Akames marched up the cold, dark stairway. She regretted not taking a way to contact the others after Cira had pulled apart their communicators. First Fiona got trapped in an elevator, then Cira ran up the stairs, then Salsa got separated when shutters blocked the exits, and that left Akames and Twilight in the stair shaft. For the final nail in the coffin, Twilight used her latex magic to escape out a window and leave Akames behind, because of course she did.

That left Akames climbing the stairs alone. Each step knocked through the silence and shook dust from the thin carpet. On each floor a dim light illuminated the dreary shaft and a thick shutter blocked the exit. On the top floor she hoped to find Cira, or at least an open shutter where she’d hacked the mechanism.

After Akames climbed several floors she found an exit shutter halfway open, beckoning her like a cat’s mouth offering a bird shelter from rain. She stared into the plush lobby, dark as the stairway but with a trail of warm air.

A trap, she suspected. Still, the other option was to climb the rest of the stairs, find no way out at the top, and climb back down. At least with a trap she might confront the source of the disappearances.

Akames gripped the hilt of her sword and ducked under the shutter into the lobby. The still air and dusty carpet suggested no one had passed through recently. Only the hum of the lone operating elevator broke the silence. Akames watched the adjacent hall, ready to strike if something emerged.

After a minute she relaxed. Maybe Cira had opened the shutter, though Akames doubted she would have stopped to do so until she ran out of stairs to climb. The lobby felt undisturbed anyway.

She tensed up at a creak followed by the approaching ruffle of running feet. It sounded soft, more like slippers than Cira’s thick feet, and it was accompanied by panting. Akames gripped her sword, but the new presence sounded too panicked to be a threat.

A billowing sheet ran into the lobby, and it stumbled and squeaked. Akames peered at the ghostly figure—a human in a wedding dress, who whimpered and jittered as if he’d seen a ghost rather than was one. Akames doubted he had caused the disappearances, but she held her sword halfway out just in case.

He didn’t look threatening, anyway, thin as a twig and a head shorter than her, no taller than Cira. His hair looked white, unless that was the wedding veil, and heart earrings and a necklace adorned him. Akames wasn’t sure what to make of him—a guest for a wedding when the hotel shut down?

“Who are you?” Akames asked.

The short human flinched in the billowing dress and with a glance every which way shushed Akames.

“Quiet,” he hissed, “she might hear us.”

“Who?” Akames asked.

“Wait! A-Are you here to rescue us?” He darted silently to Akames. “I’m Dee, I was captured by the goddess here but escaped.” Akames peered at him.

“Goddess?” she asked.

“That’s what she says, she’s a big snake gal,” Dee said. “Captures anyone who comes in here. I managed to sneak out of the room she’s holding everyone in, she seemed distracted earlier.”

Akames hoped that meant the team was keeping her busy and not the other way around. She looked Dee over. He didn’t seem hurt or injured: he moved gracefully aside from his jitters, and his features looked smooth. In any other situation she wouldn’t have guessed he’d been captured.

“Can you tell me where the others are being held?” Akames asked. “I’ll get everyone out.”

“No, no,” Dee said, “you gotta destroy her source. The source of her powers. I saw it once, there’s this big ball of light she uses to power her magic. She grows more powerful when she visits it. I can take you to it.”

Akames looked at Dee. She’d figured he’d want to escape, but perhaps he had confidence Akames could stop the so-called goddess. She wanted to make sure that confidence wasn’t misplaced.

“Show me the way.”

Dee led Akames through the hotel, peering around each corner. Something about Dee nagged at Akames, but she wasn’t sure it was worth bringing up. Finally she gave in to her curiosity.

“Why are you in a wedding dress, by the way?”

“Oh, uh.” Dee blushed and covered his face with the wedding veil. “She’s trying to marry everyone she captures. A ritual of some kind. Yeah.”

“Has she married anyone yet?” Akames wondered if the ritual increased her power.

Dee coughed. He rubbed his ring finger and scratched his neck.

“Not yet. Come on, just a bit further.” He scurried ahead, turning corners without peering around them first.

Akames jogged after him and worked out her plan. If the goddess intended to marry those she captured, she would destroy the power source then focus on rescuing everyone lest that ritual restored her power.

She yelped as she stumbled over Dee, who stopped in the middle of the hall. He looked at the doors and fidgeted.

“We’re—we’re here, yeah. It’s, it’s uh—”

Akames put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t be nervous,” she said. “I’m here to protect you.”

Dee nodded in a jerking motion and jumped to a door.

“Yeah, I remember now, it’s this one.” He opened the door then shut it. “No, sorry, this one.”

He opened a pair of double doors. A stark flood of dazzling white light blinded Akames and burned away the darkness of the hall. She clenched her eyes shut, unable to look for longer than a moment. Sweet powder flowed out the room as if dozens of thick perfumes had been sprayed.

Once Akames’ eyes adjusted to the light she peered into the room. The blinding shine glared from the back, and she could only make out general shapes of round furniture. A buzzing hum filled the room.

“It’s in there,” Dee said, backing up. “Shatter it, and she’ll lose her power.”

Akames entered the sweetly stuffy room and coughed. Her hair tingled with static, and she felt as if she was approaching a shining sun, unable to see what produced the blinding brightness. She wondered if it also produced the stuffy fragrance or if perfume bottles had been left open.

She reached towards the warm light and felt a rigid and smooth surface like a light bulb. She tapped it and heard a hollow thump. A strong hit would surely break it. She stepped back and held her sword forward.

“By my sword, I will destroy the power of the magician who trapped you here.”

The light shut off. Akames shouted and flinched. Her sight flooded with flashing afterimages in the dark.

“It went dark!” She realized that would be obvious. “I can’t see, what happened?” She didn’t break it, it just shut off, like—like a light bulb again. Suspicion rose. She turned to Dee but couldn’t tell which direction she faced.

Akames heard a creak to her left. She held her sword ready but could only see flashing light and dark. A thick rope slithered tight around her hips. She shouted and swiped her sword, but she sliced air and lurched in the dark. Sinewy arms gripped her shoulders and bound her, the choking perfume curling around her. A hand in a smooth and silky glove stroked her neck.

“Let go of me!” Akames shouted.

“Don’t worry, my dear,” spoke a light, rolling whisper in Akames’ ear, “you’ll leave this ugly world for a beautiful one soon.”

Akames struggled to throw the pressing presence off her. The gloved hand slipped a smooth and soft strap around her neck and pulled tight. Akames gasped as a pounding pulse surged through her like an overwhelming ocean wave, and she dropped to her knees.

“What?” Akames grasped her neck. The strap felt like a collar, and it vibrated a warmth that spread through her like a sponge dipped in water. She pulled on the collar and cried at a splitting pain through her body as if she yanked her very soul out of her. She fell forward and gasped. Everything sounded muffled, as if a pile of blankets buried her.

“You did well, my sweetie doll,” spoke the rolling voice.

“Thank you, my goddess!” That was definitely Dee, and he sounded like he had a smile bigger than his body.

“I think you deserve a little treat.”

Dee squealed before moaning a melting sigh. Akames looked up as her sight finally readjusted to the dark, but she saw Dee slump into a chair only for a moment before the hotel disappeared, replaced with a sparkling world of rosy candy clouds and buoyant hearts.

Akames stared at the fairytale world, which glistened like a frosted cake and smelled as sweet. The pink fluff below her felt smooth as lotion compared to the dry dust of the hotel, and when her thoughts wandered soft harp music tickled her brain. The warmth that radiated from the clouds swirling around her felt like a spiral of passionate emotions.

“What is this?” she gasped.

“Welcome to my world.”

Akames stumbled back. She hadn’t even noticed the red and pink-attired, -haired, and -tailed lamia, as she blended into the scenery. As Akames looked at her a sweet taste swept her tongue and her mouth watered. She swallowed as the lamia smiled to her like a host welcoming a cherished guest.

“What you’re seeing now is another dimension,” Jb said. “A divine one, a dimension of pure love.” She extended a hand to Akames. “I am offering you the lucky opportunity to join a goddess.”

Akames stared at her. She followed Jb’s spinning fingers, nails a dazzling pink with red hearts. A goddess, a love goddess, Jb the love goddess. A world of divinity. After so long . . .

Wait, how do I know her name?

Akames shook her head. Impossible. She’d known gods. This couldn’t be one. It was a trick of the collar. She squashed it in her hands. Her head felt like a vise gripped it, but the fluffy red and pink world splintered and she returned to the stale reality of the dim hotel. The music collapsed, but the sweet scent remained as pink mist swirled from Jb.

“Remove this collar from me!” Akames shouted. She wrenched to rip it off, but it squirmed in her grasp. It transformed into Jb’s supple, scaly tail and slithered around her. Jb squeezed Akames’ neck and forced her to gulp, and she wrapped around her shoulders and arms with a massaging grip.

“Now, now, that’s no way to respond to a gift from a goddess.” Jb grinned and circled Akames as if she were prey.

The hotel disappeared under the fluffy love dimension. Akames tried to block the hypnotic melody from her head, even as it seemed to sprout from within her own mind.

“You’re not a goddess,” she hissed. She needed to focus on that fact or Jb might gain a grip on her mind. “You’re just messing with my senses with this collar.”

“What a silly notion.” Jb slipped her tail off Akames in a quick tug that sent her spinning. “Why, there’s no collar on you.”

“What?” Akames rubbed her bare neck. No collar, yet she remained among the hazy red and pink clouds. She shut her eyes and grasped her neck, focusing on the bare skin.

She felt the collar. She felt no collar. Her sense of the collar faded in and out, difficult to keep notice of, harder to feel when that swirling sweet scent of slippery symphony slid through her senses so softly.

“You’re still manipulating my senses!” Akames shouted. The hotel snapped back into view. She pointed her sword at Jb, only to realize her hand was empty. “Where’s my sword?” She glanced over the hotel room, but the love fog obscured her sight. She stumbled and fell into the soft fluff of the love dimension.

Akames tried to focus. The collar around her neck altered her senses. She saw and felt a world that wasn’t there, but sometimes the real world broke through. What else did the collar do? If she could glimpse the real world maybe she could resist the collar. She had to get away from Jb. If she found Cira, maybe she could disable the collar.

Before Akames could stand a heavy weight squashed over her back like a supple pillow of wet concrete. She groaned as the weight pressed her against the smooth fluff. Atop her sat Jb, who smiled to her.

“Just rest down there,” Jb said. “It takes so much energy to think, you need a mental break. Relax in my soft, loving world.”

Akames grumbled and reached forward. She hoped to grab something real and pull herself out from under Jb, but as the hefty weight massaged her muscles she felt her body’s willingness to move weaken. Several copies of the lamia love goddess’ tail sprouted from the ground and wrapped around her arms, legs, neck, hips, ankles, and chest. Akames gasped as Jb’s grip tightened, and with a sigh her eyes rolled.

“Now, don’t try to get away,” Jb said. “You don’t want to leave. This is where you belong, my darling. You want nothing but to sink into my pleasures.”

Jb’s voice sounded in stereo as if she whispered in both of Akames’ ears. The whispers swirled around her, words of comfort, love, suggestions to give in and relax and submit and obey and worship.

Akames blocked her words from her mind. It was all a trick of the collar, though as Jb lifted her in her heavily binding coils, she wasn’t sure her tail was a trick of the senses. Akames blushed as Jb’s scales massaged her skin with looping coils.

Wait, when did—how did she remove her clothing? Her tail must have been a trick of the senses. Yet despite her squirming attempts to escape Akames remained trapped in Jb’s grip, silky scales pressing over her with a tight and velvety grip. Her struggle slowed as Jb’s presence pressed closer and filled her mind. She found herself forgetting to struggle as she grew languid and woozy.

“Now, sweetie,” Jb said, holding Akames’ face in her soft gloved hands, “look at me for your love goddess, please.”

Akames tried to turn away, but Jb’s soft, kneading tail curled under her chin and around her forehead. Her eyes flashed and pulsed with hearts. Akames assumed it another trick of the senses, but she found herself gazing deeper into Jb’s eyes with a focused stare. Her sight rippled pink and red as hearts filled her eyes in a mirror of Jb’s. The love goddess drew Akames’ senses to her more than any previous manipulation, and her coaxing, controlling words burst through her mental block and flooded her mind.

The love dimension pulsated around Akames, hearts swirling in a dizzy dance, colors glowing bright and full. This place was wrong, she told herself. She tried to focus on reality, the dark room in the gloomy hotel where no dazzling sights or binding comfort of Jb’s love dimension graced her.

The room flashed in her memory but slipped from her thoughts. It melted out of her mind as pulsing hearts washed it away. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at Jb, and the hearts around her pulsed stronger and faster, erasing her thoughts with their brilliance. She breathed deeper as Jb’s sweet, sharp scent coated her.

“That’s a good girl.”

Jb patted Akames’ head. Akames grumbled and squirmed, but she remained squeezed in Jb’s coils and her gaze remained hooked to her heart-pulsing eyes. Comfort washed over her and squeezed away her offense at the headpat.

Akames gasped as Jb’s coils pressed tighter around her. The soft, warm, pulsating loop around her neck tightened. Akames gulped, and her face spread into a wide smile. She’d never felt such a comfortable grip. Jb’s tail settled so close she felt like the love goddess had wrapped around her mind, and she breathed Jb’s scent deeper, stronger, the goddess’ rolling voice a constant stream of love into her mind.

A thought nagged in Akames’ head. Something had been wrong. Something had been placed around her neck. When she tried to remember what, the thought fizzled. Something told her not to worry about it.

Hadn’t she been somewhere else? She had a job she was supposed to do. Yet when she tried to remember what, where, when, those thoughts also fizzled. Calmer thoughts twisting from deeper inside instructed her to ignore her worries. Drop those nagging thoughts from her mind and focus on the pleasure this love goddess offered. She was right where she needed to be. All she needed to do was stare at her love goddess and worship her.

That sounded wrong, but Akames couldn’t think why. She couldn’t think. A pink glow from around her neck shone brighter, and thoughts in her head told her that everything was right. Everything was perfect. A love goddess had subjected her to divine love in a world of heavenly bliss. Nothing could be better. Nothing mattered other than this splendor.

Every time a wrong feeling emerged she failed to think of why. The more she failed to think, the less those wrong feelings mattered. The less they existed. The less she tried to think. It felt good to not think, to not worry.

The less Akames tried to think, the more the collar’s hypnotic aura ate away at her mind. With no more pesky thoughts in the way, the collar’s magical aura seeped into the core of her mind. With the outer shell of thoughts dissolved, the aura began to wipe away Akames herself. Lustful pleasure replaced thinking as Jb squeezed hypnotic passion into her. Akames sank into Jb’s caressing, molesting coils, slithering over her chest and between her legs, squeezing her back and her shoulders in a sensual massage.

She felt only bliss and love for her love goddess. She didn’t need to think anymore. She didn’t need a mind anymore. Jb’s mind poured through the collar into Akames’, thinking for her, being for her. As long as Akames worshiped her love goddess through lust and obedience she enjoyed the bliss of never thinking again. Never being able to think again. Jb’s thoughts were her thoughts now.

The collar melted away her mind. It gradually replaced her mind with Jb’s. Soon Akames would be no more.

She fell to the love goddess.