Yes, and he asks his questions.

Everything was starting to make sense. Vicki asked his questions while the stew was cooking and listened intently to the woman’s answers. It became rapidly clear that this was, indeed, a totally different world from Earth. The woman called it “Velios”, she called the moon “Aros”, and the star that the planet orbited was “Hareth”. Colloquially, she still seemed to call these celestial bodies the “moon” and the “sun” just like on Vicki’s world, which was another detail like the shared language that made his head hurt to think about. Come to think of it, the idea of modern-ish humans existing on an alien planet could be added to the growing list of uncomfortable coincidences.

The woman, named Sefina Arifel, used to live in a nearby town named Calfed. She introduced herself as someone who had a relatively seedy past but now worshipped a being called Persephone through song and storytelling. Sefina was careful not to call Persephone a goddess, because she apparently wasn’t yet, but she was a being that had the blood of the divines in her veins. Truth be told, that name sounded sort of familiar to Vicki, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

“I see,” Vicki began, setting down his emptied wooden bowl and spoon, “so then what exactly do I have to do with any of this? How did I get here?”

“With Persephone’s divine guidance, I performed a ritual that summoned you here from another world. As for why, while she didn’t explicitly say, I can venture a guess at least. Before that, however, are you sure you don’t want anything to cover yourself with?”

Vicki was still naked. While there was a faint blush on her cheeks, Sefina had managed to maintain her upbeat and almost tomboyish demeanor even as she asked this.

“Does it bother you?” Vicki asked.

“Not in the least! You’re quite pretty and interesting to look at,” Sefina replied without missing a beat. “I’ve never seen a woman with a penis before. I wanted to ask in case your world is anything like ours. People here can get pretty embarrassed by nudity.”

This was similarly true in Vicki’s world as well, but he did yoga and jogged regularly enough, grew up with too many siblings, and was too close to his thirties to honestly let his own nudity bother him much. It was a little awkward, given that Sefina was not only clothed but dressed in an actual suit of leather armor while he was as bare as the day he was born, but if it didn’t bother her, it didn’t bother him either.

He also appreciated this girl’s candor, clearly not being ashamed of how she felt. She complimented him so immediately and smoothly, which only made Vicki want to continue exposing himself as he was, frankly.

As a sidenote, Vicki got a brief moment of euphoria when Sefina misidentified him as a woman, even though he was stark naked. Instead of assuming he was a guy who looked like a girl, this woman’s first instinct was to assume Vicki was a woman with a penis. Something about that made him feel wonderful. He did end up correcting her on the matter, however. Interestingly, when he did, her expression became immediately more concerned, but Vicki had no idea why. It didn’t seem like disgust or moral outrage, that much Vicki would have recognized right away.

Sefina peered at the mouth of the cave for a moment, out into the night, before returning her gaze to Vicki. “If it’s not a bother, I’d prefer if I explained the rest on the way to where we need to go.”

“And where is that?”

Sefina nodded to one of the cavern walls. It was connected to the smooth stone floor he’d awoken on, and it was likewise just as smooth. The exception was the likeness of an archway carved into the surface covered in runes and strange symbols.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a sealed door leading into ancient underground ruins buried in the cliffside. My Divine Mistress is inside, having been sealed away centuries ago.”

“Sounds like the sort of thing that happens in stories back in my world, and the treatment is usually well-deserved,” Vicki remarked, remembering the countless fantasy book and movie plots that utilized that very trope.

Sefina frowned at him, “While it is true that ancient horrors and demons have historically been locked away in similar ways, my Divine Mistress has been sealed for entirely the wrong reasons.”

They both stood up and walked toward the archway as Sefina explained. Evidently, this world was ruled by two gods, a god of darkness and discord, and a goddess of light and harmony. Time and time again, one of these two deities would gain power, their influence dominating the world, and the other would rise up to meet them. This constant back and forth frequently threatened to bring the world to a cataclysmic end.

Persephone was the granddaughter of both of these deities. The son of the goddess of light and the son of the god of darkness at one point put aside their differences for the love of a human woman. Sefina’s “Divine Mistress” was the result of the strange three-way union. Having been raised by the philosophies of light, darkness, and mortality, Persephone had a unique outlook on the world around her.

This unique philosophy attracted the attention of many followers who wished to help her ascend to true godhood, but also attracted the ire of the two gods. Fearing that Persephone might try to dethrone one or both of them, they worked together to seal her away. Since then, worshippers of Persephone have had to do so in secret, but Sefina believed it was time to change that.

Vicki wondered about the scientific veracity of someone having two biological fathers and a mother, but also realized this was clearly a world of magic, remembering Sefina’s glowing hand from earlier. He supposed anything was possible here, maybe that was why Sefina had misidentified his gender in such a strange way. The idea of a woman without a vagina and with a penis instead might not be so unusual when magic could interfere with genetics.

He arrived at the door. Sefina stopped explaining the situation and instead stood with arms outstretched in front of it. She then began to sing.

“O door of shine and shade,
Two gods you once obeyed,
Witness the light and dark,
Unified to embark.”

Sefina’s voice singing voice was absolutely amazing, it struck a deep chord in Vicki. Truly, it was the most beautiful voice he’d ever heard. He didn’t have much time to admire her pipes, though. As she sang, her right hand glowed with a bright radiance and her left hand was cloaked in what looked like a strange black mist, moving almost like a slow-motion black flame.

Once the song finished, Sefina clapped her hands together and both the light and black mist shot forward to the carved archway, coiling around each other as they flew. When they collided with the wall, the runes glowed fiercely and there was a loud snap. The large, smooth stone beneath them now had a long crack from the archway, and a piece of the carving was slowly lowering down into the ground, revealing a chamber within.

“Whoa,” was all Vicki could say. He just bore witness to real magic. Not some staged sleight of hand, but true magic.

Sefina giggled, “I’ve never seen someone so awestruck by such simple spells.”

“Back in my world there is no real magic. Not that I knew of, anyway. That was amazing.”

“If that is a treasure then your eyes shall soon see a bounty. Come, let us go within.”

“You seem like you’re in a hurry. How come?” Vicki asked.

Sefina hesitated, “It’s only because my Divine Mistress gave you her blessing that you survived the transportation to this world, and her blessing is continuing to protect you from a malevolent **** present throughout it, but it won’t last forever. I’ll explain along the way.”

Vicki nodded and decided to go along with their new companion. He appreciated the honesty, at least.

They stepped into the chamber, and it looked exactly like what Vicki might have expected from ancient, untouched ruins. Big grey stone bricks lining the walls, uneven flagstone on the floor, cobwebs, bugs, and small critters galore. What he did not expect were lanterns hanging from the ceiling by chains, lanterns that were lit with a dim violet light. They must have been magical, Vicki guessed, else they would have run out of fuel centuries ago. A corridor stretched out in front of them, and the cold air of this place immediately gave Vicki gooseflesh.

Vicki was also immediately concerned for his feet, walking around on a strange ancient stone floor without shoes seemed like a bad idea. Luckily, it seemed Sefina had a similar thought. She turned to him with an open palm, glowing green. A tingling sensation flooded Vicki’s body and he felt more protected. In fact, he actually thought there was a thick layer of leather between his feet and the stone floor until he looked down to find himself still bare. He thanked her and they began their venture.

True to her word, Sefina explained the more immediate situation as they navigated the ancient corridors. Currently, by all appearances, the forces of light and darkness were in a deadlock. In the east there were three kingdoms blessed under the goddess of light, and in the west a son of the god of darkness, Persephone’s uncle, ruled an empire of monsters. Neither side was at war with the other, and the kingdoms in-between these territories were neutral so far.

However, that did not mean there had not been casualties. The big bad demigod-emperor in the west had apparently unleashed a curse upon the known world, one that was extremely powerful and had a very harrowing result.

“It was a **** curse, one that specifically targeted men. There are no men left in this world. The Black Emperor himself is the last one that anyone knows of who is not a beast of the wild or a monster.”

“That motherfucker genocided the entire male sex!?” Vicki couldn’t hold back his shock.

Sefina nodded, “I can’t confirm if the Black Emperor has sexual relations with his mother, but yes. The curse first took effect twenty years ago. Since then, even babies with male genitalia are born without life. I can scarcely remember what my father looked like; his **** orphaned me.”

She went on to explain that while such an act would normally be grounds for total war, there were two factors that were preventing open hostilities. Firstly, the neutral territories were adamantly against war, citing that their lands would be devastated by battle the most. Ordinarily, the kingdoms of light may have been inclined to ignore their opposition and fight anyway if not for the second factor.

“No men means no children, no children means no soldiers,” Vicki said, understanding the issue completely.

Sefina nodded, “Meanwhile, the Black Emperor continues to summon, create, and breed more monsters. But I believe that all of these factors may have been his goal from the start. Not just tactically, I think there’s more to this than just a **** curse.”

“Oh?” Vicki was so enraptured with the conversation with Sefina, he was completely unaware of the various twisting passages they were walking through. He even almost stubbed his toe on a root poking out of the ground. He wasn’t sure if it would actually hurt with the strange protection spell, but he definitely would have taken a tumble.

“I believe the reason the middle territories are so opposed to an open conflict is because the **** curse also affected the women, however not in the same manner as men.”

“Mind control?” Vicki guessed.

Sefina pondered, “I don’t know. I was affected by this curse until Persephone found me and cleansed my mind. Even in retrospect, I would hesitate to call it ‘mind control’. I genuinely believed that what I thought and did was in my best interests even though I was really just acting in the Black Emperor’s. It’s as though he made his intentions feel like my own.”

“I see.” Vicki nodded. He was beginning to understand the look of concern Sefina had given him when he told her what his gender was. He did idly wonder how the curse would have affected trans people, she mentioned that babies born with penises die immediately, so perhaps it was limited strictly to physical sex.

Suddenly, Sefina grabbed his wrist just in time. Vicki watched as several pebbles were dislodged from the ledge he was about to walk off and disappeared into a jet-black abyss below, a scene he thought he’d only see in movies. He was so lost in his thoughts just now that he nearly walked right off a cliff. Vicki audibly gulped.

“Mind yourself!” Sefina scolded, clearly in a panic, “If we lost you, I don’t know if there would be any hope left for this world!”

Vicki was only silent as Sefina pulled him back onto steady ground. He was still paralyzed by his own mortality; in truth he had never come so close to **** in his life. Frankly, he was surprised at how calm he was.

After both of them caught their breath, Vicki’s brain finally caught up to what Sefina said, “I had no idea I was so important. I don’t think you’ve properly explained why I’m here yet.”

Sefina urged Vicki to move on and they continued walking, avoiding the ****-chasm at all costs, before responding, “Truthfully, I don’t fully understand why myself. Persephone has come to me in my dreams, in visions, to explain what I needed to do. All she has explained was the ritual to summon you, when to do it, and where to go once I did. Beyond that, she has only made abundantly clear how important you are. I know I’m supposed to guide you to where she has been sealed away and perform another ritual. I believe this second ritual will allow her to communicate with you directly and explain what needs to be done.”

“And if I refuse?” Vicki asked, and thought he was being perfectly reasonable by asking this. This whole situation already felt way above his paygrade, and he wasn’t sure he even trusted this Persephone yet. He couldn’t even figure out why that name still felt so familiar to him.

To his surprise, Sefina didn’t look offended, “I would not blame you, it’s not likely whatever task she has for you is going to be easy or without considerable risk. But you’ll find that Persephone is by no means unreasonable. I just ask that you keep an open mind and not refuse outright. At least listen to what words she has for you.”

Vicki supposed he could at least promise that much, he felt very comforted by the fact that Sefina wouldn’t hold it against him. They were obviously perfect strangers, but Vicki was growing to like Sefina. When he imagined a born-again religious zealot, he didn’t tend to think of someone as practical, casual, and down-to-Earth as Sefina, and he appreciated that.

“In fact, in one of my visions, Persephone told me to relay that you would be compensated with what your heart truly desires if you aid her. She specifically wanted me to mention the letters ‘B-D-S-M’ to you.”

Vicki nearly froze in place; a shiver ran down his spine. That was way too close to home to be just a coincidence. For some reason his mind drifted to the strange dream he had before being pulled here with the beautiful woman kneeling on the ground in front of him.

“I have no idea what it symbolizes, does it mean anything to you? She seemed to imply it would.”

“Ah, well, yeah, I guess it does.”

“What does it mean?”

Now there was an awkward question to answer to a stranger, Vicki had no idea just how much he should tell her. “Uh, well, it’s a particular kind of lifestyle back in my world, one that I’ve always been interested in.”

“Oh, I see, why haven’t you ever done it?”

It was only getting worse, “Uh, well, it’s the sort of lifestyle you um… need more than one person to participate in, usually, and I haven’t been so lucky in that area.”

“Oh, I think I get it,” Sefina replied, and oddly, Vicki got the impression that she actually did, which almost made him panic. However, Sefina dropped the subject entirely, much to his relief.

The rest of the walk was in silence so Vicki could really drink in his environment. Not much had changed, though, just more dust and cracks. The lanterns were still lit, and the corridor was still winding. Eventually, the scenery changed as they passed through an archway and into a large chamber.

This room was very spacious for what little was inside it. Like the corridors before it, a series of lanterns were hung en masse from the vaulted ceiling illuminating the room fairly well. However, the only real thing to illuminate were intricate runes covering each of the four surrounding walls and a single stone pedestal in the middle of the room. Something atop the pedestal was glinting in the dim, violet light