A Taste of Sweet Defeat
This wasn't my first time in this place, but it felt like it would take forever to get used to it. All around me was pitch-black darkness. And right in front of me floated a massive, talking eye.
"Well, Spica. Have you brought my fragments?"
"Y-Yeah, but... I have a question first."
Speak.
"You said what happens here doesn't affect my real body, right? But yesterday... when I woke up, I felt something similar to what happened here."
No need to specify it was in my chest, I guess. Anyway, you want a proper explanation. It seems my words weren't clear enough.
The giant eye blinked. A sticky, lewd voice echoed from all directions.
Suppose, within the possibilities of defeat, your body sustains an injury. When the dream ends, would that wound remain on your real body?
"Uh... no?"
Why would a dream injury appear in reality?
Correct. But the pain you felt and the process of receiving that injury linger as memory and sensation. In other words, what you felt was an illusion from the residue. Do you understand?
Ah. Not perfectly, but I got it. My body remembers.
"Mm... yeah, I think I get it well enough."
Good. Then shall we discuss the trade?
Black gem fragments emerged once more from the jewel on my necklace. But instead of being absorbed by the eye right away, they hovered in the air, sparkling.
...Watching them like this, they actually looked kinda pretty.
Quite a lot more than yesterday.
"Ah, th-that... o-other magical girls helped me."
Without their help, I wouldn't have made it here at all.
The process doesn't matter. However. The quantity of fragments you bring corresponds to the weight of defeat you must endure... and the power you gain. You remember, don't you?
I swallowed hard. Tension prickled through me.
"...I know."
Last time, against the slime. Back then, I couldn't even imagine how I'd lose to some liquid monster. But this time... I had a vague idea.
It felt like I was in for something pretty rough... Honestly, saying I wasn't scared at all would be a lie. But to get stronger, I had to endure it. I wanted to be a cool magical girl like Sirius, bursting those tentacles without a second thought.
No, wait. Yuseong-ah, think the opposite. Sirius took them out in the blink of an eye, right? This could be weak like the slime! So don't chicken out before it even starts.
I'm... the star-chosen magical girl who protects people.
"I-I'm ready."
Good. Close your eyes.
Right away, huh. I hadn't tensed up at all.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. Clenched my fists for no reason and held my breath.
Now open them.
Just before I did, a faint breeze brushed my cheek. Then I slowly peeked my eyes open.
"...Just as I thought. Here."
It was the rooftop where Sirius and I had sealed the rift during the day. Of course, no Sirius. Just me alone.
And in front of me, instead of the giant eye, was the familiar rift... and wriggling tentacles.
"J-Just lose once. Yeah, yeah. No big deal."
The tension felt way thicker than with the slime. As I muttered to myself, trying to calm down, a sharp whoosh sliced the air, and a sticky tentacle wrapped around my arm.
The sensation was familiar, but still so eerie and alien it raised goosebumps.
I could almost hear Sirius yelling in my head. 'Don't just stand there like an idiot—dodge!'
So this is what happens if you don't. But giving up so easily wasn't magical girl material. My hand with the wand was still free, so counterattack...
"Shi... Shi, Shining Spica..."
Clang. Some tentacle I hadn't seen coming knocked the wand from my grip.
"...Beam."
The counter ended pathetically.
Like vines coiling a tree or a snake slithering up a pillar, the tentacle slowly climbed my arm.
"Ugh, uuu... H-Hold on. Just endure it..."
The sticky feeling was so gross my stomach churned. Now the tip reached my shoulder.
"......"
I squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my mouth tight. Silently praying to the stars for this to end quick.
But closing your eyes means you can't see. I'd forgotten that simple fact for a moment.
Plip.
"...?"
Something touched my lips. Suspicious, I cautiously peeked one eye open.
And immediately regretted it.
A black tentacle as thick as my forearm hovered right in front of my face. Covered in glistening, sticky transparent fluid.
What the fluid was didn't matter. The fact that it was touching my lips did.
"Kyaaaaah—!"
Instinctive revulsion made me scream. Scary. Disgusting. It was just a reflex.
And the second obvious fact I'd forgotten in the tension.
Screaming opens your mouth.
"Kyaaa—mmph, m-mmph—!"
My scream didn't last. The tentacle that had brushed my lips plunged between them, wriggling deeper inside.
Confusion. Panic. 'Wh-what is this? What the hell is happening right now?!'
"Mmmph! M-mmph, mmph...!"
My words were reduced to incoherent babble. The tentacle filled my mouth completely, making even breathing a struggle.
Still, it kept pushing forward. Past my mouth, into my throat.
Can't breathe. Hurts. But... I had to endure.
The tip prodding my throat triggered harsh coughs. But even those were muffled and broken by the tentacle.
"Kkhk, kkh, mmph—kkh, guh, mmph, blrgh, eep..."
Finally, it seemed deep enough and stopped moving.
'Is... is it over? Done?'
Ah, crap. Never think flag lines like that.
The tentacle in my throat started swelling bit by bit...
"Mmph, mmph..."
And then gushed out thick, sticky fluid.
It was... insanely sweet. So sweet it bordered on bitter.
I felt it so vividly sliding slowly down my esophagus.
Sweet. Couldn't think of anything else. Just that sticky sweetness overwhelming me.
"Hmph, mmph... Khk, kek, mm, glrk..."
Irresistible drowsiness washed over me. My whole body went limp. My head fogged up.
Couldn't breathe. Terror that I might die like this. Throat clogged tight, world spinning.
Scary, terrifying... but weirdly, a baseless relief that it might be okay to just let go.
That fluid wasn't for digestion. It absorbed right into my mucous membranes. No matter how much I swallowed, my stomach didn't fill.
Gulp, gulp—♡
I didn't know when my throat had started gulping it down, but no reason to stop.
"M-mmph—♡ Mmph, hmph, glk...♡"
Couldn't even breathe properly, yet my throat worked overtime. Because of the mystery fluid seeping into me? It felt... hot here.
Couldn't breathe, but drinking this made me feel like I didn't need to. The taste, the scent... too... good.
The tentacles gripping my hands loosened. My arms were free, but my body was too weak to move.
Slither—like sliding down, my body tipped forward and collapsed onto the rooftop floor.
"Haa, ha, haaa—♡ Haa, haa—♡"
The tentacle finally pulled from my mouth, letting me gasp fresh air. Staring up at the sky from the ground, three tentacles entered my view.
They approached slowly, wrapping my ankles. Then dragged me toward the rift where they'd emerged.
"Ah, aaa... No, don't...♡"
Feebly flailing my arms and twisting now changed nothing. My body, flooded with mystery fluid, had lost all will to resist.
I'd lost.
"H-Huh, haaah...!"
I woke up. What? I... I lost, but...
Looking around, the rooftop was gone. Back to the pitch-black void.
"Wh-what happened?"
I asked the giant eye first thing.
Didn't I say from the start? You face the possibilities of your defeat. You simply followed the scripted loss.
"Ah, I... I had to lose. Yeah. Of course..."
But that sparked a natural question.
"Then what you mentioned yesterday... when is it that I can't endure?"
Two cases. When you can't face the full possibility of defeat and end the dream early. Or when you're so immersed in defeat you can't distinguish dream from reality.
"Wh-what? So, the trade succeeded, right?"
Yes. You've grown stronger.
Whew. I did it somehow. Relief washed over me with a sigh.
Then a familiar sweet scent brushed my nose.
"Wh-what was that! J-Just now? Where..."
Some issue?
Looking around frantically, only the giant eye was there, of course.
Residue from gulping all that suspicious fluid? Wait...
Thinking back, I'd done something super embarrassing.
...I wanna wake up now.
"Ah... no! I'm good. I'm leaving now."
Very well, Spica. I await our next trade.
The giant eye gave its farewell and slowly, slither, closed.
My vision darkened too.
My heart was pounding. Was it excitement to see how much stronger I'd gotten?
But... it felt kinda hot here.