Furan Shi woke up in a fetal position. His hands were tied together behind him, and his legs were bent, knees against his chest, with his feet tied together as well. It was dark everywhere. He could feel he was in a cramped area that felt vaguely familiar. He was trained not to panic in moments like this but either way, he didn't feel as though he should be worried much.
Possibly because the cloth gagging him smelled of his lover's scent.
「 "Finally awake." 」
「 "Where is this?" 」
「 "You're in the back of someone's car." 」
「 "Camilius'?" 」
「 "Ah, you are truly brilliant." 」
Only after hearing Raum's words did Furan Shi confirm that he was indeed in a moving vehicle. Judging by the complete darkness that engulfed him, he had guessed he was in the trunk, not the backseat. Not a very comfortable position, although he did feel some velvet fabric around him. Perhaps it was Camilius trying his best to make the trunk comfortable for the bunny rabbit. Still, he'd very much prefer it if he was in the backseat, thank you very much.
「 "But why would Camilius do this? Wait… what even happened? Wasn't I supposed to be waiting for backup..?" 」
He tried recalling what happened back in the Juicy Bunny. He could remember Daddy Uno pinning him down, scaring him, that he had to resort to using his [Teary Eyes] skill to be let go. He couldn't remember why or how he passed out, or when Camilius had even arrived.
「 "It's… hard to explain. You just passed out. Someone hijacked the system." 」
Furan Shi couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The car stopped, and he had to set aside his doubts about the hijacking situation to stay alert. He could hear the car door open, and feel the car shake slightly when it was closed. He listened to the footsteps — tried to, but they were too quiet to hear until they were two steps away from the trunk door.
It opened, and in came the moonlight from above. A silhouette blocked it partially as he loomed over the bunnyboy.
"How are you, darling?" It was Camilius, judging from the voice. It seemed to have a mirthful lilt to it.
Camilius chuckled when he got the bunnyboy's squirming as a response. "Oh," he said, feigning a gasp, "I forgot you're gagged haha. But don't worry, you will get that off later so you can say your vows."
He picked the tied up bunny and slung him over his shoulder like a cute sack of potatoes with drooping bunny ears before pushing the trunk door shut. "Do you know where we are~?"
Jinx's neck craned just so he could get a view of what was behind Camilius. The yard was dark without any other source of light but the moon, but it was enough to help him see that there was an old brick house in front of him.
No, it was a church, judging from the cross at the top of the triangular top and the bell tower at the side. Camilius turned around, forcing Jinx to tear his gaze off it and instead watch as the car slowly shrunk in his view. Camilius was advancing towards the church swiftly.
Jinx could see the python's tail was wiggling slowly behind him as he walked, like it usually does when it naturally follows the movements of Camilius' hips, but tonight, there's this certain twitching it was making, betraying a hint of the snake's excitement about something.
He wiggled slightly, just to keep Camilius talking for him, but the snake was out of words to explain it for him. He'd rather show it to the bunnyboy in his excitement.
He heard the heavy doors of the church creak behind him, and by then the light with a yellowish glow from inside the church poured out of it, contrasting the view outside and making it dark. The heavy doors were pushed close by two men wearing Serpenti masks, as though sealing the bunnyboy's fate.
Furan Shi still had no clue why they were in a church of all places. He could see candles were lit everywhere — yes, just candles sitting individually, but scattered, as though trying to imitate a romantic atmosphere but fails. If anything, Furan Shi felt creeped out.
He began to grow nervous.
Even after three years, Furan Shi can't still memorize the snake's temperament. All he could think about whenever he thought of the snake was "he's too possessive of Jinx."
But now, maybe that possessiveness would be taken to the next level. Maybe today was his funeral. Maybe after seeing him pinned down by Daddy Uno, Camilius had wanted to pull the "if I can't have you in this life, then no one can" stunt he did in the second turn of "But Cats Can't Eat This Much Sugar!"
They reached the altar, which Furan Shi only saw when he was seated down on a chair in front of it. Camilius sat in fromt of him, and only by then did he realize the other was wearing a black tux.
「 "Raum… is this…" 」
His gaze dropped down to his own body. He was wearing a white tuxedo with a weird, long, ruffled train that imitated a gown's skirt.
"Happy birthday, darling," Camilius spoke, gaining the other's attention in a beat. He couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his groomed face as he saw how beautiful his bunny was in that white outfit. He reached out to Jinx and carefully untied the cloth gagging him.
Jinx's first words were, "Camilius, what do you think you're doing?"
The python was too happy to mind the tone of his love's voice just now.
"We're getting married!"
Furan Shi was taken aback. Yes, he'd expected it after seeing their attire, but hearing it felt new, like it had a heavy ring around it that he couldn't quite place. "Married?" Jinx dumbly asked back.
The python grinned more, almost like a fool who was drunk on love. "Yes, darling. Married."
"But you're not eighteen yet."
"Does it matter?"
"Yes..!" the bunny cried, bouncing slightly to emphasize his point. "Isn't that a condition to our promise to get married?"
"Then we just have to break that promise and make a new one."
It seemed like Camilius had made up his mind.
「 "Raum, what do I do?" 」
「 "Maybe grow a backbone and be like a real Celes for once..? You don't really love him, Jinx. Or at least wait another year to make up your mind." 」
But Furan Shi wasn't asking because he didn't want to marry Camilius. It was the opposite. The atmosphere was set to be very romantic, and he thought the way he was brought here was very cool. He had forgotten the nervousness he was feeling a moment ago and was beginning to feel touched and excited by the python's efforts that his questions just now were merely lip service.
He felt as if he wanted this, too.
「 "Eh, you of all creatures should know that this is just two characters getting married." 」
「 "And I keep telling you that you shouldn't be treating this as a mere story just because that's the term I use. This is another reality…" 」
But Raum was muted away so Furan Shi didn't have to hear the end of it. He knew very well what Raum had been saying. It was just irritating to hear it nagging him like that.
"Love," he started, batting his lashes at the other, "can you please at least untie my hands?"
The python cooed at him, but he was seriously contemplating whether or not to set his beloved free. Jinx may just be planning to escape at this point, and he was feigning this lovestruck appearance. Ah, it was just hard to trust the situation again after seeing him with the bear earlier. He couldn't help but think this way after two turns of the bunnyboy leaving him.
Camilius didn't know how else to answer the bunnyboy at the moment.
He sized him up and down. Jinx couldn't really get away from him. He could just catch him and tie him up again if he decided to untie his feet and run away. For that, Camilius reached around Jinx to untie the rope binding his hands behind him.
Jinx, now free, stretched his arms and twisted his wrists to check them. He then looked back at Camilius with a smile. "Thank you."
He bent down and reached for the ropes binding his feet and undid them with ease. It was tied like a fucking ribbon..! He should've known! Camilius chuckled seeing his reaction. He felt the python's hand caressing the top of his head in a soothing manner.
As Jinx sat back up straight, Camilius signaled for one of his men to usher the pastor in. The pastor walked in with a black book in hand and stood behind the altar.
The two of them carefully kneeled down to start the ceremony.
We're here today to join in matrimony…
Camilius looked once more at the face of his wife-to-be. He'd waited seventeen years to be reunited with this bunny.. no.. with this person.
The one hidden behind this character.
"Do you, Camilius Fontaine, take Jinx Selvan to be your beautiful bunny wife to have and to hold, through sickness and health, 'till death do you part?"
Jinx gazed back at him with a soft smile that easily melted him. He breathed out a short, "yes, I do," mesmerized that this was truly happening.
"And do you, Jinx Selvan, take Camilius Fontaine to be your husband to have and to hold, through sickness and health, 'till death do you part?"
"I do.." answered Jinx, before looking back at his lover. There was a strange glint in the python's eyes he chose to ignore.
「 "I wish I could do this too with someone, sigh." 」
Camilius produced a red ring from the pocket of his suit and gently held Jinx's hand. He slid it onto his ring finger. And just then, Furan Shi felt as though his soul was sucked right out of his body, the air out of his lungs, but most of all, he felt his heart was being held tight, and then released.
His eyes widened.
"Then I pronounce you husband and wife."
Camilius pulled him in for a kiss, their mouths crashing hungrily. One-sidedly. Jinx pushed the other away, who began laughing loudly.
"You're mine now, darling," the python declared as he grabbed him by the wrist. "Don't ever think about running away ever again."
He pulled the other in again, this time with more force. He grabbed Jinx's jaws with his other hand and crashed his lips again against Jinx's.
Furan Shi tried to squirm away that he bit the other's bottom lip. His eyes, wide with fear, stared back at Camilius' hollow-looking ones.
「 "Raum..!" 」
In his panic, he almost had forgotten he'd muted Raum. He unmuted the system agent right away.
「 "Host, I told you this was a bad idea." 」
「 "You didn't tell me the most important part, you useless system..! This should be a no-brainer to you!" 」
He looked down at the ring hugging his finger. He tried taking it off with haste, but to no avail, and that's when he'd confirmed what he'd felt earlier.
「 Lucifer's ring. Connects two souls together. Activated with consent. Cannot be broken unless Lucifer himself disconnects the involved souls. Congratulations! 」
The ring sunk into his skin, and he felt as though his very soul shivered. That was when he noticed Camilius had the similar ring on his finger, which also disappeared into his skin. They may be gone, but Furan Shi himself could feel the connection between them. No — his connection with the person residing in Camilius' body.
He slowly gazed back up at the python's face, who was just smiling back at him fondly. "My darling master," he cooed, tracing the side of Jinx's face with his hand, the gesture only furthering the fear echoing in the bunny's guts.
"What's wrong with you now? You should be happy that we can be together now. In this world and in the others that would come."
"Wh.. what do you mean..?" Furan Shi didn't want to hear it. He didn't even know why he still had to ask when he knew the answer. Camilius shushed the obviously panicking rabbit by running a thumb slowly down his lips.
He pushed the finger into Jinx's mouth. The bunnyboy obediently parted his quivering lips and took in the thumb.
"Good," the python whispered, "it's working."
Jinx closed his eyes in fear and exhaled a shaking breath.
Camilius used his thumb to part Jinx's lips further by pushing his bottom teeth down. He slowly pulled it out and let it drag along Jinx's bottom lip, staining it with his saliva. He then brought his finger to his own mouth and licked it.
Furan Shi opened his eyes hesitantly, only to hold Camilius' watchful gaze. It was as if he was standing in front of a being larger than he could ever challenge, let alone face standing up.
"W-who are you..?" he uttered, almost in a whisper. The other cocked up a brow.
"Who am I?" The serpent huffed through his heady smile. "Who else would I be but your lover?"
Seeing the opportunity, Furan Shi didn't hesitate to push the other away with all his might. Camilius let himself get pushed away and merely watched as the other began to run down the aisle, disturbing the flames of the candles lined at the sides in his haste. The python raised a hand to signal for his men to stay put.
Instead, he pulled out a gun from the side of his belt and pointed it right towards the runaway bride.
The booming sound of a firing gun rang throughout the spacious church.
Furan Shi felt a sharp, searing pain on his leg before he stumbled down. He couldn't stop his falling onto the ground and went tumbling off his momentum. A soft whimper escaped his throat, and his eyes watered as the pain radiated along his whole leg.
It was his first time receiving a bullet, and it had to come from the person he trusted. It overwhelmed his senses that he'd forgotten to activate his numbing skill.
As he drowned in the pain, he couldn't hear Camilius' footsteps as he neared the bunnyboy, but Jinx nonetheless started crawling away to resume his escape. It was, as expected, futile. Camilius walked around him and blocked his path, crouching down in front of the bunnyboy and his small pout an expression of a feigned worry.
"Why are you running away right after we got married, hm?"
「 "Where is host going?" 」
With the tip of the gun, he caressed the skin under the bunnyboy's chin with a chilling slowness, the python following the movement with his eyes. "You should be excited for our honeymoon, no?"
"Camilius…" Jinx murmured, his teeth almost chattering as he forced himself to stay up, his arms planted on the floor. "I asked you a question. Who the fuck are you?"
Camilius raised the gun, stuck the muzzle against the bunny's temple. Jinx gasped and closed his eyes. This time, he remembered to hold his breath.
「 Using skill [The Monster lvl2] 」
"I'll send you an invitation, darling."
The booming sound of a firing gun rang throughout the spacious church for the second time.
「 Host Jinx(Furan Shi) died. 」
——————————
Furan Shi woke up with a gasp and sat up from his bed. He's back to his space, his new home as a transmigrator.
He woke up in his bed at the corner of the room only illuminated by the fairy lights overhead, draped around the floating silk canopy. It was all still; quiet, not unlike the reality he just left. Here, there were no echoes, no crickets outside; only him and the avatar of his system agent sitting by the footboard.
It was only then that he realized what happened: his vessel died, killed by his own lover.
"Raum…"
The bird hopped towards him, onto his lap. It tilted its dumb-looking head at an angle. "Yes, host?"
"Tell me…" he trailed off, as did his eyes toward the sides of the room, as though he was looking for something, anything to confirm his dreaded thought. "Tell me this is a dream."
But Raum answered without missing a beat. "This isn't. You died." Furan Shi didn't want to hear that, but there it was.
"No- no way.. no.."
His fear from having a bullet pierce through his head was slowly being replaced by a growing sense of helplessness and… frustration. Frustration… turned into dread, disbelief, everything all at once. And then he settled for rage. No, it just consumed him from the inside. He felt immense rage in his heart that he'd wanted to strangle anything on sight. Raum flew away just in case.
"M-my progress.." Furan Shi mumbled, lost in the swirling thoughts in his head. "This can't be real…"
"Wait.."
"My progress.."
"What..?"
The family he'd had. Aleister. Anton. Chai. The Serpenti group. Celes. Snow. The story. His three-year torturous training. Juicy Bunny. The Ursari. His being a saint. The bunnies. The businesses. The beatings. The tentacles that had threatened him. Camilius. The mafia. His networks. His wardrobe. His reputation. His plans.
His progress. All gone.
"Raum…"
He spun around on the bed to face the bird that had landed on the headboard. "Bring me back into that world." He commanded, bordering on pleading. "You- you can do that, right?"
"Tell me you can."
"I- I need… I need to get back there. The story isn't finished yet."
"Raum."
He was almost shaking the bed as his soft hands thumped on the thick mattress. "Raum..!"
"Host…" the crow started, a voice so quiet it made Furan Shi silent as well so he would be able to catch it. The young host crept closer without much of a sound.
"Yes..?"
"That's.. well-"
"Well?"
The bird sighed out a bird sigh. "There is something you need to know about that story card you just played."
"I'm listening," Furan Shi prodded, growing impatient.
In front of him, a holographic window appeared, separating him from the crow behind it. It displayed to Furan Shi details about the story card, "My Darling in the Mafia"
Story Card: "My Darling in the Mafia"
Level: 0
Tags: 'Animal Characteristics', 'sugar daddy', 'bunny', 'rabbit', 'romance', 'mafia', 'childhood friends'
Description: Unique reality for host Jinx[Furan Shi].
Furan Shi chuckled mirthlessly. "I already knew this, Raum."
But the crow poked its head out from the side of the window to refute whatever he already knew. "Host… a host doesn't get to have another unique reality aside from the one they departed from at the start of their transmigration journey. In your case, you already have your Earth reality."
Furan Shi's brows slowly creased in the middle of his forehead. "So this one..?"
"Your lover made this one for you—"
Nothing too alarming, the host thought, until the bird continued after letting it sink in.
"—using parts of Snow's reality."
Furan Shi had to sit back down — he hadn't realized he'd been starting to stand up by the knees — as if to sink into this new information, the mattress around him shifting quietly. The bird watched him do so without interrupting his thoughts, patiently waiting for a question to arise from his doubts.
But it wasn't doubt that welcomed Raum. "Where's… where's the rest of that reality?" He asked, pensive. Raum sighed out a breath of relief. Ah, it had almost forgotten the 85 potential its host has.
"That, my host, I have no idea." Raum replied. "It seems you've got yourself a powerful lover."
"Wait. A whole reality? Not just a story card?"
The corvid nodded solemnly. Furan Shi had nothing more to ask at the moment, and it seemed like Raum had nothing much to say unless prompted, so he forced himself to focus back on his new predicament.
His lover had killed him… just to send him that "invitation", if he recalled correctly. He turned to the rest of the room.
Everything was right as he'd left it, but on the desk by the footboard sat a golden envelope.
Ignoring the numbing pain he could still feel on his leg, perhaps the aftereffects of experiencing being shot for the first time, he climbed out of the bed and limped towards the desk.
"You're being overdramatic," he heard Raum say, whose crow avatar was then standing right behind him on the bed. Furan Shi glared back at him over his shoulder.
"And you're a useless game bird."
He grabbed the envelope and opened it. He found a letter handwritten just for him, along with what seemed to be a golden ticket with his real name engraved on it. Behind the ticket was the logo of a fiery phoenix, surrounded by the name "Lucifer Morningstar".
"Darling, I am extending my invitation to the grand ball to you, as my lover. You'll find your ticket in the same envelope. You will recognize me right away when we make eye contact as per the conditions of the ring that binds us together."
"Nah…" Furan Shi spoke in the middle of reading the letter. "How the fuck do I find him? By making eye contact with each host there? What the hell???"
Raum could only shrug its bird wings.
"The ball will be held after a hundred and eighteen years, so you can still hop into other worlds while you wait. There will be a portal waiting out your window by then. You can dress however you like."
"I will be waiting for you. Yours sincerely, Camilius."
And he still had the gall to call himself Camilius when he could've been honest to his forced lover and disclose his name, at least. What a character. Furan Shi crumpled the letter and tossed it away. It only floated right back to him and uncrumpled itself, and then slipped itself back into the envelope.
"Raum," he called, turning back to the small bird on the bed, "what is this ball the letter speak of?"
The bird shook its wings once and then its small head as if to stretch, before looking back up at Furan Shi with its dumb, beady eyes. "It's the ball for hosts and systems alike every five centuries, held at Lucifer's grand palace. With our long lives, we can only amuse ourselves with such festivities, get acquainted with the other hosts and systems outside of the realities."
"And this Lucifer person is..?"
"Why, Lucifer Morningstar is the name of our mother," the crow happily supplied, even tilting its head and bowing slightly.
"Mother..?"
The corvid nodded. "The one who created everything, every world and reality we experience. We collect data using our interactions with mother's creations, calling it experiences, and help mother create more realities."
Furan Shi became more pensive, worming rather easily out of his anger towards the bird system now that another intriguing thing was thrown his way. A grand ball for hosts and system agents… His "lover" would be there.
Thinking about that person made him fume once more that he locked away the envelope into his desk, slamming the compartment into place as he closed it.
"Raum, if he's not at least hot I will definitely skin you, and burn you alive," he threatened, "I will have you as my Thanksgiving turkey, remember that."
At the time, Furan Shi felt his threat could really happen in the near future, not because his lover may be ugly, but because his hands were aching to just catch the bird right then and there. Raum could feel it, too, so it tried its best to placate its host with a flock of sweetened words.
"I am ninety-eight percent certain you won't regret falling into your lover's trap," it then said.
"Thanksgiving turkey, Raum. I hope you remember that."
"O-of course, host." The crow bowed its head in defeat.
After a bird sigh, it flew in the air and hovered right where a holographic window appeared. It was time to see the product of Furan Shi's performance after being forcefully ejected out of that world and reading that damning letter.
"You went through three storyframes — two of which were "But Cats Can't Eat This Much Sugar!" and the last "My Darling In The Mafia" — and used two story cards. Your B points from the three storyframes are seventeen, twenty eight, and seventy-four, respectively."
"As for C points, you gained six thousand, eight hundred and five in total. The world also gave you an additional 20k C points with the note 'as promised, baby boy. Huhu you're my favorite character but you had to go so soon huhu'."
At least that could pacify Furan Shi and momentarily forget the whole lover thing. He at least hoped the other party was handsome and sharp and could spoon him. Oh, and that just reminded him of something!
"Raum, can I still go back to that story card? Since… you know — it's mine and all that."
"Negative," Raum responded immediately. "It's still undergoing stabilization as its main battery source — you — got suddenly ejected out of it. And I can't just put you back in. That would be disastrous."
Furan Shi's pinky finger twitched, hinting at his nervousness from the situation. "But… my progress was saved, right? I can just go back later?"
"Sure." Raum's host could finally breathe again.
"Can you at least try to see if my… erm- lover is still in there?"
Furan Shi shuffled back to the bed and sat down, the crow hopping to the side to give him space.
"They're not there anymore. Camilius had shot himself after you."
He glanced down at his hand. His left hand. There he found the cursed ring Camilius had given him, hugging his finger snugly. And when he tried to remove it, it didn't budge one bit. Well, he wouldn't know what to do with it if he so happened to be able to do so, anyways. Perhaps throw it out the window, but then again he's already cursed to be with Camilius or… whoever was inhabiting that wretched python's body. Like the letter to the grand ball, it would probably just float back to him.
What a hassle.
"So what now?" He asked instead. "I can't go back there, right?"
"Well, in this case, I say you transmigrate to another world for now. Also, congratulations for (technically) completing your trial world, even if it wasn't how you'd planned it to end."
With Raum's advice, Furan Shi busied himself on the bed with finding a new world to settle into. He removed the 'sugar daddy' tag in the filters but kept the 'Animal Characteristics' one. And after a long while of surfing — which felt to him like window shopping — he found an interesting enough level one story card to experience.
He fixed his position on the bed by lying on his back, his hands on his chest and his legs straight beneath the blanket. Just for his amusement, he bought a cheap, non-wilting red rose off the system store and clutched onto it by his chest to resemble that one sleeping princess. With everything in place, he started the story card. Randomized character.
「 Transmigrating in ten, nine, eight… 」
「 Optimizing story setting for beginner host… 」
「 Optimizing character setting for beginner host… 」
「 Planting [Mother's Eye]. Progress: 0% 」
Ah- he forgot to activate the bonus multiplier again.