Mika sighed as he looked down at his father’s journal, then up at the walls again. With little else to do in his apparent jungle captivity, he’d taken to studying the temple inscriptions and ruins as much as he could. Despite the sprawling temple complex, larger than any shopping malls or airports he’d seen, getting around it proved to be easy. Chloe had been obsessively following him since the beginning, and she was all too happy to pick him up and ferry him to another part of the temple whenever the whim struck him.

“It’s no good,” he said, looking up at the symbols, “This section is all some kind of crop rotation schedule, look, the naga in it isn’t even doing anything, she’s just watching from the pyramid.” He pointed to the depicted green snake-woman, lounging lazily beneath the sun as the hierogplyphic stick figures worked the fields below her.

“So humans used to grow their food near the temple?” Chloe asked, leaning in and rubbing her chin thoughtfully, “Why don’t I have any humans to watch now then?”

“That’s what I’d like to find out,” Mika said with an exasperated sigh, “Obviously whatever civilization built this place predates anything else I’ve ever heard about, and they had contact with an impossible number of other peoples too… I don’t know how they managed to cross those kinds of distances, there’s stuff in here from Ancient China, Greece, Sumeria, and a dozen other places I don’t recognize.”

“Maybe she carried them?” Chloe asked, pointing to the snake goddess. “I don’t know how far away these places are, but I’ll bet I could get to them a lot faster than you could on those… what were they called again?”

“Legs Chloe,” he said, looking down at them with a sigh, “They’re legs.”

The enormous Naga had picked up English almost perfectly by the end of Mika’s first week in the jungle, with her vocabulary growing with every conversation. While she still had a certain naivete, she was rapidly absorbing everything he told her about himself, and the outside world. Like him, she was interested in their murky past together, along with the mysteries of the temple itself. Still, where the matter was existential to him, she seemed almost to treat it as a passing amusement, and part of him worried what would happen to him once the novelty wore off.

“Right,” she murmured, nodding, “legs… Anyways a nice tail like mine,”  she gestured to her long red bottom half with yellow flecks, “would get you a lot farther, plus I’m big, and I can swim!”

Mika frowned, “You can swim?”

Chloe nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Yeah, sometimes I want to eat river fish, but I never go too far from here, the trees on the other side are just so small, no good for coiling or climbing.”

Mika shook his head and sighed, filing the information away for later. A part of him had wondered if he’d be safe from Chloe if he managed to make it over the water, but evidently that wasn’t an option. Another, bizarre, yet increasingly strong part of him, didn’t want to leave at all…

“I wonder if you could swim in an ocean?” Mika mused.

“Maybe, I don’t need air underwater,” Chloe said casually.

Mika paused, “What do you mean by that?”

The looming snake girl shrugged, “I just don’t have to breathe, I can rest at the bottom of the river as long as I want on really hot days.”

“Nothing about that makes sense,” he gestured up at her in exasperation, “nothing about you makes any sense!”

“Well I don’t really know much about you either,” she said defensively, “you say you spend all day reading books at something called a university, but if that’s true how would you get food? It doesn’t add up Mika!”

“No,” He rubbed his temples and sighed, trying to explain it, “I mean your entire existence just doesn’t make sense to me, like how are you this big? The amount of food you should need to sustain yourself is way more than what I see you eat!”

“Some stuff is more filling than the rest,” she said uncertainly, “and I wasn’t always this big!”

He frowned, “Do you remember anything of your childhood? How you got here? Parents maybe?”

“Parents…” she trailed off, “No, I remember everything being dark, like I was trapped inside something… And then I was pretty small for a long time, like there was this frog that was in the temple, and he used to try to grab me and gobble me up every time I saw him… but then one day, I was too big for him, and then later…” She grinned wickedly, “I got to have him for dinner!”

“Right,” Mika thought, fighting a shudder as he imagined the frog’s fate. “So you used to be small, much smaller than I am, but how long did it take you to get this big?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe mused, “I don’t really know how old I am.”

“You’re about nineteen,” Mika said casually, then stopped. “Now how do I know that?”

“A good guess?” Chloe shrugged, “like my name.”

“It wasn’t a guess,” he insisted, “I knew it, just like I know how old you are.” He sighed, “Look, let’s go look at the stuff on the western side of the temple, I don’t think there’s anything over here with any practical value to us.”

“Okay!” Chloe said eagerly, reaching for him.

He readied himself as her warm fingers snaked around him, gripping him tightly and squeezing his arms and legs together as Chloe raised him up to her billboard sized face with a grin. She loved handling him, even going as far as to simply snatch him up for a quick snuggle against her pillowy cheek while he was trying to read the runes on the walls. In spite of himself Mika found that he was enjoying it more and more, letting himself relax as Chloe raced through the ruins like the world’s largest subway train.

“Here we go,” she said eagerly, setting him down again in front of a large wall depicting a vast array of animals arrayed before the snake goddess.

“Right,” he sighed, “I think this one says something about your ah… diet.”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said, squinting as she looked over the giraffes, monkeys, and other exotic animals displayed, “I haven’t eaten half of these…”

“They’re not native to this part of the world,” Mika said, “I think they’re sacrifices, offerings people gave to your ancestor from far away.”

“And how would we get them to start doing this again?” Chloe asked, licking her lips as she looked over the pictured animals.

“I uh… wouldn’t know,” Mika said, walking along the stone floor to the next section. He frowned as he saw many of the animals from before weighed on a massive scale, “Interesting,” he said, “now this is an Egyptian motif, a scale weighed by our snake goddess herself,” he pointed up to the green Naga. He glanced at the other side of the scale and frowned, “Huh…” the scale was clearly heavily tipped in one direction, a single human figure massively outweighing the combined animal kingdom that seemed stacked on the other end.

“It looks like it’s saying one human is worth a lot of animals to her,” Chloe said, airing Mika’s thoughts. “That’s what I keep trying to tell you, humans are way more filling than anything else, I’m still feeling full from those bad guys I ate a few days ago.”

Something about eating humans is how she’s able to do all of this, Mika realized, a pit forming in his stomach, it’s how she’s able to sustain her size, how she’s able to violate the square cube law and a dozen other rules of nature.

“Mika? What’s wrong? You seem upset,” Chloe said, frowning as she leaned down to him.

He gulped and slowly turned to face her, “C-Chloe, if this says what I think it does, that means you and your ancestors have been eating humans for a long time, maybe we’re your natural prey even…”

Chloe just shrugged, the casual motion only causing his heart to race faster, “Yeah, I haven’t eaten many humans, but they’ve definitely felt a lot better than almost anything else I’ve had.”

“You don’t see how that would make me upset!?” Mika exclaimed, “you’re supposed to eat humans, I’m a human!”

“Yeah, but you’re my friend, so I’m not going to eat you,” Chloe said dismissively.  

Mika sighed, It’s like arguing with a brick wall, he thought miserably. “What if you just took a break from eating humans, just for a little bit?” he pleaded. Maybe her ethics will develop as fast as her language skills.

Chloe frowned, drawing herself up to loom over him like an angry mountain, “The only humans I’ve been eating so far have been people trying to hurt me, or hurt you, that sounds like bad humans to me, and bad humans don’t get friend privileges like you do.”

Mika wanted to say something, but just scowled, It’s not like she’s eating widows and orphans, he had to admit to himself. Whoever these people in the jungle are, they were going to kill me as soon as they saw me.

“We’ll talk about this another time,” he said with a sigh. He looked up at the hieroglyphics, “Maybe it’s time we tried the fruit again?”

Chloe’s frown slowly turned into a smug grin, “Oh really? You know where you’ll have to go for that?”

“We could try having you spit on me again,” he protested.

“No, it won’t last long enough!” Chloe giggled.

“Fine,” he sighed, “Yes, I know where I’m going to have to go… But I have friend privileges, right? ”

“Right,” Chloe beamed, nodding eagerly, “And you’ve got that delicious friend taste on you too!”

“Delicious best friend-“

“Well you taste a lot better than any of those other guys, that’s for sure,” Chloe explained.

Somehow, the thought didn’t comfort Mika.

…

Mika took a deep breath, looking at the peeled piece of Lemurian jungle fruit before him. Chloe had gathered several of the spongy cantaloupe-like spheres, laying them before him and giving him his pick. Whatever memory recalling powers the fruit held, it was nothing more than a bitter tasting bile unless Chloe’s spit came into contact with, it, no doubt some enzyme therein unlocked the potential, but whatever it was was fleeting outside of the warm embrace of her mouth.

You’ve been in there before, he told himself, looking up at the grinning colossus of a woman, it’s just her mouth, she’s made you sleep in it even!

Still, the revelation of just what Chloe’s natural diet entailed was giving him pause. What if this was the time she decided to swallow?

“I like putting you in my mouth,” Chloe smirked, “It makes me feel tingly here,” she pointed down to her slit, slowly fingering it as he saw it glisten slightly with arousal. “What did you call this again?” she asked absently.

“Y-Your vagina,” he stammered, “It’s got other names, Pussy, C-Cunt,”

Chloe frowned, “I don’t know if I like any of them, they feel odd to say.”

“Yeah, I’ve always thought so too,” he whispered fearfully.

“I think I’m going to play with it while I put you in though,” she continued, “These too,” she pinched the tips of her nipples, shivering slightly, “Breasts, right?”

“Right,” he said, his mouth dry.

Chloe’s eyes lit up, and she leaned close, the sudden approach of the house sized head causing him to stumble back slightly, “You’re excited too! Look, you’re hard down there!”

He winced as her massive finger gently poked the tent that had appeared in his pants, “I uh…” he gulped, “Yeah, a little…”

“Take your clothes off,” she said eagerly.

“What!?” he almost shouted.

“They just get in the way of tasting you, and it’s going to feel really good to climb into my mouth while you’re like that,” she said, pointing again to his erection.

Mika hesitated, but then slowly started to disrobe. Chloe’s eyes lit up, eagerly taking in each revealed inch of his naked form. She licked her lips eagerly, reaching down to slowly finger herself again as his pants fell and he turned around, facing her fully in the nude.

“H-Happy?” he stammered.

“Yes!” she said excitedly, “you just shouldn’t wear clothes, all of the girls where you come from would be much happier if you didn’t!”

If only that were true, he thought wildly, “Okay, do it!” he squeezed his eyes shut.

“No,” Chloe said with a smug giggle, “I want you to climb in.”

His eyes shot open, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“No,” she insisted, “Climb in, I want you to want this, just give yourself over to me!” She opened her mouth, letting her tongue loll in front of him almost like a ramp to the blackened cavern of her mouth. As he stood there trying to decided what to do her warm breath billowed over him, ruffling his hair slightly.

Evidently some instinct of hers runs very deep, he thought, recalling the vision he’d seen of a priest, himself, leaping off a sacrificial altar into the snake girl’s waiting mouth. He took a deep breath, and then started forward, trying to ignore the pleased look in the giant naga’s eyes as she stretched her mouth open just a little wider.

He began the slow clamber up her bumpy tongue, gripping her tastebuds like they were rocks on a climbing wall. The tongue itself was wet, slick with the familiar silky and sticky texture of her spit, and as he ducked his head under her teeth he gazed down her throat, pausing a moment as a mix of wonder, terror, and arousal hit him all at once.

You do NOT want her to swallow you! He scolded himself, You don’t want to slip down that glistening throat, sliding into her waiting belly and- He shook his head, the intrusive thoughts were getting worse the longer he spent with Chloe, I am NOT food! He insisted to himself.

Beneath him Chloe’s tongue began to retract, acting almost like an escalator bringing him up to his destination. The wet and bumpy mattress rippled below him, savoring his taste as it casually sucked him inside the enormous naga’s cavernous maw. There was a soft *click* as her teeth snapped shut behind him, trapping him like prison bars as she took him fully into her.

Chloe let Mika rest upon her soft tongue for a moment, smiling as she kept her lips tightly sealed shut. With a smirk she grabbed the handful of fruit she’d prepared, then slithered up one of the walls and through a large gap in the ceiling. With a casual stretch she laid herself across the temple roof, enjoying the sunlight as her tongue toyed with her tiny friend.

Mika gasped as he realized there was a small amount of light coming in, almost like he were in a large basement with a single fluorescent bulb.

The sun, he realized, somehow its rays pass through her… a little anyways.

He wasn’t sure if the extra light was a blessing or a curse, it illuminated in full the glistening wet prison he was trapped in, and the monstrous tongue that was body slamming him against the soft rubbery walls of her cheeks, the tip sliding up and down across his face, whipping it back and forth as the naga tasted him.

With a grunt he tried to push the slimy appendage away, but he only earned a playful earth rumbling giggle as the rest of the pink wall came over, scooping him up and pressing him against the ridged roof of her mouth while the slimy bumps of her tastebuds scraped over him.

He gasped, seizing in pleasure at the sensation on his erection, and outside Chloe had started playing with herself, slowly sliding her fingers in and out of her warm slit as she casually manipulated her lover back and forth over the roof of her mouth.

Is she really going to go all the way? He wondered, but another very deliberate grind of her soft wet tongue over his manhood answered him, causing him to reflexively stretch his arms out, grabbing the massive pink appendage as if it were a lover, involuntarily bucking his hips against it.

Chloe stretched in the sun, enjoying the warm rays as she slowly, casually, played with herself, enjoying the frantic and flustered movements of the tiny man trapped helplessly upon her tongue.

Mika squirmed, forcing his way backwards and away from the more mobile tip of her tongue, but each movement just caused him to wince in pleasure as his arousal built, and as he slipped ever closer to the back of Chloe’s mouth his orgasm slipped ever nearer to climax.

“ CHLOE!” he gasped, feeling himself cum against the soft wet surface of her tongue as his arms went limp. He felt himself beginning to slide down a slick slope, and started feebly as he realized he’d reached Chloe’s throat. Only the sudden rapid motion of her tongue, saved him from sliding down entirely, bulging backwards and pressing him against the ceiling of her mouth again.

Chloe held him there a moment, the flavor of his cum whetting an apetite in her she didn’t know she had. Mika froze as his post orgasm haze left, and he realized that he was on the precipice of her throat, waiting to see if one loud gulp would seal his doom and end his journey.

With a growl of hunger and lust Chloe’s tongue lurched, launching him back towards the front of her mouth. Mika breathed a sigh of relief, realizing just how close he had come to a journey to Chloe’s belly. A moment later the white wall of teeth finally opened up, and he saw her massive hand toss a small handful of the exotic fruit in. He was tossed up and down as her teeth crushed it to pulp, and her tongue carefully shepherded him away from the giant pillars of ivory as she chewed.

As the juiced pulp flowed down the rivers of her saliva to him, Mika began to see his vision go spotty as the effect started. He relaxed himself, stretching upon Chloe’s soft tongue as the flashback began.

…

Mika walked through the temple, alone. His parents were elsewhere, studying the ruins, leaving him to wander the grounds. He frowned as he looked up at a massive altar, the familiar stone carved face of the snake-goddess smiling warmly down at him.

Curiously, he reached out to touch the altar, and then leapt back at the rumbling sound of stone against stone. A series of long thuds rang out, and stones began to slide in front of the entrance. The young boy watched, awestruck, as a secret chamber emerged, within it, on a raised platform, was a smooth egg shaped stone.

Immediately Mika could feel a warmth radiating from it, and he slowly stepped forward and scooped it off the platform. It glowed slightly in his hands for a moment, then went still. A sense of calm and familiarity washed over him, and he almost didn’t hear his parents approaching.

“Mika!” his father shouted, running up to him, “What happened? What did you do?”

“I-I just touched it,” he stammered, looking down at the egg.

His mother gingerly took the stone from him, “What do you think?” she asked, glancing around the hidden chamber.

“Some kind of fertility cult maybe?” His father mused.

“Hey, give me that back!” Mika protested, reaching for the stone, “I found it, it’s mine!”

His parents exchanged glances, “It belongs in a museum pal,” His dad said, kneeling down with a chuckle. Seeing Mika’s sorrowful expression he sighed, “Tell you what, why don’t you hold onto this one? Until we’re ready to go back?” He gently handed the egg shaped stone back to Mika.

“Richard,” His mother said with a frown.

“What!?” His dad laughed, “Mika, you’ll take care of this rock for us, won’t you?”

“It’s not a rock,” Mika insisted, “It’s an egg! And I’m going to hatch it!”

“And what’s in it tough guy?” His mother asked with a smile.

“A dragon,” Mika insisted, “A girl dragon, and I’m going to name her-“

…

“Chloe!” Mika gasped sitting back up as the vision left him. He was suddenly aware of just how close the soft flesh of her cheek was, and he scowled, squirming feebly as he realized she’d popped him into her mouth like a piece of hard candy, sucking idly on him while he’d been experiencing the vision.

“Mmm?” The giant naga finally noticed his motions, and Mika’s world spun as he was swished about through her mouth in a sea of spit one final time. “Pfft” she spat him out into her cupped palms, grinning down at his soaked form as he wiped her saliva from his eyes. “Did you learn anything new?”

“Yeah,” he panted, “I… I think anyway.”

…

Higgins watched as the helicopter landed, giving the arriving aircraft his best stern and in control gaze, one well practiced in a dozen conflict zones and disputed territories the world over. As a change from his usual attire he wore an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, and all of his men were similarly armed to greet the company agent that would ostensibly be taking command of the operation.

The chopper itself was a large luxury civilian model, and as the engine died and the sliding door opened, four armed guards in crisp black uniforms marched out, simple handguns at their sides as they glanced around the jungle. They weren’t anything special, run of the mill mercenaries not unlike what Higgins already had in his camp, if better dressed. No, the object of his interests came next, a pair of young women.  

Both had bizarre appearances, they wore mirrored sunglasses obscuring their eyes, more reminiscent of a nineties surfer than the black shades Higgins himself had taken from his time in the CIA. They also had elaborate flowing hairstyles, permed looks that billowed around their ears. One was a dark haired girl with Asian features as far as Higgins could see, she had a smug grin as she was shepherded by her guards down the ramp to him. She wore a simple business skirt, cut short for more freedom of movement, along with flat heeled business shoes. The other was blonde, and seemed more nervous, glancing up at the trees and licking her lips. She wore a hooded white dress, an odd choice for the matching work boots that let her traipse easily across the jungle mud. As they drew closer Higgins frowned as he realized what he’d taken for purses or bags were in fact massive leather bound books, clasped tightly shut and kept on slings for quick access.

“Greetings!” the black haired one said, “I am Yukia, and this is my associate Emilia,” she gestured at the blonde, who politely smiled and waved. “You must be Higgins?” she asked, leaning forward expectantly.

“I am,” he said flatly, “And what, may I ask, are your roles within the Ouroboros organization?”

The two women giggled at one another, sharing a knowing look Higgins didn’t care for at all, “We’re uh… very high up,” Yukia said, “don’t worry about specific titles…” She hefted the massive book she had with her, quickly flipping it open and scanning for a page, “I’m told you worked for… Ah yes, America, and… Russia?” She frowned, looking to the blonde, “Is that a big country? I don’t recall-“

“She’s joking,” the blonde said quickly, “We’re very familiar with your work Mr. Higgins and we’re excited to be working with you.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” he said raising an eyebrow.

“We’ll need a private tent of course,” the blonde said, “So we can change, bathe, and all that.”

“Naturally,” Higgins said. Who the hell are these girls?

The hum of additional helicopters interrupted his thoughts, and he frowned as he looked up at the whirling blades of additional troop transports. They landed in the cleared field outside the camp, the rotors coming to a stop as dozens of men marched out, all with heavy weaponry, the sort Higgins had been denied so many times, rockets, large caliber machine guns, and even an armored car were being wheeled out.

“I hope you don’t mind if we brought a few extra toys,” the black haired girl cackled, “We’re just really looking forward to playing with the naga!”

“Subject Alpha,” the blonde corrected with a frown.

“Of course,” Yukia waved dismissively. “Higgins, could you be a dear and take us to the prisoner?”

…

“When I get out of here I’m going to shove my boot so far up all of your asses!” Oklahoma shouted, rocking the chair as she struggled against her bonds. “I have rights, I’m a US citizen!” she howled. She froze as the tent flaps opened, and the two women strode in, their sunglasses gleaming in the late afternoon jungle light.

“Now let’s see, why did I need to speak to you,” Yukia drawled, flipping through her massive book. “Ah, yes… that makes sense,” she snapped it shut and smiled, leaning close to the tied woman.

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Oklahoma spat.

“Hungry,” Yukia said, licking her lips.

“Yukia,” the blonde warned, glancing at Higgins, who raised an eyebrow.

The black haired girl scowled, “Higgins, go get my luggage into my tent!” she ordered.

The mercenary hesitated, but growled angrily, “As you wish,” he said in a low voice, leaving the trio alone.

“Now, what do you know about our dear friends…” She seemed to think a moment, then with a sigh lifted the book, flipping through the pages.

“Mika,” The blonde said, “What do you know of Mika?”

Yukia paused, then chuckled, snapping her book shut, “That’s why you’re the archivist!”

“I don’t know shit, never heard of him, what’s Mika, a brand of crackers?” Oklahoma howled, “by the way, where’s my lawyer? I’ve been tied up for two days and the only time they let me up is to take a piss, these conditions aren’t-“

“Hush!” The dark haired woman sneered, leaning in close, “You will tell us everything you know about Mika, or things will get unpleasant for you!”

Oklahoma gasped, the strange woman suddenly seemed to be looming over her, and the ropes were suddenly looser around her body as she gazed up fearfully.

“W-What the fuck.” She whispered fearfully, looking up at an ever growing Yukia, whos grin widened at the realization. “Y-You drugged me,” Oklahoma accused, “there’s no way this is happening!”

“A girl like you would know right away if we slipped you drugs,” Emilia ? said calmly, looking away, “I suggest you tell her what you know, I don’t like to watch when she does this.”

“O-Okay!” Oklahoma stammered as her clothes started to loosen against her skin, “J-Just fix me!” She blinked and suddenly she was back in the chair, tied tightly and with all of her clothes properly fitted. With a gulp she began, “He was some kid, just got his archeology PhD, or started it, I forget which. He’s not here for school though, he’s just… curious I guess.”

“Curious,” the black haired woman mused. She glanced at the blonde, “Curiosity killed the cat!” at that the two shared an odd laugh at some shared joke, ignoring a confused and increasingly tense Oklahoma.

“Anything else?” Yukia asked.

“No,” Oklahoma said sullenly, “Look, guys, he’s just a dumb kid bumbling around out here, whatever you feel like you’ve got to do to me, you can let him go, he won’t tell anyone!”

“Emilia?, clean this up,” Yukia laughed, walking out of the tent dismissively.

Emilia? sighed, turning to Oklahoma and letting the girl’s terrified face reflect in her mirrored glasses, “Okay Oklahoma,” she said slowly, “I’m Emilia.”

“Hi Emilia,” Oklahoma said cautiously, “by clean up, does she mean…”

“If she wanted to kill you, she’d eat you herself,” Emilia replied nonchalantly.

Oklahoma frowned, “hold on, did you say-“

“What did you think would have happened if she’d reduced you all the way,” the blonde giggled. “I don’t really like that kind of thing, I’m more about… preservation you might say.” She tapped the woman’s head, and a sense of calm filled her tied prisoner. “How do we feel?”

“Good,” Oklahoma droned in a monotone voice.

“Good,” Emilia echoed.

“Now Yukia wants all of your memories of the last few weeks wiped, but we’re not going to do that, okay? I’m just going to wipe a few minutes, but you’re going to have to pretend you don’t know where you are if anyone asks.”

“Okay,” Oklahoma blinked, understanding through the haze.

“I’m going to give you these,” Emilia said, drawing a small satellite phone and a red bottle out of her cargo pants pocket, “but I’m not going to let you remember that I gave them to you.”

“Groovy,” Oklahoma nodded, “What’s the red stuff do?”

“It’ll heal you from the very brink of death,” Emilia explained, “hold onto it just in case… As for the satellite phone, there’s one number saved in there, you won’t remember it’s mine, you’ll just remember it’s someone you can trust, someone you want to reach out to for help.”

“I can count on you for help,” Oklahoma nodded, blinking as she tried to make sense of the new beliefs crystallizing in her head.

“I’m glad we had this chat,” Emilia giggled, tucking the phone and the potion into the pocket of Oklahoma’s own pants pocket before leaving as Yukia had moments before.

…

Higgins poured himself a fifteen year old whisky as he watched the feed from the trail cam in his command trailer. While the devices had been provided to help track the naga’s movements, he’d taken the opportunity to plant one in his new superior’s tent when they’d forced him to carry their luggage like a common chauffeur.

“Did you take care of the woman?” Yukia asked, pulling her sunglasses off and tossing them to her cot.

“It’s done,” Emilia nodded, “she’s wiped of all of her memories of this place.”

Higgins frowned, memory wipes? He leaned in close, sipping his drink as the two girls talked.

“You should have just let me take care of her, nobody bothers you after you have them for dinner,” Yukia said, running her hands through her dark hair. She turned towards the camera, not noticing it, and Higgins almost spat out his mouthful of whisky.

Her eyes, he thought wildly. They were slitted, and a bright yellow. A moment later she slid the skirt down, revealing a lazily swishing fur covered tail, the same color as the hair on her head. Yukia yawned, reaching into one of her suitcases and withdrawing a small bag of something.

“I want chicken, I want liver,” Yukia sang under her breath, tossing a few bits of the kibble into her mouth. She chewed for a moment, then offered some to Emilia, who declined. Yukia just rolled her eyes, “You don’t like humans, you don’t like Meow Mix, what do you eat Emilia?”

“I’m not saying I’ll never eat a human,” Emilia said defensively, “I just… haven’t met the right one yet!”

What the hell are they on about? Higgins wondered, blinking in shock. He looked at the glass, drained in one gulp, then refilled it, turning back to the monitor.

…

Chloe felt a small vibration through the ground, causing her to stop snoozing and slowly open one eye. The pitter patter of footsteps through the temple was imperceptible to human ears, but to her advanced predatory senses they may as well have been clapping cymbals together. She glanced down at Mika, who she’d allowed to sleep on her belly button for the night. Gently, carefully, she lifted his sleeping form off herself, using her fingers to scoop him up and lower him down to a nearby bed of dried leaves. When she was satisfied that Mika was asleep, she slithered out onto the temple grounds.

She camouflaged herself immediately, her scales shifting and bending the light until she was more like a blur moving through the dark temple, between the darkness and her innate ability to hide herself, she’d be all but invisible.

The approaching trio of mercenaries had advanced night vision goggles, bathing the vast temple in a green hue as the scouts slowly encroached upon the naga’s territory. Their mission was simple, determine the Naga’s sleeping location in preparation for a further attack, and if possible capture the young man known as “Mika.”

Chloe slithered up one of the massive stone pillars, watching the three gingerly step into the large atrium. She frowned as she saw the guns, no, that wouldn’t do at all.

“All quiet,” one of the men whispered.

“Let’s plant a motion sensor and- AH!”

His scream was cut off as he was tossed into the air, flailing as he landed in the outstretched open mouth of the titanic naga. There was a loud *click* as her teeth snapped shut, trapping him inside of her mouth, and she grinned down at the other two stunned men as she swallowed loudly. The squirming bulge made its way down her throat, plopping with an audible wet splash into her belly as she rubbed it playfully.

“RUN!” one of the two survivors shouted, but Chloe’s hand swept down, scooping him up like a fleeing mouse and dangling him by the leg over her face. He struggled with his rifle, firing a quick burst that did little more than cause Chloe to giggle as it tickled her face. Her mouth opened, giving him a long look down into the dark tunnel before she released her grip on his ankle. This time Chloe didn’t bother holding him in her mouth, just closing her mouth and swallowing him down. She shivered in pleasure as she felt the man’s struggles against the powerful muscles of her esophogaus, and she couldn’t help but trace a finger over her neck, following him down as the motion of her swallowing overwhelmed his feeble resistance, sending him to join his comrade in the prison of her toned belly.

She glanced down at the last one, casually curling her tail around him like a wall to cut off his escape. Curiously she loomed over him, licking her lips teasingly and smirking at his terrified expression.

“Why did you come here?” She asked.

“T-To-“

“I can’t have you guys hurting Mika,” she said casually, “He’s my friend.”

With that she leapt down on him, her mouth open like a striking cobra as her lips scooped him off the ground. She lifted up again, pinching the man’s torso between her lips as she titled her head back. Slowly, carefully, she slurped him in, letting his legs kick feebly as his waist, his knees, and finally his feet passed inside her mouth.

*gulp*

Chloe yawned, slithering back to her nest. Inside her she could hear the shouts, and it gave her pause as she realized she could understand the words now, making out the please, threats, and panic instead of just chatter. As she glanced down at Mika she suddenly became uncomfortable, though she couldn’t say why.

You’ve eaten plenty of them before, she told herself, this time’s no different.

She scooped Mika up again, coiling under herself and yawning, laying him back down on her soft bellybutton. Mika groaned, feeling the yielding soft waterbed of Chloe’s stomach underneath him. There were muffled noises coming from somewhere, and he slowly blinked his eyes open. He looked down at the belly button he’d been resting his head in, and gulped nervously as he realized the sound was coming from beneath it. Her stomach felt lumpier, fuller, and he could feel occasional movement stirring underneath him amid muffled sounds.

Did she… while I was asleep?

“Oh, sorry,” she murmured, “some of those guys came in with guns, I think the wanted to hurt you, and I was a little hungry, so everything worked out.” She reached over to a pile of the Lemurian jungle fruit she had near her bed. Scooping them up almost like grapes, she let them roll down her palm and into her mouth. She chewed them, swallowing them down. Mika watched as the stirring in her belly calmed, the shouts dying down after a moment. “The fruit makes things easier,” she explained, “puts anything in here,” she poked her belly, “to sleep…” 

“A-And then?” Mika asked, already knowing the answer.

Chloe’s finger traced lower, crossing from her human skin to her snakelike scales, “they go down here,” she finished, “and they don’t move anymore.”

He shivered, looking up at the sleepy naga’s dreamy smile. She looked so cute, so innocent… but he knew better. He slowly lay back down on Chloe’s stomach, savoring the warmth in the cool night air and trying not to think about what was going on on the other side of the soft flesh of her belly. 

The worst part was, like always, the idea fascinated him. He imagined himself sliding down her throat for the millionth time, waiting in her warm belly dreamily until he would drift lower…

He scowled as he realized he was growing hard, mentally slapping himself, you are NOT her food! She’s a maneater, she’s… He looked up at Chloe who was drifting back off to sleep. 

…

“Hmm…” Yukia muttered, watching the footage from the men’s helmet cams just before they’d lost contact, “I’d say the Naga isn’t going to be caught unawares.”

“Did we need to lose three men to find that out?” Higgins growled.

“We brought extras,” Yukia muttered, gesturing to the enlarged camp. “I swear Higgins, you just look for things to complain about! I’m having fun!”

“The boy, Mika,” Emilia mused, “She seems protective of him. That’s very unusual behavior, I’d like to get a blood sample from him, if we could.” She hefted her own massive grimoire, flipping through the pages with a frown. Higgins tried to sneak a peak at them, but she seemed to notice, stepping away with a frown so he couldn’t see them.

“She probably just thinks he’s funny or something,” Yukia said dismissively, “I’ll bet if we capture him, she’ll do what we want, she might even open the door to get him back.”

“Open the door?” Higgins asked with a frown, “is this related to the fruit operation?”

Yukia blinked, “Er… good question!” She quickly stepped back, lifting her book up and glancing from it and back to Higgins, ignoring his bewildered expression. She snapped it shut and beamed, “No, not related at all, the fruit is a secondary objective, the real treasure here is in the very center of the temple.”

“I agree,” Emilia said with a nod, “Mr. Higgins, begin preparations to extract Mika, alive. You may use the more advanced weaponry.”

“About goddamn time,” Higgins growled, looking out in the massive jungle.