The servant inched the door open and Rosalyn kept her mouth shut as she struggled to keep her breathing steady. Despite how batshit this was, she was getting out of here and away from Rhizaid and her fucking servants. She’d felt bad for the one without a tongue, but this one she wasn’t too much of a bleeding heart for.

The inside was a large space that looked like it could have been a department store warehouse, with shelves upon shelves of crates. Some of the open spaces had workstations, wooden benches covered in various mortifying tools that squicked Rosalyn out enough, even if the scent of coppery blood wasn’t hanging in the air.

Bugs. The King had said something about the last bug he’d been ‘gifted.’ They had to be alive. Adapts creatures. Rosalyn’s stomach flip-flopped. Creatures implied living things.

This bug was a living thing. She wanted to scream. Wanted to ask how the fuck she was going to be ‘inside’ of a living thing. She clutched her belly as it occurred to her that the missive was also inside of a living thing. That the heir was going to have to get it out, somehow.

Rosalyn weighed her options. She could scream. She could signal whatever workers were in here, get this servant in shit, reveal the plan and then...what? They’d return her to Rhizaid, she could use this experience as proof she was loyal, and then...what? Continue to wait for an opportunity to try to escape? Or just live her days as a pet in a cage until KC and friends figured out how to get her home? Would she be able to keep the missive a secret, or would Rhizaid cut her open to figure out what it was? Would whoever this servant was working with slaughter her in revenge for getting their teammate caught? So many variables.

She stifled a grunt as the servant jerked her around a corner between two rows of crates. The second option was to go along with this, however horrific it might be. The fear pulsing through her, the disgust...that was all well and good, but at the end of the day, even if it hurt, death didn’t mean actual death in this place. It meant respawning in the forest, regrouping, and trying again. Maybe without an important item stashed in her belly, who knew.

And if the theory that completing the game was what got her out was true...it probably made more sense to do this, to go with it, and hope that it led her to the heir. And if she was lucky, she could just puke up the fucking missive instead of him cutting her open for it.

The servant leaned in, breathing into her ear. “Left, gonna lift you, don’t make a sound.”

Rosalyn took a deep breath, and made her decision. She nodded.

The demon lifted her over one shoulder, and she tried to stay as stiff as she could so she would be light and easy to transport. The marshmallow dog scuttled after them, weaving back and forth in that unnerving pattern along the floor.

Then, her whole world flipped as the servant whipped her from her shoulder, and everything was warm. Something pulsed at the edge of her range of hearing, like an electromagnetic pulse dancing with her eardrums but not actually activating them. Rosalyn barely had time to catch a glimpse of the demon before the marshmallow thing was on her, and she sputtered as the soft fur tickled her lips.

Then, darkness.

It was so total and blinding that it felt as if the very black itself was pressing in on her, stealing her breath. The critter seemed to be able to move, however, and settled around the back of her neck like a soft pillow. She had to admit to herself that it wasn’t unpleasant.

“Am I inside a body?” Rosalyn whispered, the sound very muffled, even to her own ears. She didn’t know if Smeesh could hear her, didn’t know if his ‘soul’ would talk to hers like it did with the demon servant. But she knew who could hear her. “Did you guys see anything?” She closed her eyes.

The chat wasn’t at pure breakneck speed, but still hard to follow. She did catch a few hashtags here or there, #SaveRosie was one, and another something about Rainbow but she didn’t catch it.

“Save Rosie, huh?” she asked, trying out a laugh, though it sounded more like a dry cough. “Am I trending?”

A donation message popped up from a user she wasn’t familiar with. UsUboo: bitch ur viral! i havent turned off my computer for ten fukkin hours

KCxbone: We didn’t catch anything and not sure what you’re in, are you okay?

“I’m as okay as always,” Rosalyn replied. “Trapped again. This time maybe inside of a monster, with a marshmallow dog for company.”

DaisyDuchess69: And US! WE’re company!

“And I love you for it,” Rosalyn said, taking in a sharp breath. Her chest constricted a little, as with the pressing darkness she felt like she should be smothered, but somehow she wasn’t having trouble breathing. The pressure was like the noise, it was at the cusp of her human senses and she wasn’t sure what it was really doing, if she could even properly comprehend it. “Are you writing fanfic yet?” she asked, to avoid thinking—she needed a break from thinking too much.

Smeesh shifted against the back of her neck, and it maybe felt like it was a nuzzle, almost a comforting gesture, but she wasn’t sure if she were just reaching, grasping at straws for kindness.

DaisyDuchess69: Oh fuck yeah, I’ve been crafting up poetry about King Daddy Drak’s giant beast cock.

Bile rose in Rosalyn’s throat. Maybe from the outside, she’d feel the same. When enjoying stories, be it through video games or movies or books, she often was drawn to the villainous characters. The charming scoundrels with no morals and a sadistic streak. She loved a good bad boy.

In a story.

That she wasn’t inside of.

Where ‘bad boys’ wanted to torture and kill her.

“I hope it’s you sucking that beast cock and not me,” Rosalyn said, keeping her tone light despite her brick in her stomach. “Not gonna lie, I’m more into Rhizi, outside of the pet play and tongue removal.”

BriGuyMonster: I have a question that I dunno if it matters, but I was thinking why none of the demons have reacted to you having human feet if they’ve never seen a human before

Rosalyn chewed over that for a moment, the abrupt change of subject not unwelcome. “That’s a good question. None of the creatures in that prisoner museum were humanoid. I mean, I haven’t been all that far into this world or seen a lot of it, but with all the demons running around with the backwards knees or whatever you’d think they’d be curious about my legs.”

snapdragon1985: The knees aren’t actually backwards, the pointy bit at the back is actually the heel of the foot.

“Yes, thank you professor,” Rosalyn muttered. “I’d think that if this game was coded by human beings, then that’s why nobody is reacting to feet. Or like, the fact that they all speak English.”

KCxbone: Where is that critter that’s with you? Can you communicate with it?

“He’s behind my neck,” she said. “Like a cat. I don’t know why he wanted to come with me, and I have no idea how the servant was talking to him. Also, he needs a new name because Smeesh is terrible.”

The main chat went nuts, the name Marshmallow coming up the most, but it was hard to pick anything out.

“I legit can’t see what everyone is saying, there’s just too much chatter,” she said. “Are we legit doing a ‘name my video game pet in the comments’ right now? Somebody make a poll and let me know what the winning options are.” She curled her arms around her belly, and a wave of exhaustion crashed into her, a dizzy whirl of nausea following it.

KCxbone: Do you feel any movement yet? You might not be able to get out until it lands.

“I don’t think so, but it feels like...weird in here,” Rosalyn admitted. “I feel like I’m squashed in, but I can still move my arms and breathe, so I don’t know if I’d know if it’s moving or not.”

BriGuyMonster: how big is the space can you touch around you

She reluctantly let go of her stomach, and it let out a growl in protest. After puking up that sugar celery, the only thing she’d had was the golf pencil, and her gut was not happy with her. She kept one arm around her and felt around with the other, pressing against a squishy wall.

“It’s...soft?” she said. “About arm’s length in front of me. I’m sitting cross-legged and leaning back against it, and there’s about a head of space above me. That’s it. There’s no...like seams, or buttons, or anything. I don’t know how she closed me in here. The walls feel kinda like a balloon filled with kinetic sand.” She held her palm against it, realizing that she’d held off on investigating for this long because she was afraid that she would find a pulse or proof that she was nestled in guts. Thankfully, there wasn’t one, and it was a small comfort.

Just as she was about to say so, the world lurched, and she squeaked as she fell off-balance, and everything seemed to whirr around her, even the very air. She suddenly had the sensation that she was swinging back and forth like a pendulum, and her stomach went with it.

“Oh, I think we’re movin’ now,” she moaned, curling her legs up to put some pressure on her gut.

She was suddenly a child again, her mind transported back in time, a potent memory of being curled up in her bed, sick with a stomach flu. In a rare moment of care, her mother had come in to check on her, and showed her that soft pressure on her belly would help ease the nausea. She’d gently folded up an old pillow and tucked it against her stomach, rolling her small body to the side. She’d laid down in the twin bed with her, snuggling her tiny body from behind, and Rosalyn couldn’t remember another time they ever cuddled after that. Maybe that’s why the memory was so vivid in her mind, because it felt like the end of something. The last of something.

“I know I haven’t said it out loud but...it means a lot to me, all of you being here,” she said hoarsely, back in the moment, back inside of the flying bug in a demon world. “I’m betting most of you think this is some kind of stunt, all a hoax, and fuck, you know, I wish it was. I wish I’d have orchestrated all of this and that I was sitting around with a camera crew giggling over how excited my viewers are. I wish I could burst out from behind the scenes and yell ‘surprise!’ or have a Rick Roll waiting for you when this thing lands.” She paused, pressing her thighs against her arms to try to settle her stomach. “I guess it doesn’t matter if you believe this is real or not, because you’re here with me anyway.”

KCxbone: More of us believe you than you realize. We’re going to get you out of there.

“Have you like, slept yet?” Rosalyn asked, worry knotting her brow. “You’d better have eaten that pizza too.”

KCxbone: I’m good I ate and have been chugging your cold brew

“Ohmygod,” she moaned. “I’m so jealous. It was Brazil peaberry, KC, I was so excited to drink that. You better be enjoying every damn sip.”

KCxbone: It’s delicious, you’ll have to show me how you made it when you get back

Rosalyn took in a deep breath, letting it out in a slow hiss. The critter nuzzled its way down her back and around, settling against her chest and into the crook of her neck. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she struggled not to burst into sobs, knowing that would just make her nausea worse. The creature freaked her out a bit but he seemed to want to comfort her, and in the dark she could pretend he was a stuffed animal or something.

“This heir better be fucking worth it,” she murmured, and the furball bumped her chin directly after. She knew that she shouldn’t read too much into it, that it was probably just coincidental, but somehow it felt like he was trying to tell her that yes, it would be worth it.