Finding Goddess Ch. 12

Carol had nothing to do. The house was clean, her call to Celeste was aborted, her friends were likely still at work, and after surfing a few channels on the TV, the nudist remembered that there was absolutely nothing worth watching at this hour. So she did the only thing imaginable that would be a worthwhile use of her time: she cracked open the Scripture and continued reading.

***

From the Ether came a rippling, and through a hole torn from black talons of malice came She of the Bloodless Flesh and the Unripened Eye, the Wings Chained, and the Vulva Unopened. Notrath of the Abyssal Gale and Empress of Demons had emerged. Driven by a lust and a greed and a want that left her imprisoned in the blackest recesses of the Gods Realm, she tore her self free of her bindings, and it was in her struggles that she would chance upon Zenriah's world and all that She had made. And it was beautiful. More beautiful than anything she had ever seen before in all the cosmos. And when her eyes fell upon the Goddess, Notrath's heart erupted in a blaze of lustful hellfire.

And she decreed: "Zenriah, Fair Zenriah, Mistress of the All-Light, and Bringer of Love and Life! By Your own hand and Your own will, You have cultivated a garden of endless beauty in all Creation. I stand here in awe of Your artistry, the envy of gods and mortals alike! But to keep this garden to Yourself...to share not these seas and these hills and these pillars and these stars and these darlings gathered all round You, each a flicker of Your brilliance...that would be a sin like no other! Will You not share it all with another? Will You not share Your creation with me? A Goddess as lovely as Thee, and a garden as fertile as this, is fit only for one as equally radiant. Do You not see her standing before Your eyes?"

But Zenriah would not accept Notrath's hand, for She saw right through the demoness' flattery and for what she was. "Take thy form away from this domain, fair demoness! Zenriah has found she who is worthy of Her, and it is not, was not, and shall not ever be you. Rain the seas of your wants, raise the mountains of your desire, shine the stars of your illumination, and lay with the darlings of your mold. But prithee leave this domain and disturb it no more with your presence, for my dearests await and I pine for her in turn."

But Notrath would not accept Zenriah's words in either fury or in mercy, nor would she be denied her prize. "Then name she who has proven her self worthy of your heart, and I shall prove her fraudulence!"

But it was not the Goddess who answered the demoness' challenge, but Prevandora, Firstmade, Firstborn, and Firstbirthed of Zenriah's wives. "My Love has spoken and given thee Her piece. Leave Us now to Our hearts and to Our courts, and trample not the lilies wherever after you walk."

So Notrath turned her blazing eyes upon her, and in that moment, Prevandora learned Fear. Then she wrapped the woman in her claws, and in that moment, Prevandora learned Pain. Then she rent her talons and scorched her breath, and in that moment, Prevandora learned Death. Then she held her lifeless and emblazoned trophy and lit the world aflame in its unholy light, and in that moment, Fear, Pain, and Death were learnt to all Womankind. And in great horror they trembled!

And so passed Prevandora, First of Zenriah's wives.

Zenriah let loose a howl of pain, the loss of Her beloved rending a quickening gash in Her heart from which She would never heal and spilling blood that She would never re-drink. Prevandora was gone! Her dear wife and Her first love was gone! And never again would the Goddess feel the holy touch that Prevandora gave her for more than a thousand and one times before.

And all around Her, Her endless wives, all wives and some sisters and many daughters of Prevandora, wept with Her, for the Goddess' grief was their grief, for Her loss was their loss, for Her wife was their wife, and her touch was a touch none of them would ever feel or taste or give birth to ever again. And from amidst Their tears, the demoness beamed victoriously.

"Was that not Your chosen, O Lovely Zenriah? Such a feeble thing would never have survived Your kiss. Come, take my hand, O Fair Goddess. Take my hand and I will give You a thousand suns worthy of love. Shed no more tears, Fair Goddess, for this is a happy moment! Your one true love has finally come!"

But the Goddess did not just take Notrath's hand. She seized it in Her own and upon smoldering the demoness with a glare hewn from the Forges of Vesuvius, She hurled the murderess from out Her palace, from out Her city, from out Her queendom, and from out Her world. And the Goddess did decree: "Zenriah needs no one true love! Zenriah needs thousands upon thousands of true loves, each as precious as the last, and thousands upon thousands of true loves are needed by they in turn. In taking from Us but a single true love, thou shalt now feel naught but Our true wrath forevermore!"

And on that night, Womankind learned War.

...

In a storm of talons and a gnashing of teeth, the beasts descended upon Lilitia. Though she tore many asunder with her sword and her shield, their numbers were too great and their strength was too vast.

And so passed Lilitia, Second of Zenriah's wives.

...

Even as they whipped her, tore her fair skin from her back, spilt her crimson upon the soil, and stole the cries from her daughters' mouths, Ellines refused to budge but an inch lest a hair of those she held dear be harmed by the abominations that would dare feast upon their sacred flesh.

And so passed Ellines, Fifth of Zenriah's wives.

...

Cora and Samai battled on, swinging sword and axe and spear at the writhing masses of tentacles descending upon them. They hewn many 'til they were stained scarlet and all the world was but a cloud of blood in their eyes. But alas, there were many, and they were only two.

And so passed Cora and Samai, Eighth and Ninth of Zenriah's wives.

...

The pillars cracked and the pillars crumbled. And still Alta held firm, keeping the city aloft in her arms while her sisters and her wives and her daughters fled its streets and its halls. Even as it crushed her bones, even as it sank her form, Alta held on! Never would she let it go! Never would she let it fall! Not until every soul she had ever loved was out and free and safe from the demoness' hungered minions! Only once the last fair maiden was gone did she relent. Atlantis crumbled and fell into the sea, and it took with it both Notrath's vile horde and Alta herself. The water burned red with blood. She did not rise again.

And so passed Alta, Twelfth of Zenriah's wives.

...

The Goddess' heart did wane as She looked upon Her world, Her garden that She had melded and cultivated for millennia with a careful hand. Fires burned in Her forests, cities crumbled to dust, and the earth glowed crimson with the spilled blood of Her beloveds! Every wail of death, every cry of pain, every howl of sorrow was yet another cold arrow in Her heart. And the burden of Her wounds proved too painful to bear.

With the death of Her Twelfth and Final Firstborn, the Goddess feared She would not go on for much longer. The urge to cast Her self into the sea and never rise again grew stronger. Notrath and her demons were too strong for Zenriah's wives. And though Zenriah knew She would one day prevail, She feared none of Her dearests would survive. And what life would be worth living if She could not share it with those whom She loved?

So Zenriah cast aside Her spear, laid dawn Her shield, and She set forth, away from Earth and its sun and its beautiful creatures that She had created and loved with every glimmer of Her being, and faced Her enemy. And the Goddess spread Her arms and spread Her legs and presented Her self to the Empress of Demons and said: "Fair Notrath, My heart has finally swayed! Thou hast proven thy worthiness of Mine hand, and I have come to give it! Take it and all of Me if thou wilt. Take My eyes and My tongue and My breasts and My arm and My vulva and My asset and do with them what you shall. For They and My heart...now belongs to thee!"

The demoness was struck by Her offer and for but a moment she was doubtful of Her intent. But she could not withhold her desire for long, for Zenriah continued to captivate her in all the years that they fought. And so Notrath gave into her lust and seized the Goddess in her hands!

She lolled her tongue into the Goddess' lips. She kneaded Her breasts, marveled at the warmth she felt passing through her talons, and tasted Her nipples with her forked tongue, sliding it around the areolas brilliantly. And the Goddess returned her favor. She kissed Notrath. She tasted Notrath. She lapped at her breasts, pulled them into Her mouth, suckled her erect teets. And the demoness cried out in ecstasy, for at last she had what she and so many gods had sought after. She had the Goddess!

...

Zenriah burst and Zenriah came. She tickled and She tingled. She kissed and She licked until there was no organ of Notrath that She had not touched and tasted. She drank the sweet honeydew of her lover's flower and danced her nipples between Her fingers and Her teeth. But Zenriah did not smile. She did not cheer and She did not sing. For while She flickered with heat, She did not burn with sunfire. She bathed in seas of starlight, but She did not swim. She fed and She drank, but she still hungered and thirsted. She spun and She twirled, but She did not dance.

But She did weep. She wept as She rolled through the emptiness of space, bereft of the fertile soil beneath Her feet. She wept as Her eyes gazed upon the unending void of darkness, bereft of the light of the joyous sun. She wept as the demoness' tongue slithered betwixt Her lips, for it tasted naught like the tongues of Her beloved, whom She would never taste again.

The fissure in Zenriah's heart spread open, wider even than Her legs as Notrath thrust her self between them. The same fissure that nearly cracked Her in two in the time before time, when She felt naught but the vast emptiness and the deep yearning. For even in Her pleasure, the Goddess was once again deprived of the love She long hungered for. She was isolated from all that She built, from all that She made, from all that She cherished.

And so the Goddess wept. And She would never stop weeping. Not as long as She was alone, separate from the one, the only thing She would ever love in all the Universe.

Womankind.

***

DNK-DNK-DNK!

Carol's eyes fluttered open as the hard rapping noise banged on her ears. It roused her as if from a dream, but she wasn't asleep. At least, she didn't think she was. She didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing she recalled doing was sitting down on her couch, cracking open her book, reading it and...

DNK-DNK-DNK!

The door rapped again, a little harder this time. Deciding now was not the time to jog her memory, Carol approached it and poked her eye through the peephole to see who wanted to see her so badly. For some reason, she couldn't make out who it was; her vision seemed oddly blurry, like she was seeing the world through a foggy fishbowl. "Wh-who is it?" she stammered, unnerved by how crackled her voice sounded. If she didn't know any better, she swore she was about to cry any minute now.

"It's us, Carol," said the cheerful voice of Henrietta. "Me and Katy! You going to let us in already or what?"

Carol blinked in confusion. Henri and Katy are here? Does...does that mean the priestess was...no, it couldn't be...

Wordlessly, she unlocked and opened the door, and was nearly bowled over by about a hundred pounds of gleeful girly giddiness. "Mommy!" Katherine squealed as she wrapped her arms around the older woman in a bear hug that was honestly tighter than a girl her size had any right to give.

Henrietta followed shortly after, laughing in amusement at the sight. "Ha, looks like she really missed you! Are you sure you don't want to adopt...Carol? Carol, honey? Is something wrong?"

After playfully nuzzling Carol's breasts a bit, Katherine also sensed something off. "Mommy? Mommy, you're crying! What's the matter?"

"Crying?" said Carol, confused. "Wh-what do you mean? I-I'm not..."

She touched her face. Her eyes were wet and puffy. Her cheeks felt positively soaked. Her face was starting to crinkle up, and then...

Henrietta and Katherine wasted no time guiding their mutual lover to the couch, gently sitting her down on the cushion and hugging her as she wept. They caressed her hair, kissed her forehead, and whispered sweet sounds of "Shhhh" and "It's okay" into her ears. Katy even rocked Carol back and forth like a mother would to an upset child. All the while, Carol simply cried, unable to quell the growing sense of emptiness welling up inside her, a feeling she hadn't experienced since...since...her husband died!

But she knew she wasn't grieving over her dead husband. She wasn't grieving for anyone. She hadn't lost anybody recently, she hadn't suffered some horrible injury or tragedy. So why...did it feel like...some claw just wrenched itself inside her chest and tore her still beating heart out?

After what felt like hours, Carol finally quieted down, too tired to cry anymore. She rubbed at her face and wiped the last few tears away while her two lovers held her on both sides.

"Did something happen?" said Katherine.

"Do you want to talk about it?" said Henrietta.

"Are you hurt?"

"Was it something at work?"

"Did anything happen to Mindy and Erin?"

"Talk to us, Carol."

"We're your friends, Carol."

"You can tell us anything."

"You know we love you, right?"

Carol sniffled as she worked up the gumption to speak again, struggled to find the words she needed to say to explain herself, fought to keep the tide of emotion that threaten to drown her from rising up again. But all she could get out was a meek "I...I...I don't know."

Henri and Katy exchanged an uneasy glance. "You...don't know what?" asked the redhead.

"I don't know...I don't know why I'm crying!" Carol exclaimed, letting her face fall into her hands. "Nothing happened, if that's what you're wondering. I got back from work early, tidied up, relaxed and...next thing I knew...I was...I was..."

She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She was as confounded as she was sad, and was confounded precisely because she was sad. All she had done for the last few hours was read the Scripture. Read...about how the wonderful paradise that Zenriah and Her wives created was destroyed. How the Goddess' first twelve wives, the first twelve women to ever be made, to whom all women were descended from, were horrifically and tragically slain one after another. How so many lives were unjustly lost and taken for one demon's lust and greed. How Zenriah, who wanted nothing more than to bask in the love and affection of Her beautiful creations forever, had to leave them all behind to spare and protect them.

No...that couldn't have been it. Carol wasn't honestly getting emotional over a bunch of sad scenes in a book...was she?

"Do you...do you want us to leave?" said Katherine.

The words of the Scripture of Zenriah echoed in Carol's head. And so the Goddess wept. And She would never stop weeping. Not as long as She was alone, separate from the one, the only thing She would ever love in all the Universe.

Separate from the one, the only thing She would ever love in all the Universe.

The one, the only thing She would ever love in all the Universe.

Womankind. Womankind. Womankind. Womankind. Womankind.

Carol vigorously shook her head, a sense of panic now overcoming her sadness. "No! No! Please, don't go, either of you! Don't...don't leave me...alone."

Henrietta and Katherine exchanged another uncomfortable glance, holding it for a minute as if they were holding a silent debate within their heads. Carol took that moment to rub the lingering pools of moisture out of her eyes and clear up her cloudy vision, and upon finishing up, she noticed something odd about her lovers, one of them anyway, and it was enough to wash away the strange storm of emotion raging in her head, if only for another brief moment.

"Henri, why are you in a bikini?"

Henrietta was indeed wearing a bikini. It was black, nothing atypical, and showed off plenty of skin, displaying both her figure and her tan without exposing her more naughty bits. That wasn't the odd part. The odd part was the realization that she had driven all the way to Carol's place wearing only some sexy beachwear like it was the most normal thing in the world.

The redhead shrugged. "Oh, well, it was just a nice day is all, and I figured, after talking to Maisie and Katy, it would be the most fitting thing to wear for the day I had planned."

Carol quirked an eyebrow as she rubbed her eye. "Day you have planned? Wait, you've been talking to Maisie?"

"Uh, yeah, I managed to get her number sometime before leaving the Temple the other day, and we've been having some...interesting talks over the phone. I'll give you the details about that later. But besides that, Katy and me have also been talking, and we were thinking of taking you for a little outing."

"An outing? Where to?"

"Someplace nice," said Katherine. "But we can cancel it if you're not feeling up for it."

"No, no, we can still do it," said Carol, who was feeling rather embarrassed about her earlier outburst, which she still didn't understand. "I've been cooped up in this house long enough anyway. Some fresh air...it might make me feel better."

"Okay, great!" said Henrietta. "We can all pile into my car, and Carol, you don't need to worry about putting any clothes on that hot naked body of yours because—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence before Carol opened the door and stepped outside, donning her shoes, her purse, and nothing else.

***

"I'm still naked, aren't I?"

Carol let out a long, defeated sigh as the realization hit her, though she could no longer say it was surprising anymore. Her body was just finding more and more ways to keep itself bare that it was quickly becoming normal for her. But what really embarrassed the nudist was not the fact that she forgot to dress herself again, but that it took her almost fifteen minutes to catch this latest mishap. At least she now knew what Henrietta and Katherine were grinning so stupidly about.

"You sure are!" cackled Henri from the driver's seat.

"Took you long enough, Mommy," giggled Katherine from where she sat next to Carol in the backseat. She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid closer to the older woman to give her a hug, wanting to enjoy her nude body after clearly holding herself back for so long.

"You really should stay buckled up, Katy, it's not ohhhhhhhh!" Carol shuddered as the black girl took one of her nipples into her mouth and starting suckling on it gently.

Carol really wanted to curse herself for being such a sucker, for being so weak to the sexual whims of her current company. But...shoot, her young lover was just too good at this. And knowing she was doing something so lewd and so indecent in public, surrounded by people on all sides who had no flipping idea what she was doing...got her hot. Really, really hot. So Carol couldn't complain, and she couldn't mope. She could only lean back and enjoy it.

"Hey, Henri?" she said after a few moments, finally finding the energy to speak in between the kisses and laps Katy was sprinkling all over her breasts. "Where exactly are we going anyway?"

"Before I tell you that," said the bikini-clad woman, "have you given it any consideration? You know? Joining that lesbian nudist cult?"