me, truly~"

"...."

"We're all monsters deep down, just a simple push away~"

With every word she said, I felt as if this space was trembling while she seemed to dance in place, somehow "looking" at us.

"Hey, why not let it out~?"

It was with those words that the space around began to crack piece by piece as everything collapsed.

".... Alright, I'll do what I have to do regardless of the consequences."

And the last thing I saw was the old man taking a "skin suit" from that person I had recently seen...

"I wonder who I'll deliver you to and how they'll use you, 'princess' kujujuju."

With those final images, the space broke.

"Wow...!"

.... "I couldn't say it better, seriously, what was all that?"

"I don't know... But didn't it feel exciting?"

"..................... I don't know, the words she said, for some reason, undoubtedly made me feel fear, anxiety, and anguish like never before, but nevertheless.... At the same time, it really... made me feel 'something' else... But I don't understand what...."

"Haa... you can say that again, seriously, what was all this for? Or why?"

"Ahh! It seems time is running out!"

"Time is running out...? What do you mean?"

"I don't know!"

".... Seriously, I don't understand you."

"I don't understand myself yet, but I know we'll meet again!"

"Why are you so sure?"

"Just a feeling~♪!"

And after those words, everything lit up as I felt my consciousness begin to disperse once more...