I clenched my jaw. "What are you? Some kind of ancient Yin monster? A forgotten god? A misunderstood beauty sealed away for eons, waiting for a dashing hero to break your curse?"
I laughed—nervous, forced.
What the hell am I saying? Why am I flirting with a monster? Is this place still messing with me? My thoughts and my mouth had no barrier here.
Then—
A soft, creepy chuckle.
"Oh? You want me to be a beauty? Waiting for her dashing hero?"
My spine locked up.
"And you... are my hero?"
The way it spoke—sweet, teasing, wrong. Like honey poured over something rotten.
"Yes?"
WHAT?! NO! WHY DID I SAY THAT?!
Shut up, shut up, shut up!
It giggled. "Fine. I will be your beauty."
"Huh?"
The air shifted.
The grotesque began to shrink.
The writhing tendrils retracted. The massive, oozing limbs withdrew. The sheer, suffocating presence... condensed.