Izuki awoke in an empty space. Almost like a void of some sort, he would have described it as a black sea of infinity, but it was almost as if the place lacked the concept of light. Was he dead?

He tried moving his arms but it was hard almost like he was in some kind of viscous liquid. A similar discovery was observed when he tried to move his other limbs. 

‘Wait, what of-?’ he thought as he struggled to turn his head. A useless attempt as he seemed to be submerged in the liquid completely. Where in the world could this place be? Was he even on earth? Does this place even have a location?

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Putting in a little more effort, he moved his hands and legs slowly as he began to move upwards. To say it was hard would be an understatement. He constantly had to stop in between attempts just to catch his breath. After doing that for about an hour he saw a small light at the top. This gave him a surge of energy as the thought of escaping this slippery hell filled him with joy.

‘C’mon. Almost there…’ he thought as he felt all his major muscle groups being shredded with each stroke. He felt exhausted. The light slowly approached him getting bigger as he reached out only to be stopped by a barrier. The light fluttered slowly on the other side, almost taunting him.

Izuki wanted to yell but as he opened his mouth no words, not even a sound came out. He felt small. His surroundings towered over him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t alone. His surroundings tightened even further around his neck as if begging him not to make a sound, lest he attract whatever beast was in that Sea of infinity.

He hated this feeling. It was an emotion he knew very well. In a way, he felt a weird kinship with the void he was in. It was dark and empty yet so full it suffocated him tightly. Trying to break free from it was an infinite struggle and when you felt like you’d finally found hope, an invisible wall was stopping you from reaching it.

‘Wait, then what is the presence I keep feeling?’ thought Izuki with a puzzled look. 

Just then, in the distance, he felt a movement in the liquid. A cold sweat ran down his back as he saw a black creature approaching him quickly from the darkness. There was quite a distance between him and the creature, but that distance was closing freakishly fast.

‘Holy shit!’ he thought as he began to bang on the barrier with his hands. He then tried to take a deep breath so he could calm down, he opened his mouth and tried to take a slow breath. ‘No!’ he thought as the fear dawned on him. He couldn’t breathe. This void had taken away one of his most essential weapons, his ability to stay calm. Being able to stay calm gave him the ability to think clearly and choose the best course of action in any situation he found himself in, good or bad.

‘Fuck, what do I do? Fight?’ a glance at the approaching menace removed that option from his list. ‘Run? To where?’ he checked his location for something, anything. But not even a spec of dust was to be found in the sea of infinity. ‘Well damn, I guess this is it huh?’ he thought.

As he gave up, his brain, in a last-ditch effort for survival began to scan for all possible alternatives to death. It concluded. It was risky though. He remained still, allowing the creature to approach him, and approach him it did. Speeding up with no intention of letting his prey get away.

It lunged at him, its fangs bared as it prepare to attack him. In an instant, Izuki opened his eyes and dashed to his leaving allowing the creature to collide with the barrier.

A loud bang reverberated throughout the void as the collision occurred. The creature howled and writhed in pain, but quickly collected itself preparing for its next attack. But before it could a crack was heard, both Izuki and the creature turned to look at the barrier which now had a crack in its formerly spotless surface. Then the crack expanded and expanded until the barrier, at its limit gave way, sucking Izuki and the creature into its new opening.

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Izuki tried to move his limbs, which he could do easily. He got up, checking his surroundings. He was standing on absolutely nothing and his feet were quivering. He didn't see anything for miles. But upon looking upwards he was left speechless.

Stars and galaxies were scattered all around the roof if he could even call it that. It seemed to go on forever with no distinct end in sight.

Izuki looked back, expecting to see the barrier. But it was gone, all that was left was some of the black liquid and the creature writhing in pain. Wait, the creature? Oh, fuck, the creature! He was so absorbed in his surroundings he had completely forgotten that it was there. How was he going to deal with it? 

He heard a set of faint footsteps approaching, "Okay, that's quite enough, Draco nigrum" a feminine voice called out from behind him. He turned around, a woman approached him with a smile on her face. She was dressed in a purple gown that reflected the cosmos. Her long, white hair, her snow-white eyes. Her pale skin, and her full features. There was only one word on Izuki's confused mind.

'Beautiful, simply beautiful. She looks like some sort of noble. he thought.

"My, thank you ever so much Mr. Kikuhara. I'm glad my looks are to your taste," she replied blushing a little.

"I didn't say anything though..." replied Izuki calmly in contrast to his thoughts.

'She looks important, what is she doing here? What am I doing here? So many questions so few answers. She seems capable of reading my mind. Does that mean she can hear my thoughts? I'll just play dumb for now! he thought as he assumed an innocently ignorant expression.

"You're an impressive man. To think you'd escape my little trap so easily. Don't bother playing dumb either, it'll only get you hurt." She advised as she wrapped her arms around him.

Izuki took a deep breath, she smiled as soon as he did. She had laced the air with a mind-controlling gas. As soon as he had entered this domain, it had begun circulating throughout his body.

"Get your hands off me. It feels disgusting," he said calmly.

'What?! He's unaffected? But how?' she thought.

"Oh my apologies," she said as she backed away.

"Where am I? Who are you? and what is that?" he said pointing at the now-standing black creature. Upon observing it closely it was quite horrific. It had two rows of teeth, no eyes, a black tongue, and a black emancipated body. Its face was twisted into a repulsive smile that made Izuki shudder a little.

"Oh, that's Draco nigrum. He is a Shriek in my service," she stated calmly as if it were normal. The shriek grunted as if in agreement. 

"As for your other questions, why not join me for tea?" she sweetly whispered 

To be continued...

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