A new link

Well, comforting her turned out to be quite a difficult task.

At first, seeing her majestic appearance as a divine mist and hearing her booming voice, I thought she would have a much more elegant, mature, and noble personality... kind of like the one my mother used to have before... well, you know, before being possessed by that entity and basically turning into a sort of "cool uncle" around the house.

Though, to be completely honest, I'm still deeply impressed by how fast my mother can pretend to be her old self whenever we step outside. It's almost as if she has a split personality, though thinking about it, that's not actually too far from the truth.

Anyway, getting back to the main point, this self-proclaimed snake goddess turned out to be surprisingly naive. She acts pretty much like someone who's looking at the world for the very first time after an extremely long time.

And I understand that feeling better than anyone!

So, for the rest of the day, I hung out and played with her inside my mental space to cheer her up a bit. We fooled around with various things until both of us were completely satisfied and exhausted from all the chaos.

It's curious, but as I watched her float back and forth, I realized that this is probably the closest thing to a friend I've had ever since I reincarnated into this chaotic world.

Out of sheer fear of forming bonds and getting dragged into unnecessary drama, my (possessed) mother has been my one and only cherished person in this new life.

However, right at this moment, I feel like I understand myself a little better, and I can finally put a name to this warm feeling blooming inside me...

IT'S JUST LIKE THE FEELING OF RAISING A PET!

And with that new, comforting, and pleasant emotion swelling in my chest, I looked straight at her and decided to ask the question that would define our future.

"Do you want to come with me?"

The mass of dark smoke froze mid-air in the mental space, slowly turning its body before letting out a soft, distorted sigh.

<"You do realize that we are practically one and the same now, right?">

"Eh...? What do you mean by that?"

Hearing her answer sound so calm and nonchalant, a sudden drop of cold sweat dripped down the back of my neck. For some strange reason, a terrible bad feeling started to creep over me.

<"I mean that, from this moment on, our souls are intertwined, and we will be bound together for all eternity.">

"SERIOUSLY?!"

The Snake Goddess gave a solemn nod within the spiritual plane, staring at my utterly dumbfounded face.

<"For real. There is no way to undo it.">

Okay... I definitely did not see that coming...