Victorious laughter echoed in in the cave as arrows flew at the slimy, misshapen monsters. The bold adventurer Laki danced through the caverns as their arrows danced, laying waste to the monsters that advanced to attack them. Deeper into the cavern they jumped.
One monster snuck up behind them but with a deft twist Laki cut the monster down with a hidden dagger.
One arrow landed in the ribs of an undead skeleton. The skeleton pulled it out and looked at it, only for the arrow to flash and explode, scattering its bones.
Laki wore the light armor of archer, able to take a hit but built under the assumption it wouldn’t happen again. They kept trouble at arrow’s length, and avoided the tight tunnels as they dove down the cave in search of treasure.
They stopped at an open cave end and grinned.
A dazzling amethyst chest sat on some raised stone. Precious ore? Shining gems? While a fine reward, Laki hoped they would find an item to increase their arching prowess, the true reward of an adventurer.
They approached the chest. It shuddered and they stopped.
Laki aimed an arrow at the chest. Had a creature crawled inside? Or was this more than a mere chest?
They approached closer until the chest lid popped open, and Laki nearly dropped their bow at what emerged.
A beautiful, curvy lady stretched her arms, standing from in the chest.
Laki gazed from the lady’s dark hair, swept up and fastened with amethysts, down her petite body–Laki gasped upon recognizing the mythical archer’s tunic she wore, rumored to be an old magical garment to acutely increase an archer’s agility. If they could get them…
Laki realized how improper it would sound to hear they thought of taking a lady’s clothes, but they would find something to trade with.
Their gaze lifted to the lady’s eyes, which opened to deep purple irises. She smiled, lips an orchid color.
“Welcome, adventurer,” she said.
“You’ve come a long way to reach my little cave,” the lady said.
Laki cleared their throat and lowered their bow. “Thank you, I take pride in these spelunking expeditions.”
The lady lifted a purple crystal on a string from within the chest.
“As a reward, let me offer you this.”
“A rare crystal, with the power to easily tame any beast.”
“Thank you, a most gracious offer,” Laki said, “but if I may ask, do you happen to have another of that tunic I may have?”
The lady smirked. She dangled the crystal in front of her, back and forth.
“You want my clothes?” she asked. “Certainly.” She beckoned them closer with a finger. “But you will have to come and take them off me.”
Laki blushed. “N-Not like that! I mean–” They looked at the swinging crystal. It was easier to look at than the lady, flustered as they were.
“I just meant I would like an outfit like yours,” Lakie said.
“I might have something in here,” the lady said. “Why don’t you come and help me look?”
Laki stepped closer, watching the crystal swing back and forth. It really was a beautiful crystal. Perhaps they should accept it.
Laki wiggled their fingers. Where did their bow go? Did they drop it? Well, they wouldn’t need it. They approached the chest, staring at the crystal, and the lady lifted it up so Laki followed to her eyes. She smirked.
“Yes, I think I have an outfit in here,” she said.
“But we’ll need to trade,” she said. “Your attire for mine?”
“I mean… I suppose that’s…” The crystal seemed to glow in Laki’s mind. Their vision couldn’t focus; the light blotted their vision, blotted their thoughts out. They grew lighter, shedding their armor piece by piece.
With Laki’s armor off, the lady ran a hand over their face.
“Now, step this way.” She held Laki’s hand and coaxed them closer to the chest. Laki’s vision was becoming too blurry to see properly–this lady didn’t seem to have any legs in the chest, her hips grafted to the chest.
The lady flipped the crystal and caught it in her hand, leaving Laki to stare into her violet eyes.
Laki had one thought confused at what they were doing before the lady clasped her arms around them, kissed them on the lips, and pulled them down off their feet and into the chest.
Laki’s legs dangled out for a moment before sliding in, and the chest shut tight.
They were trapped in darkness, leaving the afterglow of the crystal burning in their vision. The chest walls were soft velvet, like caught in a tight blanket, but they didn’t quite fit inside.
Laki couldn’t move their arms or legs had they had enough presence of mind to do so, their legs bent against the chest wall.
The lady laying on them, arms squeezing tight as she ran her hands over Laki, didn’t help the cramped condition.
Or rather, it did help…
In the confined space there was little room to move. The Mimic lady could move in her chest with ease, although with Laki inside their bodies always touched, rubbing close together, softly squishing Laki into the cushioned chest walls and bottom.
Even as the crystal’s influence waned, Laki’s inability to move, combined with the Mimic lady’s massaging caresses and shower of kisses, dropped them into the chest’s control, any thought of leaving pushed aside. It was fine to stay a while with this lovely lady…
Maybe the Mimic lady would let Laki go sometime. After all, Mimics eat items, not people.
But for now, Laki let her binding fondles hold them down, their world for the moment one of darkness, sans two violet eyes, and one of tight, confined massaging bodies…
I took a deep breath, lying on the couch. New house smell was nice, a fresh new start.
I coughed. Okay, so it was actually an old house. New to me, though. It’d take a bit to get used to the smell.
I still had unpacking to do, but I’d gotten the essentials out.
By which I meant my laptop. I caught my friends online up with my unpacking status. First night alone in a new place. Some adjusting was needed–I rarely stayed the night away from home, and only moved a couple times in my life–but that just made it like an adventure.
I got up to shower after unpacking all day. The water seemed to get cold quickly, but I was fine with that. I get hot enough through the day.
I kept pausing, though. I swore I heard sounds over the shower, mostly janky music, but one or two screams…
It must’ve been the pipes.
After my shower I got back on the computer. I checked Twitter, did some writing… Just because I moved into a new place doesn’t mean I want to let myself slow down work.
Then darkness. The laptop’s glow the only light; the house dropped into darkness.
“Oh.”
The lights returned a moment later, only to flicker before going out again.
“Oh, no,” I muttered. I knew this was an old house, but I really hoped the lights or electricity or something wasn’t faulty. I mean, yeah, it was old, but it didn’t seem in disrepair. It seemed solid.
Good thing I’d unpacked a flashlight. I got up and crept to where it was, moving carefully in the not-yet-familiar surroundings.
My heart jumped as I saw a face on my laptop out the corner of my eye. It wasn’t there when I looked. The light was playing tricks on me, probably.
Hex, I saw bugs that weren’t there in the corner of my eyes all the time.
I took a step and heard a bang from elsewhere in the house, nearly tripping over myself. I hope something didn’t fall. I walked to the flashlight, creaks with every step. The house never did that before.
I grabbed the flashlight, pointed it to the hallway, and turned it on with a screeching wail as a shrieking shadowy face of hatred appeared in the light. I shouted and dropped the flashlight, stumbling back as floating gray monster approached me from the hall, eyes burning.
“LEEEAAAVVE THIIIS PLAAAAACCCEE!” the monster screamed, hair flailing over a bloody face, sharp teeth gnashing as spiders crawled out over its body. Its arms flopped about, tentacles full of bloody gashes, as a creeping tail of skittering legs propelled it towards me.
I stumbled back into the couch, trying to catch my breath and swallow.
“LEEEEAAVE NOOWWWW!” the monster bellowed.
Finally I inhaled a breath.
“Holy fig, a ghost.”
The monster paused. “Uh–th–LEEEAAVE, AND NEVER RETUUURRRN!”
I reclined on the couch. “Why?”
The ghost stared.
Here’s what you got to know about me. I don’t believe in the supernatural. Ghosts? Magic? Monsters? Nah, probably not. I’ve never seen compelling evidence.
So seeing a ghost right in front of me was, quite frankly, awesome.
“Wh–LEAVE, OR BE FACED WITH A TERRIBLE CURSE!”
“What kind of curse?” I asked.
“What kind? It–”
While screaming the ghost had a volcanic voice, but whenever it got thrown off it sounded more like a girl, or perhaps more accurately a woman. Like someone I might chat with online.
My computer screen exploded with a blue glow.
A sparking face emerged, screaming, “A HAUNTING CURSE! EVERY NIGHT!”
“Okay,” I said. “I can do nocturnal.”
The ghost screamed, not a spooky scream but the scream of one fed up. With a puff of fog the monster disappeared, and an entirely different kind of ghost floated before me.
Her hair flowed down in curls, her billowing dress more ruffled than the fanciest cake frosting and draped over her wispy tail. She was gray-blue, though she had a white blush to her cheeks, and her eyes glowed with a spirit that I imagined was rare to find even among the living.
“Just leave!” she yelled, dropping the spooky voice. “This is my home! I don’t want anyone else here!”
I stared at her. “Um, I’m not sure what the laws are about the deceased owning homes are but–”
“Leave, leave, leave!” She swiped her hands at me. They passed through harmlessly.
I crossed my arms. “I’m sorry, but I bought this house. I like it here. Also, it came with a free ghost, apparently.”
The ghost screamed and pulled her hair. “All the others were easy to scare away!”
I looked at her. “Wait, are you why this house was”–I coughed–“affordable.”
I raised a hand to hers to shake, although it of course went through. “I suppose I should be thanking you, then!”
“You can thank me by leaving!”
I grinned. “Not a chance!” I held out my arms. “Looks like you’ve got a roommate, lady!”
I admit, the spotty electricity was annoying at first, but I figured out she was actually just messing with the circuit breaker. I figured out a way to prevent her from doing so, which I admit was extremely dangerous, but once she realized the danger it put the house in, well…
It turns out she’d been in the house for well over a century and above-all important to her was keeping the house safe.
I convinced her that a living person in the house would keep it safer, which was good because I think she was trying to figure out how to pick up a knife.
I learned her name was Athene. For the first week she tried to scare me nightly, but as I just treated it as theater she gave up.
Something that got her to relent was my computer. No one had ever stayed long enough for her to pay much attention to it, and she was fascinated by it
“You can contact anyone in the world?” she asked.
“Anyone that has an internet connection,” I said.
“Without sending a physical item like mail?”
“No physical parcel, nope.”
She stared at her pale hands. “Not physical…”
I soon found her trying to shove herself into my computer.
She tried to shove herself into the modem, into my phone, my tablet… but it never worked. She couldn’t send herself over the internet.
She sulked for a bit after. I approached her one night.
“Say, Athene,” I said. “What’s it like being a ghost?”
It took her a minute to answer.
“Empty.”
I couldn’t think of a response.
“I lived a lonely life,” she eventually said. “I saw few people. When I became a ghost, I thought I might meet other ghosts, but there were few. Most don’t stay here. Those that do often aren’t… social.”
I watched her mope.
“You’ve stayed here because you’re scared to go,” I said.
Athene nodded. “I’m scared to even leave my home. But if I went through the internet, I thought maybe I could find where ghosts are more sociable. Ugh.” She sighed and leaned back. “Can’t do physical, can’t do digital…”
She looked at me. “What’s pizza like?”
“What?” I asked.
“Pizza. I saw you eat it the first day you came. I’ve seen a lot of food over the years after my time.” She crumpled in the air. “I’d love just to taste a fresh apple again. Feel the breeze, take a breath of fresh air…”
“I mean, listen, floating is great, but if I could feel the ground beneath my feet one more time I’d give it up,” she said.
I stared at her. I wondered about ghosts.
She sighed and gave a short laugh. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear about the problems of the dead.”
“Say… Athene,” I said. “People have a lot of beliefs about ghosts. I imagine some may be true, some aren’t.”
“Like floating.”
“Exactly!” I said. “So what about possession? Can you possess someone?”
“No,” she said. My face fell. “Well. Maybe,” she added. I perked up.
“I can possess close family, direct descendants,” she said. “At least from the little I got out of the few ghosts willing to talk. Anyone else has to let me, something like a seance.”
“I imagine you’ve tried to possess people to get them to leave, though?”
“Oh, yeah, many times.”
She perks up, probably reminiscing. “It never worked, of course, I couldn’t properly enter them. I always had to scare them in other ways.”
“But if someone were to allow you possess them, aware you’re here and let you enter, it would work?”
“From what I’ve been told.”
The next day I went shopping. I got a few items in particular, including a couple candles, and then I ordered a pizza. That evening after it arrived I placed it on the table and lit the candles.
Athene appeared with a smirk. “Wow, you hate candles. What, do you have a date?”
I grinned at her. “I hope so.”
We stared at each other for a moment. She backed away, palms forward.
“Whoa, wait, are you…” She shook her head. “No, you can’t be. It’s silly. You’re not seriously…”
“Would you like to go on a date with me?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“What would be the point?” she asked. “I’m incorporeal. There’s nothing to–we can’t…”
I smiled and placed an apple on the table.
“Would you like an apple?”
She stared at it. “What?”
I held out my arms. “I will let you possess me. I’ll let you feel sensation again, if you like.
She stared at me.
“No, you–you don’t have to do this,” she said. “I’m fine, you don’t need to–”
I held my hand to hers, letting it hang inside hers. “I want to. I want to give you this chance. I want to feel you smile.”
“I don’t even know if it’ll work,” she said.
“There’s no harm in trying,” I said.
She steeled her face. She smiled and nodded. “If you’re sure, then yes.” She nodded faster. “Absolutely yes, in fact!”
I rested back in the chair, just in case we had a moment where neither of us had full control and I just slumped.
Athene floated into my body, and I felt a tingle throughout. I felt a chill and as if something was filling me–not something physical, but not an emotion, either. It felt like… air? Which I suppose is physical, but that wasn’t quite it, either.
It felt like a light drizzle, but on the inside of my body. As Athene settled in the drizzle increased, slowly into a downpour until–
Thoughts in my mind. Another mind in my mind. My head full of mist. My vision and thoughts cloudy.
I let myself go slack, but I remained upright.
I felt my hand move on its own. My head turned, muscles twisting, probably Athene getting used to controlling something physical again. My body leaned aside and quickly adjusted back and forth before equalizing.
“IIIUIUUJJEHEHH…” produced my mouth and vocal cords.
I laughed.
That wasn’t Athene laughing–that was me. Not at her failed attempt to speak–but at the mist in my head. I giggled before Athene took back control of my mouth.
Letting go, giving someone else control of my body, taking a backseat…
It just felt so lovely and tingly.
“Bleah, bleah,” Athene said with my mouth. She vocalized various sounds. “I thought getting used to gravity was hard,” she slowly said, “but actually talking is something else.”
“Yeeeeaaahh,” I thought in my spinning mind.
“Wait, can you hear my thoughts?” Athene asked.
I giggled in my thoughts. “Define hear…”
“You know what I mean. We don’t have to speak to communicate,” she thought.
“Mmmmhmmmm…”
She sat there breathing for a bit. She hadn’t been able to taste air for a long time.
Even just smelling the fresh apple and hot pizza filled her with joy, which spilled over into me. Experiencing the world through someone who hadn’t been able to properly for hundreds of years was a trip, made wilder from all the feelings this new experience aroused in me.
She brought my hand near the candle flame, laughing and sighing at the first heat she’d felt in ages.
“Thank you so much for this,” she thought. She took a bite of the apple, my head spinning at the joy she felt tasting the sweet fruit.
(We had to coordinate to make sure we swallowed properly.)
“I’m feeling so many things I haven’t in so long,” she thought.
“It’s inteeenssse…” I thought.
She made for another bite of the apple but stopped.
“Huh… there’s a feeling in your body… I can’t recall what it is…”
Was it awe at these experiences? Was it a sudden panic? It didn’t feel bad, like regret, but it was a nagging, gnawing feeling, something demanding, asking for something to be satisfied. She seemed to explore my subconscious to find out what it was, which only intensified it.
I was too busy sloshing in it to realize what she’d noticed until she stopped and blushed.
“Oh dear,” she said aloud.
“Huh?” I thought.
“Are you aware that you’re aroused right now?” she thought.
We blushed twice as much.
“I’m wha?” I thought. The haze from her possession lifted.
I realized she was right. When did that happen?
“I’m sorry!” I thought. “I–I wasn’t–not before you–I mean not like–”
“Wait, wait,” she thought, and she shushed me, which sadly increased the feeling a little. “This didn’t start until I possessed you?”
“Uhhhhhhh”
She seemed to fill part of my head with a ghostly haze, squeezing my mind somehow, and the arousal intensified.
We swallowed. I wasn’t sure which of us did that.
“Erm. Did you know this would happen?” she thought.
“No! No, no, no, I mean, I have a mind control kink, but…”
“But I swear, I didn’t think–”
“Possession would count?” she asked. “It’s also a form of control, after all.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” I thought.
“It’s okay,” she thought. “You didn’t realize.”
There was something I did realize, though.
“You haven’t left my body, though.”
I felt her spirit pinch my mind, as if she pinched my cheeks, only much more like a mind massage.
“Are you kidding?” she thought. “Forget the pizza, this is something I’ve terribly missed, especially seeing as society’s become more open with it in the last century.”
She slowly stood up out of the chair, wobbling as she relearned to walk.
“Why don’t we go someplace more comfortable and see how deep we can go~?”
“Umm, umm, umm, umm,” was mostly all I thought. “I’m not sure about–”
“But I can see in your mind you really want to,” she thought.
Honestly? I’m still not sure if she was right, or if she inserted those thoughts in my head.
But that doesn’t matter, because they turned out to be the best thoughts my mind ever held.
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Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 