Isa yawned and sluggishly stretched, not wanting to open her eyes yet. She really didn’t want to go back to work today, especially not after yesterday…  Her manager was probably gonna find some way of blaming her for knocking over that pallet, even though they were the one who lied to the OSHA inspector about it the previous week… But sadly, she needed money. So she slowly opened her eyes… And found herself floating in a gentle void of stars… “Bwuuuhh…? Whar…? Where…?” She didn’t remember coming here last night… Although she didn’t remember going home either… Where did she go after work again? …Ohhh, right, the second pallet had landed on top of her, not next to her like the first one did. Right, she definitely did not survive that. So… “I'm in Heaven…? Kinda dark… Cozy though… Guess if I’m in Heaven I can just… sleep in a bit more…” She shut her eyes and began falling back asleep when a radiant voice rang out around her.

“Do not fall asleep yet, my chosen hero! We have much to discuss!”

Begrudgingly, Isa opened her eyes, and saw something very bright that made her want to immediately shut them again. A beautiful woman made of shining light floated before her, probably over ten times her size. She smiled serenely down at Isa. Isa blinked, confused. “…Bwahh? Are you God…? You’re prettier than I thought…” The woman chuckled. “I do not think I am the God you are speaking of, but I am a Goddess. I am Keilumina, Goddess of Holy Light! “ Isa awkwardly waved. “…Hi, Keilumina… Uh, what’s… Everything here?” Keilumina smiled kindly. “I would be surprised if you were not confused, Isa. Yes, I know your name already, and everything else about you.” Isa nodded. “Yeah, be weird if you didn’t.” Keilumina seemed a bit annoyed at the interruption, but continued. “I have saved you from your terrible demise in your world, for I have great need of your services. “ Isa grimaced. “Uh, yeah, I’m not really good at much, sorry.” Keilumina gave a pitying smile. “You underestimate yourself, my chosen hero. But worry not, what I require you to do, I will grant you the tool necessary to do it. Let me show you.”

Keilumina waved her hand, and they were suddenly looking over a beautiful countryside. “This is the land of Ruof'Yad, a wonderful place of magic, happiness, and prosperity. But there is something that is attempting to ruin it all!”  She waved her hand again, and now they were overlooking a comically evil looking castle, dark purple and black with massive spikes and a lava moat. “The Empress of Evil wishes to destroy all good in this land and bring all of its inhabitants under her complete control! And I cannot let this happen! And as such, I have reached into your world and plucked out a brave soul to defeat her and restore peace to this land!” Isa raised an eyebrow. “And you picked… Me. Why me specifically? I’m not really a brave hero.” Keilumina smiled kindly and put a massive glowing hand on Isa's shoulder. “My dear, anyone can become a brave and powerful hero. Do not underestimate yourself!” Isa awkwardly blinked. “Okay, uh, thanks, but you didn’t really actually answer my question of wh-“ Keilumina reassuringly smiled and interrupted her. “Be confident in yourself, and you will achieve great things. I trust you, Isa. You can do this. Now, in order to bring defeat to the Empress of Evil, you must first travel to…”

Keilumina rambled on for what felt like an hour about the plan, Isa only half listening. It seems she’d have to visit dozens of cities, towns, villages, and dungeons, as well as almost every biome fathomable. She really wished she had something to doodle with… Finally, Keilumina seemed to be wrapping up, saying, “…Now, as you will know well by now, the Empress of Evil and her underlings will desire nothing more than to make you their slave and force you to obey her evil whims. As such, I present you with this!” She held up a beautiful necklace with a massive shining sun emblazoned on it, obviously her insignia. “While attuned to the magic of this amulet, whenever you fall to her enchantments or those of her minions, you will be transported back here to try again!” She placed it over Isa's neck, and Isa could feel the magic flowing into her. Felt very warm, although maybe too warm… It was a bit smothering… “Uh, thanks, but again I w-“ Keilumina waved her hand again, and they were suddenly in a forest. “You shall start your journey here! Remember what you must do first! Farewell, my chosen hero!” Before Isa could say anything, Keilumina vanished. “…Great. Great… Alright, I guess I’ll give this a try…”

---

Isa looked around. The forest was deep, serene, and picturesque. She’d never been one for nature stuff, but this was nice. There wasn’t any path though, which would make finding her way to her destination difficult… Wherever her destination WAS, she also realized, she had no idea. She’d kinda forgotten most of the briefing already. She rapped her fingers against the necklace a few times. “Uh, hey, Keilumina, can you hear me? I need help! Where do I start? …Hello? …Please?” There was no response. She groaned. So far, she really didn’t have much faith in Keilumina's… anything, but she was lost in the forest so she might as well try and find a way out at least. She decided to start walking straight forward, hoping that Keilumina at least pointed her in the right direction when dropping her off. As she walked, however, she suddenly heard a soft rustling from nearby. Before she could do much to react, something dropped down right in front of her! “AAAAHHH!” She recoiled, and the creature stood up, revealing itself to be a quite pretty catgirl.

The catgirl purred mischievously, her tail swaying softly behind her. “Mrrrrr, a hyuman wandering in my forest ~… Are you lost, little hyuman~?” Yes, but she was absolutely not admitting that to them. “Uh, no, I’m just on a walk, I know where I’m going.” The catgirl giggled. “Mrhrhrhrm~… You are? Then where is it, hyuman~?” Isa shook her head. “It is none of your business, and if you’ll excuse me I’d like to continue on my path.” She tried walking past the batgirl, but suddenly felt a sharp claw pressing against her neck. Not too hard, but enough to let her know that it was there. The catgirl purred softly in her ear. “Mrrrrr~… I think you’ll tell me~… Like a good little hyuman~…” She dangled her tail before Isa's eyes.  

Isa stared at the tail, confused. Did the catgirl mean to hit her with it? But she had claws out, and the tail didn’t seem very thick at all. In fact, it looked quite thin and silky, though very flexible as the catgirl seemed intent on showing off. She was waving it back and forth, curling it in and out of patterns and shapes and waves. It was actually really soothing to watch… Watching the tail sway and twirl and twist, so purposefully and sensually… The soft fur glimmering in the dim light… In fact, she started to notice patterns on the tail, subtly darker or brighter spots… And as the tail moved, the spots began to resemble something… A spiral, swirling and pulling her deeper in… The catgirl gently stroked her neck. “Good hyuman~… Just keep starrrring~… It’s making you sleepy, isn’t it~?” Isa murmured affirmatively. “Perrrrfect~… You'rrrre so sleepy now~… So obedient ~… Mind drifting away as you watch my pretty pretty tail like a good little pet~…” She stroked Isa's head, and Isa purred like the good little pet she was… The catgirl giggled. “Mrhrhrhrhrmm~… Good pet hyuman~… Now all you need to do is,” She Clicked her claws together, “Sleep~” and Isa fell into a deep sleep. However, as she fell into the trance, her necklace began to glow, and seconds later, she was back with Keilumina, no longer in a trance.

---

Keilumina looked down on her pityingly, though there was certainly a tinge of annoyance. “I did not expect you back so soon, my chosen hero. What happened to bring you to me so quickly?” Isa shrugged, still feeling a bit sleepy. “I guess one of the Evil Empress minions found me, a pretty catgirl or something.” Keilumina sighed. “That was not one of her minions, it was the hunter of the forest. Did you not recall my warning about her?” Isa shook her head. “No, not at all, you spoke for like an hour straight, I barely got like an eighth of it. And wait, if she’s not a minion why did she hypnotize me?” Keilumina looked at her disapprovingly. “As I have already told you, the Empress of Evil and her minions are not the only things that will attempt to hypnotize you. This land is full of many wonderful creatures that enjoy putting mortals under their spell. You must watch out for them. It is not hard to remember everything, my chosen hero.” Isa bitterly murmured, “It really is…” but Keilumina luckily didn’t seem to notice, continuing to speak. “Now, as the forest does not seem to work for you, perhaps you will need to take the longer route there.” She dropped Isa off on a cliffside overlooking a rocky coast. “Now go! And remember my warnings about the coast!” Isa looked up at her. “WHICH WARNINGS?!” But the Goddess was already gone. She groaned. “…thought I was done with incommunicative higher-ups once I died…”

--- 

Isa began to walk along the cliffside, happy she could at least see where she was going now. The view was truly gorgeous too, she had to admit. The sea gently rippling down below, the green grass swaying in the breeze before her, the flowers dotted throughout… It was stunning. And it wasn’t just sight, but her other senses enjoying this. She could smell the sea air, and the flowers around her… The gentle breeze blowing over her skin, and the feel of fresh grass on her feet… The gentle crashing of waves, and the blowing of the breeze, and even faintly a strange, lovely sound that reminded her of singing… That one was especially nice to listen to… It was so relaxing, too… Like it was washing all her worries away... Making everything feel so much more beautiful… She felt the urge to try and find the source. She adjusted her path and began walking towards the sound. Every step made it slightly clearer, and the clearer it was the more wonderful it felt to listen… It became easier to walk towards it too, as if her legs were moving themselves and she could just relax as they brought her closer and closer… They took her down a precarious path down the side of the cliff, but somehow she just knew exactly where to stand to get down safely… She walked over the rocky coast, hardly noticing the rocks beneath her feet as the song got louder, softly nudging all her other thoughts away. The sea lapped around her as she stepped in and began swimming, her eyes glazed over and a pleasant smile on her face. She swam for a long time, but time didn’t really matter anymore, all that mattered was letting herself float away on the wonderful song. The song would tell her what to do. 

The song brought her to a rocky outcropping in the middle of the sea, which looked pleasantly lived in despite the jagged form. She climbed up onto the shore and obediently walked up to the source of the music. The lovely singer, her new mistress and center of existence, was sitting back on a makeshift chair and preening her beautiful feathers. She smiled at Isa, and through her song told Isa exactly what to do. Isa obediently began stroking her lovely feathers, smoothing them all out and making them nice and neat.  Her mistress gently stroked her in return, and it made her feel so wonderfully sleepy… Like her eyes were about to flutter shut any second… And Mistress allowed them to. She was a good obedient maid now, so of course she needed her rest to prepare for her duties. And as she fell asleep, Mistress's lovely wing around her shoulder, her necklace flashed again, and she vanished…

--- 

Keilumina looked disappointed. “Did I not tell you to remember my warnings about the coast?” Isa was still humming softly. “Mmmm, yeah, but you didn’t repeat them… I can’t just memorize everything from one big chunk of information I’m told once.” Keilumina sighed. “I was very clear. Perhaps the issue is that you are not strong enough. Very well, I can adjust our plan and send you to learn your magic.” Isa sighed too. “I mean that’d be good, but I think there are more important things for me to l-“ She was now talking to a wide open empty desert. Great. Hopefully she’d actually make it to civilization this time.

---

“All you must do is answer my riddle, traveler.” Isa stared up at the massive sphinx, glad it’s giant paws weren’t being used to hurt her. “Okay, riddles, I… know a few of those. Shoot.” The sphinx smiled and began, her voice pleasant and rhythmic. “I am nothing, yet everything. My voice flows from on high and whirls around low. The desert around me is cool clear water, the sky is soft green, I am deep under water, I am soft and silken, I sing and you listen. I fly in the sky and the clouds surround me, cool soft and warm, I fall down, I fall down into the deep warm water, surrounded by dark staring into the light, spinning light swirling in me, You listen and you stare and you sway and you forget and you fall into the deep dark pool of my eyes as my words fill your mind. What should you do next~?” Isa's mind was spinning around so much all she could do was blankly collapse against the soft paw before her as she stared up deep into the sphinx's pretty eyes. “Mmnnnghhhuuhhh…?” The Sphinx giggled. “The answer, my confused little pet, is ‘Sleep'~” Of course… made so much sense… Her eyes snapped shut and she relaxed into the warm soft fur as her necklace glowed bright…

---

“Just go straight towards the city, chosen hero!”

--- 

Isa trembled as she watched the mummy rise from the sarcophagus. It was decrepit, but oddly beautiful despite that. “Where are my servants? And who are you to invade my tomb?” Isa swallowed. “Uh, sorry, I got really lost, uh… You know, I’m just gonna head out, I don’t want t-“ The mummy snapped her fingers and bandages suddenly began binding up Isa, holding her in place. The mummy walked forward, her eyes glowing with an alluring light, and put a hand on Isa's cheek. “Mmmm… Such youthful vigor… I do need more energy to return to my former beauty…” The mummy grabbed Isa's chin to pull her mouth open, and opened her own mouth wide. Isa felt her life force draining away with each second, but it really wasn’t too unpleasant. Really, it just made her feel so, so… sleepy… As it ended, she could barely even stand, but the mummy was easily holding her with one hand. And the mummy's draining had really done wonders for her. As Isa drifted off into sleep, she weakly murmured, “…you look so hot, your highness…” and her necklace flashed again.

-----

“The new city, not the ancient one!”

---

As the magic lamp shone, it poured out a trail of shimmering smoke. It coalesced into a beautiful woman with sparkling skin, flowing hair, and deep shimmering eyes. “You have released me from the lamp, Mistress. I am now bound to grant you three wishes.” Isa blinked, disoriented by the shimmering lights. “Oh, uh, wow! I, uh… Man, I really haven’t thought about this in forever… Uh… Wish I knew what would be best to wish for firs- WAIT NO IGNORE THAT ONE!” However, the genie had already snapped her fingers, and now Isa knew what wishes to make first. Specifically, almost anything other than that one. “Okay, dangit, uh, fine… Okay you know what, I wish to become a powerful sorceress so I can actually do this Chosen Hero business better!” The genie smiled. “Of course, Mistress.” She snapped her fingers, and power flowed into Isa's essence. It felt really, really nice… She flexed her fingers a bit, and easily conjured up a bouncy ball. “Wow… Thanks! You know what, as my third wish, I wish for you to be free and do whatever you wish! You deserve it!” The genie grinned and snapped her fingers. The magic lamp dissipated in a shimmer of light, and the genie stretched. “Ahhhh, thank you. So much to do… But first, I think what I most wish to do…” She suddenly began swirling around Isa, filling her vision with shimmering smoke. “Huh? Whah? Auugththpth!” As Isa coughed from the smoke getting in her mouth, the genie's rich voice echoed from all around her. “You’re quite beautiful… And powerful too, now… The first thing I wish to do is take you as my obedient harem dancer~” The shimmering smoke began to swirl around in a hypnotic spiral, pulling her mind deeper and deeper. “Give in to me~” She felt so sleepy and light… That really did sound like a wonderful idea… Her eyes shut, and her necklace flashed…

---

“Ah, finally, you’re making some progress, my chosen hero! Now to continue with our plan! And make sure to help others along the way!”

---

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll save you!” Isa ran up to the water where she could see the woman drowning. Only her hand was visible, so hopefully she wasn’t too late. As she leaned over the edge, she noticed the ripples in the pond were quite strange… Slow, shimmering circles, impossibly perfect, drawing the eyes and making her feel… A bit sleepy… Maybe that was how the woman got lured in… Oh right, the drowning woman! She reached out and grabbed the hand… And immediately felt a gentle tug as she was pulled into the water. Before she could react, two claws grasped onto her shoulder and she found herself staring into two piercing bestial eyes. “Sleep.” The command rang in her mind, and she found herself obeying immediately. The light from the necklace barely showed on the surface of the water…

---

“Be more careful with who you help! The Empress of Evil has her minions everywhere! “

---

The deer girl looked shyly up at Isa. “Th-thanks for saving me…” Isa smiled. “No problem! It’s what I’m here to do… I guess. So, uh, how did you end up in a tree?” The deer girl nervously looked away. “W-Well, I met a lamia who seemed really nice… Her voice was soft and nice to listen to… And then she asked me to stare into her eyes… And they were… s-so pretty… so many colors… became hard to think… and she brought me up into the tree… B-But she left for some reason… I think she saw something, I don’t know, I was really sleepy…” Isa grimaced. “Yeah, she saw me… Luckily I’ve learned not to make eye contact with strange women anymore here, so I was able to blast her away.” The deer girl looked adorably impressed. “Y-You're so cool, miss! I… I want to be friends forever with you. C-Can you… C-Can you stay with me?” Isa shook her head. “No, sorry, I can’t. I have to… Have to…” The deer girl's eyes were wide open and pleading, and something about them made Isa feel so… happy… There was such a powerful innocence in her eyes… And the deeper she stared, the more she realized she wanted to stay… “…you know… I’ll stay…” The deer girl squeaked cutely. “Yay! Come on, let’s play together! “ They played together in mindless innocence all day, until they were just too tuckered out and fell asleep on each other… And Isa's necklace glowed, and the deer girl was no longer sleeping on anyone…

---

“Shhhhh… Just relax for me…” Isa relaxed into the soft ruff of the mothgirl, her eyes glazed over as she stared into the hypnotic patterns on her wings. “You’ll make me all the light I want, won’t you, pretty mage?” Isa nodded sleepily. “…alll the light you want…” The mothgirl stroked her with a wing. “Yes… Now sleep, pretty mage… Sleep for me…” Isa slept, and made the mothgirl some free light as a bonus…

---

Isa felt helpless as the vampire clutched her chin, holding her up in the air. “Foolish little mortal~ I’ve lived for hundreds of years, you think I haven’t learned a few things~? But your performance was impressive, I’ll give you that… As a reward, I’ll make you just like me one day~…” Her eyes glowed a deep, pulsing red, and Isa drowned in the hypnotic crimson light. She went limp in the vampire's grasp, her arms dangling by her sides. “Good girl~… Now sleep, I expect my servants to be well rested~…” And the necklace flashed.

---

The cuttlefish girl swam around Isa curiously. “You are a human. How can you speak and swim like us down here?” Isa smiled. “I cast a water affinity spell. Took several tries to figure it out, but now I can go underwater! “ The cuttlefish girl gaped in amazement. “That is so amazing! You must teach me how to do things like this!” Isa shook her head. “Uh, no, sorry, I kind of need to get something here.” The cuttlefish girl pouted. “But you must! I wish to experience the dry above water safely.* Isa was about to say no when the cuttlefish started glowing. She waved her palms in circles in front of Isa's face. “I am hypnotizing you. You are in a trance. Repeat.” Isa's eyes were already glazed over. “…you are hypnotizing me… I am in a trance…” The cuttlefish girl swam closer, her palms close to Isa's face. “You will do what I say. You will teach me magic.” Isa repeated without even being prompted. “…I will do what you say… I will teach you magic…” The cuttlefish girl smiled excitedly. “Yes! This is amazing! Now give me your book of spells so I can read it!” Isa obediently handed over her handmade book of spells, enchanted to be safe in water. The cuttlefish girl began flipping through, intrigued. “There are so many interesting spells in here! Teleport, Fireball, Sleep,” As soon as she heard the word, Isa fell into a deep sleep, and her necklace glowed with a much less impressive light than the cuttlefish girl.

---

“Silly little hero, you cannot stop the Empress~” The great black dragon smiled cruelly down at Isa. “I mean… Yeah I’m also not convinced I can but I don’t have too much of a choice. A Goddess brought me here and I don’t know why she’s so convinced I should be the hero, and she’s really bad at explaining things too!” The dragon laughed. “You sound so exhausted with it, little hero~ Perhaps you should take a rest… A permanent rest, as part of my hoard~…” The dragon's eyes began to pulse with black rings, and Isa sank into a deep trance immediately. “Perfect~… Now for the fun part~” The dragon cast her favorite spell, freezing Isa into a state of mindless stasis. Isa was placed on a pedestal next to several other similarly frozen people, all posed like dolls. And her necklace did not glow, as she was not technically asleep… So she stayed like that for hours… days… she maybe would have stayed there forever had there not been Divine Intervention involved…

“I BANISH YOU TO A REALM OF NO LIGHT AND NO WARMTH, MONSTER!”

The dragon's disappearance unfortunately did not break the spell, and it took Keilumina several minutes to find where Isa was standing. Grabbing her chosen hero, she broke the spell herself and teleported back to her void… Unfortunately the rest of the captured people weren’t lucky enough to have their spell broken yet…

--- 

Keilumina stared down at Isa with frustration. “You are my chosen hero, and yet you are endlessly failing at every opportunity! We do not have forever! The Empress of Evil's machinations may be nearing completion at any time!” Isa glared up at her. “Why am I the chosen hero?! I don’t know the first thing about any of this, and you certainly haven’t been teaching me! Why did you choose ME?!” Keilumina scoffed. “I had intended for your travels to give you the tra-“ Isa interrupted her. “No, you aren’t avoiding the question anymore! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ME, SPECIFICALLY, OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE BACK IN MY ORIGINAL WORLD?! YOU STILL HAVE NOT ANSWERED THIS QUESTION!” Keilumina awkwardly looked at her. “Well… I… I sensed potential in you… And… Well… I believed I could train you into a worthy hero…” Isa looked at her, exasperated. “Again, that still does not answer why me, over all the other people in the world. We all have potential to be trained when we’re pulled into a land of magic. I seriously doubt this is something unique to me.” Keilumina looked sheepish. “…Is the reason you chose me literally just because I was the first human you got the chance to grab?” Keilumina looked away, embarrassed. “…it is… a bit more complicated than that… but yes… I suppose that is an accurate way to put it…” Isa groaned. “Look, I’m not cut out to be a hero. That much has been proven to be very obvious. But you know who IS? So many of the people I’ve met here in the villages and towns and cities and stuff! People who actually know what this world is like and have genuine personal reasons to want the Empress of Evil to be defeated! So you know what?” She took off the necklace, much to Keilumina's shock. “Give this to someone here! I can even recommend a few! Let the chosen hero be someone who genuinely wants to be!” 

Keilumina was silent for a while. “…I suppose you are correct. I… Believed this was the best course of action as one from another realm would be untethered from their bad experiences… And able to devote all of themselves to the cause… And I suppose I should have been better about explaining things… Perhaps I did set you up for failure and frustration… And choosing a hero from Ruof'Yad would have been a better idea…” She smiled down at Isa. “But you have grown in power. You have saved people. Perhaps you are more of a hero than you realize… I will take the necklace and give it to someone you deem worthy… But first, I encourage you to try, just one more time. And maybe now that you understand yourself better, you will be finally able to prove yourself worthy of being my chosen hero… Go on… One more try… I believe in you…” Keilumina waved her hand, and they were back on Ruof'Yad. She gave Isa an encouraging smile. “Go on. Good luck, my chosen hero.” Keilumina disappeared, and Isa pondered things. After a while, she took out her spellbook and flipped to one specific page. She smiled. She knew exactly what to do…

---

Isa murmured sleepily, her mind currently nothing more than a warm sludge. She snuggled up into the pair of wings as a beautiful song swam through her ears and hypnotic patterns filled her vision. The only thing that woke her from this wonderful trance was half the wings and the hypnotic patterns suddenly vanishing as the moth girl flew off towards something. She moaned, disoriented, as she tried to regain her focus. There was something really big and bright in the room now… She wasn’t quite sure what it was… Though she got the feeling it was annoyed at her… ohhhh, right… “heeeyyyyy, godddesss…” Keilumina looked down at her, clearly very disappointed. “You didn’t even try.” Isa sleepily shook her head. “Yeaaaahhh… Look, it was gonna end with me getting brainwashed anyway… This way, you don’t have to deal with me being used against you, and I get to be a cozy little sub for people I'm reasonably confident have no ulterior motives… And who make me feel nice and sleepy…” She snuggled up to the siren, who continued crooning softly in her ear, not enough to make talking impossible but certainly enough to make her feel so, so good… “And you really want to be in this situation? “ Isa nodded. “Yeaaaa… I think getting brainwashed and hypnotized and stuff so much really gave me a hypnofetish… This is the life… They all pamper me, sometimes I pamper them, we’re all one big blissful family.” 

The door opened and the cuttlefish girl and deer girl walked in. The cuttlefish girl smiled at Isa and rubbed the deer girl’s head. “Tell your best friend forever what you are!” The deer girl blissfully murmured, “I am a little fishy… I’m swimming in the deep blue sea…” The cuttlefish girl smiled proudly, then noticed Keilumina. “Oh, hello! Are you interested in hypnotizing our pet Isa as well?” Keilumina sighed loudly. “Do you at least have an idea of who else should be the chosen hero?” Isa nodded, her voice muffled as she snuggled up to the siren again. “Yeahhh, there’s a girl working as a blacksmith in the town near the forest, her family was all enslaved and she’s been secretly arming the entire town just in case… I think she’ll be a great hero…” Keilumina nodded, still clearly a bit annoyed but happy she had a replacement lined up at least. “Alright. I will go speak to the blacksmith. You enjoy… Whatever you have decided to do here.” Isa sleepily murmured, “I will, thanks, biby…!” Keilumina sighed and went to choose a new hero, and Isa settled back down to her wonderful new life of gentle hypnotic bliss…