Memories, purpose, power.

Darkness. Complete, pitch black darkness. The faint, awful smell of wastewater. The only sound to be heard was that of a single drop of liquid dripping into a shallow pond every other minute. The floor beneath seemed like hard, uncomfortable concrete, as did the wall his back was against.

William’s arms were high in the air, his wrists held together with metal handcuffs and tied to something above him. He was sitting on the hard floor. He felt cold, and the humidity of the place was starting to make his throat sore. Yet uncomfortable as it all was, Will felt strangely… peaceful.

Silence. Silence except for that dripping water. Silence even inside his own mind. No voice in his head complaining, nagging or pushing him. No voice making inappropriate comments, info-dumping or making crude jokes. He didn’t hear a thing. Ishtar was gone.

…

He was just waking up. How long was he out? He couldn’t tell and had no way to. Not even a single window to tell if it was day or night. He could remember, though. His last memory was pushing himself past his limits to fight Helga.

A stupid idea. One of many, courtesy of one William Sawyer, a nobody given too much power by mere chance. And now Ishtar was gone. How or why, he didn’t know. He wondered why he was even alive. What worth was there to him without her in his head? Why keep him prisoner?

Will felt exhausted, thirsty, hungry, but most surprisingly, he felt free.

The never-ending lust was gone. The near uncontrollable desire for women was gone. The hunger he felt before, the drain due to abstinence was no longer an issue. The real hunger for food and his dry mouth were now a more present concern than sex ever was, and Will smiled. He felt… free.

He was back to being a random nobody. A sentimental, insecure fool. He had no power anymore. No magical allure, no super strength, no mind reading, so magic blasts… No supernatural sexual prowess. He chuckled weakly, audible only as the faintest of echoes.

No magical allure, no sexual prowess… Harem life was over. Even if he were to believe that those girls liked him for more than just that, which he still didn’t, it was over regardless. It wasn’t sustainable. And Will was… shockingly okay with it.

He shook his head, grinning tiredly. In this situation, why would that even be on his mind? Captured, held prisoner, one would think he’d have more to worry about, but it was like his body had given up, and his mind was following suit.

But again, what worth was there in keeping him? Ishtar had called him a prodigy at learning magic before, but now he had lost the one thing he could be good at.

Again, he smirked weakly, unconcerned. He couldn’t remember anything after passing out, but he somehow knew Ishtar was safe. Something like an echo of parting words remained in his head, words he could make out. What she said or why she said it, he didn’t know, but he was sure she had managed to escape.

That was fine.

Ishtar was the true prodigy. She would roam the world again, find a more suitable host and start over, reaching greater heights than she did with him. The other girls would leave him, too. If not immediately, then eventually. If he didn’t show up soon, they’d just move on. That was… fine, too.

Without powers, he wouldn’t be able to keep any of his promises. He wouldn’t be able to satisfy them, he wouldn’t be able to take part in the new business, he wouldn’t be able to be the lover they wanted him to be. He… felt bad about that. He always tried his best to keep his promises, so if the girls left because he couldn’t, that was fair. It didn’t feel nearly as bad as having them cheat on him.

Will blinked. His eyes were getting used to the darkness. He was able to start making out the walls around him. It was a small room of brick walls and a heavy, sliding metal door in front of him. No wonder that dripping sound seemed so loud. It was such a tiny space.

Will closed his eyes. When his captor, Helga most likely, came through that door, he’d tell her he had no value anymore. No, then, he’d likely be killed to keep him quiet. But… was that really so bad?

Maybe the exhaustion made him delirious. He understood in the back of his mind that he should be trying to escape and survive, but…

…

What would he do if he got out alive? Continue his aimless journey through life, most likely. Go back to focusing on university, get that degree and try to find a decent job. That’s what you’re supposed to do, isn’t it? That’s the correct path.

…

What was he studying, again? Journalism, right. Why? Because… Because hopefully he’d be able to make a living out of taking pictures.

…

An image popped into his mind, one of his middle school days. Not just an image. A picture. A photo. A bunch of guys and girls grinning, shouting and making faces at a birthday party while they looked at the camera. Will had found that digital camera in the attic, asked his dad if he could have it and he said yes. He took it to that birthday party on a whim and ended up taking over 30 pictures of their group having fun. Some days later he made a simple video with them with music over it and shared it. His friends loved it.

Will chuckled. It was coming back to him. After that, he ended up becoming the class’ photographer. School events, trips, outings… Will was always taking photos and sharing them. It continued even in high school.

…

Yeah, that was actually how he met his first girlfriend. He found her walking her dog and asked if he could take a picture of it. After she accepted, he asked if he could take a picture of her with her dog. He shared the pictures with her and they continued talking even after that.

People always invited him to parties so he could take pictures, and Will was happy to do it every time. Immortalizing a memory in a single frame. There’s something poetic about it that Will adored and people liked his pictures, leading him to make many friends.

When it came time to leave for university, Will decided to go for something where he could use his one honed skill. His family didn’t want him to pick something as ‘risky’ as some art degree, so journalism was a compromise.

He sighed and muttered under his breath, “When did that stop?”

No. It never did. Will never actually stopped enjoying photography. His life just… made a very unexpected and extremely sharp turn when Ishtar, heh, came into the picture. Actually, his photography skills were what led him to Cynthia, to Reina, to Anna.

…

The photoshoots with Reina were very fun, and not just because of the sex before them. Reina was a skilled model who knew how to BE in front of a camera. She shone in front of the lens and under the lights.

“...I want to take pictures of her again.”

The sound of a large drop of water falling in the pond echoed in the tiny room at the exact same time Will felt something ripple inside him. Wait. DID something ripple inside him? He couldn’t tell. It felt like it did, a phantom sensation of something familiar, but so, so weak it could’ve very well have been his imagination.

“...”

Anyway, thinking of Reina was… pointless. Pointless and painful. She would move on, he was sure. She had a bright career ahead of her. She didn’t need him anymore. She had her own powers now, powers that could make her dream a reality.

If not those girls, then what did Will have to go back to? When he asked himself that question again, he was surprised to think of a different answer.

The thought of a seemingly endless wasteland. He thought of dinosaur-like creatures, of giant snakes, of huge and unsettlingly smart birds. He thought of them and smiled.

“I’d like to take pictures of them,” he muttered.

Creatures straight out of fantasy, yet so real he could’ve lost his life to them. Ishtar didn’t know everything about them, and while Johana knew more, she didn’t have all the answers, either. Will was… curious.

He remembered Ishtar telling him that maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a hunter, and Will believed she was right. He was less interested in killing those things than he was learning about them. The fire-breathing abilities of the T-Rex-like monster, the totally silent flight of the Black Roc… It was interesting. Hell, even incubi and succubi made him curious.

“...”

How much did Aoi and Nanami know, he wondered. Where and how did they learn what they already knew? He wanted to ask them.

“...”

He never did take pictures of them, huh? He should’ve. Beautiful women, the two of them. Why did he never think to ask them if he could take some pictures? All the fighting, danger and supernatural stuff must’ve pushed it out of his mind.

Lately, all he thought about was training, potion making, the consultation office, the deals with Belphegor, Ishtar’s physical body…

A sharp pain hit his chest. He lowered his head and muttered an apology. “Sorry, Ishtar… I wasn’t able to keep that promise.”

That girl. That meddlesome, troublesome, hedonist girl. She came into his life without asking and turned it upside down fully planning to make him his puppet. How did someone like that end up becoming so important to him? The silence in his head was jarring and uncomfortably loud.

Crazy and dangerous as it all was, Will still didn’t regret anything. Ishtar led him to meeting Amelia, Cynthia, Anna, Reina, Ruth, Nanami and Aoi. Complicated as his own feelings were, he couldn’t, wouldn’t, deny that it had been… fun.

Drip.

Making out with Amelia in that elevator for the first time, going with her to her apartment and sleeping with her after only a few words exchanged. It was the wildest thing Will had ever done.

Drip.

Doing it with Cynthia in her office under the pretext of a job interview. She wanted him and he wanted her. There, she drew something inside Will that took pleasure in playing a more… dominating role.

Drip.

The photoshoot with Reina, having sex just before to use the magical afterglow to enhance the erotism of the photos. It was supposed to be just business, and yet she was so taken by him she asked to be his girlfriend immediately after. Even though he refused, he couldn’t deny it stroked his ego immensely.

Drip.

Anna’s interest also stroked his ego. He didn’t understand that it was the magic making her have an interest in this particular man, but that she would still want to be with him after learning about it… Maybe it meant more than he gave it credit for.

Drip.

Ruth was supposed to be a random girl. Someone to test his powers on. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave it at that, and neither could she. That hookup, that first date… It was a happy, sexy memory that Will would probably carry forever.

Drip.

Nanami chose to trust him. She understood his power better than any of the others, understood what it could do, yet still she chose to be with him. She trusted him and embraced the nature of his powers, leading to many fun nights. And days. And afternoons.

Drip.

Aoi was his teacher before he was his lover, but being both made everything so much better. Having her worry over him after a sparring session, getting hot and heavy in the showers after practice… Not to mention the weight of her commitment. She was just incredible.

Drip.

“...”

Somehow, his mind felt a little clearer, his body slightly less heavy. Giving up was never a real option, was it? Whatever happens after, happens. But first Will needed to get out of here.

It was very likely that the girls would try to look for him. Aoi was probably already on the case with Johana. Amelia and Cynthia had some contacts. The chances of Will being found weren’t zero.

But he wouldn’t sit idly and just wait. When an opportunity came, he’d be ready. He had just found a way to prepare.