This power could provide a method to go back home. It could unlock endless possibilities that he could never conceive or wish for on his own.
With Alice bonded to his soul, Lucid could achieve anything.
A sudden, quiet revelation settled over him. He was not merely submitting to her demands. The dynamic was the exact reverse opposite.
He had her wrapped in his own chains. She could not interact with the physical world without his body acting as the conduit. She needed his mortal anchor just as desperately as he needed her divine strength. They were trapped together in a perfect, unbreakable stalemate.
Lucid uncrossed his legs. He inched closer across the green grass and reached out toward her. He gently held her hand.
Alice hitched at his sudden touch. Her fingers tensed against his palm.
Lucid lifted her hand carefully, keeping his eyes locked onto her face. His voice emerged as something charming, deliberate, completely lacking in the usual sarcasm that characterized his speech.
"I stand before you as your willing servant," Lucid told her, each word measured and sincere, "as your devoted instrument in the physical world, asking only that you permit me to serve your will in all things. I am yours, Alice. Completely and entirely yours. I ask nothing except the privilege of existing in your shadow."
Alice looked at him. Her pale cheeks flushed deeply, the color spreading from her jawline upward until even her blindfolded forehead carried the marks of her emotional response.
He lifted the back of her hand closer to his face and pressed a soft, deliberate kiss against her skin, his gesture carrying the formal submission of a slave to their god.
"My goddess," he whispered against her fingers. "My eternal master. I am bound to you now, and I surrender willingly to whatever you require of me."
Alice's breathing became noticeably shallow. Behind her blindfold, tears began to form, sliding silently down her cheeks as she realized that he had finally and completely accepted the nature of their arrangement.
With those calculated words hanging in the air under the massive branches of the solitary tree, her breathing shifted. The rhythm of her inhalations became noticeably heavier above him.
Lucid closed his eyes.
'Yes,' he thought, feeling a grim sense of accomplishment. 'This must do the job.'
He opened his eyes and looked up at her face. A visible red tinge crept across her pale skin, starting at her neck and flushing upward. Her two hands moved slowly across his shoulders, tracing a path until they clutched the sides of his jaw.
Suddenly, a heavy weight settled directly on top of his hips.
'Wait, no,' Lucid thought, his pragmatic satisfaction instantly dissolving into sheer panic.
She straddled his waist completely. Lucid could smell her bodily odor and her unique scent as she shifted her weight to find a comfortable position against him. She smelled of crushed leaves and warm rain. Her hands slipped from his cheeks, moving upward to grab the top of his head and slide beneath the nape of his neck.
The sensation was undeniably comforting.
It was also incredibly weird. He did not know why his body reacted with such immediate ease to her physical presence.
"Do you have any idea how much those words just touched me?" Alice whispered, her voice vibrating against his chest. "I feel relished over you. Thank you so much."
They sat together in silence for a long moment.
The environment around them provided a perfect, uninterrupted backdrop. The grass was a vibrant shade of green. The sky stretched out in an endless expanse of clear blue. The sunlight felt pleasantly warm on his skin, providing comfort without the oppressive heat of a midday summer.
It was heaven, for lack of a better term.
Slowly, his right hand started creeping up the back of her head. He let his palm rest against her soft hair. He caressed her shoulder blade and slowly dragged his fingers upward. She was unbelievably soft. Her skin held a texture that defied logic, feeling smoother than any biological entity had any right to be.
They remained tangled together on the grass until she finally pulled her head away from his collarbone. She looked otherworldly. She projected the image of an absolute divine beauty even without the ability to see through her stained blindfold. Lucid felt his heart execute a rapid flutter against his ribs.
Alice spoke first, breaking the tranquil silence. "You had thoughts."
Lucid looked away toward the horizon. "I have many thoughts."
"No," Alice countered softly, her tone dropping into a teasing register. "I mean at the market."
Lucid froze completely. His muscles locked in place. He rapidly calculated what she could possibly mean by that specific location.
"I tried to understand you," Alice explained, her fingers tracing the collar of his white shirt. "But you possessed such unbecoming, lewd thoughts. I could not help myself."
"Wait!" Lucid yelled, suddenly shattering the quiet atmosphere of the soulscape.
Alice chuckled softly. The sound hit his ears with a pleasant, musical cadence. She pushed off his chest, sitting upright across his waist, and looked down at his fog-covered face.
"Do you like it?" she asked genuinely. "I changed myself just for your desires. Flesh is flesh, but our souls shall forever be intertwined."
Lucid looked at her body. She looked exactly like every detail he had ever imagined regarding the perfect female form. Her shoulders were delicate and slightly tinged with red from his earlier grip. Her curves pressed heavily against him. Her chest was barely contained by the heavy iron chains and the loose white robe. The fabric spilled open in several places, revealing far too much exposed skin.
Her waist curved sharply inward, leading down to her thick thighs. He analyzed the physical dimensions. She possessed the softest, thickest proportions he had ever seen. He immediately compared her to Ayame. Where the Oni mercenary was built of sharp angles, dense muscle, and intimidating posture, Alice was entirely soft. She was an hourglass figure designed for compliance and comfort. The totality of her body presented a figure that was barely covered by the white cloth. He saw significantly more bare skin than actual fabric.
Lucid looked away. The thick grey fog obscuring his face reddened slightly to betray his embarrassment.
Suddenly, a delicate hand touched his right cheek. She guided his head slowly back toward her.
"Do not look away from me, my darling," Alice commanded softly.
Lucid did not look away again. He stared directly at her face. Alice was conventionally beautiful. She represented the literal dream of any human imagination. Her hips looked fertile. Her chest looked incredibly soft. Her arms were thin and completely unblemished by the scars of combat.
Despite all of these perfect physical traits, a dark realization settled inside his mind.
He despised her.
He did not fully understand the origin of the hatred at first. He just knew he could not bring himself to think of her in a genuinely romantic manner. Their connection was a strict symbiotic relationship. He evaluated her face critically. He could not see her eyes behind the blindfold, but her expression communicated absolute devotion.
However, her expression also communicated a terrifying intensity. She looked at him with an overwhelming need. She focused solely on him, but she did it in the exact same manner a soldier might look at a legendary weapon. She viewed him as an object. It felt as if she did not see him as a human being with his own agency.
Lucid scratched that thought away immediately. He realized he was no better than her.
He needed her. He depended entirely on her divine authority. If she disappeared, all of his actions up until this point would amount to absolutely nothing. He had survived a literal death transaction because of her intervention. He had survived the collapse of six black holes before the previous universe folded in on itself. She was pretty. She was useful. More importantly, she was easily manipulated when he played along with her delusions of romance.
Lucid took his left hand and interlaced his fingers with hers.
He slowly managed his leverage and pushed her backward. He pinned her flat against the green grass. Her white robe spilled open further against the ground, revealing significantly more than any dignified maiden should ever expose. He took both of her hands and pinned them above her head. He rested his thumb near her wrist, looking down at her from his new position of physical dominance.
"Yes, I have thoughts," Lucid stated flatly, staring at her blindfold. "Bad thoughts and good thoughts. But none of these thoughts would ever make you think of yourself as the dignified maiden you pretend to be."
Alice looked up at his face. Her lips parted slightly in genuine intrigue.
Suddenly, a delightfully wicked smile spread across her face.
"I allow you to tarnish my dignified body in your mortal eyes, oh my love," Alice declared happily.
She pulled one of her hands free from his loose grip and brushed his cheek affectionately.
'How does she keep managing to do that?' Lucid yelled internally, feeling his entire tactical advantage evaporate into thin air. 'She is so good at this.'
He cleared his throat, refusing to admit defeat aloud.