Finding Goddess Ch. 23

The tumultuous events of Thursday left Carol so exhausted, both physically and emotionally, that she could barely recall how it went after she left the Grotto. People, places, and events just seemed to fade in and out like a series of unrelated dreams and at times, she wondered if that's what they were. From the moment she woke up that morning, nothing about the day felt real. It could only have been a dream. But considering where it had gone, she hoped it was one she would never wake up from. Fortunately, the dream did not end even when her eyes fluttered open that Friday morning. Because it was no dream at all; it was reality. She had converted to Zenrism, and she was wearing absolutely nothing aside from a medical adhesive on her left breast, where her Sigil had been tattooed. And it was itching up a fierce storm, which never happened in any dream she experienced.

For the second day in a row, she was riding naked in a car that wasn't her own, and just like last time, her girlfriend was there, as were her daughters, both the real ones and the fake one. The big difference was that they were all passengers in a van this time, and the two teens were both, for the moment, very clothed.

"Are you really sure it was a good idea to let those complete strangers drive your car?" Katherine asked Henrietta.

"Yeah, I'm sure," said the redhead. "I mean, yeah I don't know any of those people, aside from Maisie, and I've only known her for a week. But I didn't want to be the odd girl out in taking Carol home, and, I don't know, something about those girls told me I should...trust them." There was a beat and her lips dropped to a worried frown. "Course, now that I actually said that, it does sound like I just let myself get had."

"There is no need to worry," said Celeste, who was also riding with them, sitting next to Carol and keeping her fingers entwined around the mother's, acting like she didn't ever want to let her go. "You have every reason to trust us and if you look, you will see your vehicle is right behind our own. My wives would never take that which does not belong to them." She turned to look directly into Carol's eyes and tightened her grip on her hand. "Especially since you are the lover of my newest one."

"Eh heh, heh, heh," Carol giggled, feeling her whole face turn red, along with her neck, her collar, her breasts, her stomach, her butt cheeks, her thighs, her feet, her...everything honestly. Everything about this woman sitting right next to her just made her turn to butter. Should she kiss Celeste? Is that what the priestess would want? Or should she wait for Celeste to come onto her? She licked her lips, moistening them in anticipation, just in case the fire-headed goddess charged forward to feast upon them.

"So...you just...married our mom? Is that right?" said Mindy.

"In a manner of speaking. It would be more correct to say she married Zenriah," said Celeste. "As all we Zenrists have. We are all the Goddess' wives, which in turn makes us each other's wives."

"So is this official?" said Mindy. "Are you now, like, our new stepmom or something?"

Celeste chuckled. "Sadly no. Our current government will not recognize us as a single family unit. But as far as Zenriah is concerned, your mother and I, along with the rest of my congregation and all the other women of our faith, are all married. And whose word do you think holds more sway? A bunch of mortal bureaucrats we have never even met, or an immortal goddess whose grace we feel every minute of our lives?"

"Uh...point taken. I guess," said the teen sheepishly.

An immortal goddess whose grace we feel every minute of our lives? That made Carol frown. Was she feeling the grace of the Goddess right now? It didn't feel like she was. She was just feeling like she always was. Oh sure, she was naked, and that was great and all, and she was going to enjoy every minute she lived like this...but all of Celeste's previous talk about her soul being awakened and her inner flame sparking inside of her...she wasn't experiencing anything like that. Was it all just talk? Was she missing something? Was she...not as strongly connected to Zenriah as she thought?

In the corner of her eye, Carol could see the priestess tilt her head at a concerned angle. "Something troubling you, childe?"

Carol anxiously flexed her bare toes into the floor. "Yes. I'm afraid I don't...I'm not feeling this 'grace' you describe. I don't feel like I'm some holy creature as you said I was. I just feel like...regular naked Carol. Is that normal? Have I really become a Zenrist yet? Or have I...secretly failed something?"

"Oh, my childe," said Celeste with graceful shake of her head and a gentle smile on her lips. "My dear, sweet childe. You have not failed anything. On the contrary, you have passed every test, both literal and spiritual, with flying colors. What you're feeling right now, or perhaps I should say not feeling, is perfectly natural. You feel like you are 'regular naked Carol' now because you are just 'regular naked Carol.' I already explained to you, your conversion is not yet done. You have officially joined our faith, yes, but you have not yet become our faith."

"Become your faith? What do you mean?" said the nudist mother.

"You believe in our Goddess," explained the priestess. "You openly yearn for Her. Your flame flickers and sparks within you, but it doesn't yet dance like it does within me and my wives. You, Caroline Connors, believe in our Goddess, but you have not yet fully and actively communed with Her. You are not like us yet, you are not a Zenrist, you are still...mortal."

"Mortal?" said Carol. "What do you mean by tha­—"

"But don't worry. For we will change that today. We will change you. And all the sensations I have described...all the ways that a Zenrist experiences the world...all of them will be yours today. The grace of the Goddess, you will feel it as I do. Very soon. The final step for your conversion is mere hours away."

"Well, that's good then, I suppose," said Carol, letting out a huge sigh of relief. Yes, she should have known there was more to be done. The priestess had said as much yesterday. But the mother couldn't help it; being so close to achieving her greatest desire in life was just making her so damn skittish!

"Ugh, do you have to explain everything so fancifully?" groaned Erin behind them, kneading her forehead with her hand. "Can't you ever just give a straight answer?"

"I could," chuckled the priestess, "but then it wouldn't sound half as convincing, now would it?"

"Erin, let the woman who's strong enough to pound you into sand talk however she likes," said Mindy.

"Oh, I'm open to talking in a great number of ways when I'm pounding a woman," said Celeste, her grin widening diabolically, nearly splitting her face in two. "It depends on what they want to hear."

"Are you open to a girl calling you Mommy?" said Katherine. "I'm, uh...asking for a friend."

"I'm open for a great many things," said the priestess. "But getting back to the subject at hand, I understand, Caroline, that you are still starved for our Goddess, our history, and our accumulated knowledge and wisdom. If only you were able to read a little further into our Scripture, then you would have a fuller understanding as to how we are able to connect with Zenriah. Fortunately, you have an ordained priestess of the faith with you right now." She took a deep breath, thrusting her breasts up into the air and giving one of them a firm squeeze. Carol watched with fascination as the moon-like orb contorted in her palm and as the nub in her nipple trembled between her forefinger and thumb. The mother could almost feel her own nipple tremble and tingle with it, as if the woman next to her was pinching it herself. "Allow me to tell you how Goddess and Woman were able to reunite even while split light years apart."

***

Through the creation of Wereman, Woman would survive. Through the adoption of animalistic conception, Woman would survive. Through the hunting of meat and the cultivation of seed, Woman would survive. Through the clothing of her form against the sun and the cold, Woman would survive. But without Zenriah, Woman would always be a mere shadow of her former self. Always would she long for Her, always would she yearn for Her, always would she hunger for Her. But never again would Woman ever clutch at Her bosom, smell of Her bloom, or gaze upon Her face. Only ever as a memory would Zenriah live on in the hearts and minds of Her dear lovers.

And so Woman would pass on. She would spread across the earth with her sisters and her daughters as she always had, and now she would spread with her brothers and her sons as well. But her time was finite, her death inevitable. Woman would pass on and with her would go the memory of the Goddess. The Goddess became but a memory, and then a memory of a memory, until all that remained of Her in the hearts and minds of Woman and Wereman was but a tale of a time long past that could never be and that never was. And that tale too was forgotten.

But Zenriah would never forget. She would never forget their names and their faces and their scents and their tastes even as She lay with the Demoness generation 'pon generation. Nor would She cease feeling the heat of their flames writhing within Her bloom, distant as starlives as they were. And as She felt Her lovers flicker and die in Her absence, Zenriah cried knowing still Her sacrifice did not save them.

And Notrath spoke, for the Goddess' tears did not go unnoticed by the Demoness. "Weep not for the fragile, for only those with strength are worthy of Thee, fair Zenriah. Weep not for the deathly, for only those that are eternal are worthy of Thee, fair Zenriah. Weep not for the distant, for only those who can see Thine eyes are worthy of Thee, fair Zenriah. And learn to love them not for they will never love You as I love You. And my love for You, fair Zenriah, is a love that shall be forever."

And so the Demoness brushed the Goddess' tears away and again they laid together 'cross the stars and the darkness betwixt them. But never would Zenriah feel for Notrath as Notrath felt for Her. She would never love Notrath, She would never cherish Notrath, and She would never orgasm for Notrath. But orgasm She must, lest the Demoness catch on to Her deception and return to Earth, ready to vent her jealous wrath upon the Goddess' beloved creations.

So the Goddess shut Her eyes and retreated to the depths of Her Dreamscape, where all Her memories were made manifest. She conjured forth the visage and form of Prevandora, the First of Her Created and the First of Her Wives. She conjured the strands of silken night spilling forth from her crown, the emerald gems from which light shown from her face, and her great sumptuous breasts, flesh as white as a flake of snow and nipped red as a morning rose. She conjured her sweet taste as She suckled 'pon her rosebuds and devoured her ruby lips with Her own, above and below. She conjured the storm erupting in Her sacred loins as She caressed them upon Her sacred wife, rubbing her legs, her toes, her face, her bosoms, her nips, and her air against Her rippling flesh, sinking Prevandora ever deeper inside Her Goddesshood. And she conjured the scent of their joined orgasm as They declared their love together, sopping, soaking, wet and eternal.

And outside, Her dreamscape, in the realm of the Cosmos, Zenriah orgasmed for real, showering the Demoness with Her holy essence. The Demoness cried out in joy and orgasmed in turn, happy and joyous that her love for the Goddess had finally been requited.

But 'twas in that orgasm that Zenriah saw beyond Her Dreamscape. She saw Her creations on Earth, weak and diminished, but no less fiery and brilliant and beautiful as the day She first laid eyes upon them in all their wondrous flesh. And on looking on one fair maiden surfacing for air in a lagoon, skin glistening with moisture as it ran down her body, 'gainst the slopes of her breasts and the curves of her waist and within the crevice of her voluminous buttocks, the Goddess felt Her inner being stir again. Again did She stir and ripple and pulse, and again an orgasm ripped forth from Her bloom. And in that moment, the maiden, whose name She learned was Eve, orgasmed with Her.

And thus did Zenriah learn that the rift between Woman and Goddess could be closed. No length of mile or world or starlife would ever keep Her away from that which She loved. Love had been the poultice that saved Her ages ago, and it would now be the poultice that would save Woman from her brief, flickering existence. Love was the bridge that would reunite that which was mortal back to that which was divine, and love would be the light that would bring salvation to Woman and Goddess alike. For with Woman and Goddess, love was life and it would be life once more.

***

"For with Woman and Goddess, love was life and it would be life once more," Celeste said, wrapping up her story.

"That's from the Scripture, isn't it?" said Carol. The poetic syllables Celeste recited, they could only have come from that precious book. As was the warm feeling Carol could now feel emanating from her heart.

The priestess nodded. "Indeed, it was. I have memorized every word of our sacred tome from cover to cover. You could say I know it more than the surface area of my own breasts." She gave her boobs another squeeze to emphasize the point and let out a sensual sigh of pleasure. "And I am very familiar with my breasts."

"So, the Goddess is able to commune with women through...orgasms?" asked Henrietta.

"Orgasms, tingles, shivers, and shudders...anything and everything related to female physical pleasure is the Goddess' domain," said Celeste. "Though She is worlds away, Zenriah can still, through great effort, commune with us, and that communion will in turn always manifest itself through pleasurable sensation. All throughout history, She has communed with us, blessing any girl or woman She can reach with Her grace in the hope that they will one day answer. And every now and then, someone will, and those that do become channels to spread our Goddess' grace all throughout the world."

"Wait a minute," said Erin, "are you saying that there have been Zenrists all throughout history."

Celeste nodded. "I have been. The full extent of that history though, and why it hasn't been recorded...is a long story which perhaps we shall share at a later time. But the important thing to take away from all this, Caroline, is that it takes more than just being aware of the Goddess to truly become Her Lover and experience Her grace every moment of your life. You have to fully meet Her."

"Meet...Her?" said Carol.

"Yes. And to do that, it takes a special ritual."

"What do I need to do?"

"You'll see. Very soon, my childe," said Celeste.

"Hmph, fine then. Is this ritual supposed to be that big of a secret?" said Carol.

"It's not supposed to be," said Celeste. "In fact a great many people in your city know about it as we speak. We just...like to keep our new members a little in the dark about it. For tradition's sake. And because it amuses us."

"I see," said Carol. "Wait, what do you mean 'a great many people' know about it?"

"As I said, you'll see very soon."

Carol grumbled as she shifted back in her seat. She felt like she was being set up for some kind of hazing ritual rather than a deeply spiritual religious ceremony. Was that what was happening? Was she being hazed? Celeste had her usual grin on, but instead of denoting gentle maternal guidance, it had "shit-eater" all over it. She was definitely enjoying putting the nudist mother on like this.

Well, fine, whatever. If she wants to have a little fun, I suppose she deserves it. I did put a lot of work on her on short notice. And if I...will actually get to meet the Goddess, her toes curled harder into the floor and her free hand balled up into a trembling fist, I guess it'll be worth going through...whatever it is.

There was a shuffle behind her, followed by what sounded like a suppressed laugh, but from whom it came from, Carol had no idea.

"Hey, Erin," said Mindy. "Why did you get naked just now?"

"What are you talking about?" said her sister. "I should be asking YOU that. You're the one who's naked!"

"What are you talking about? I'm..."

There was a beat. A dawning sense of realization. And then...

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"WHY ARE WE BOTH NAKED?"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"IT HAPPENED AGAIN?"

Again? What were they talking about?

Katherine suddenly burst into laughter. "Seriously, you guys didn't know?"

"Know what?" cried Mindy, her hands slapping against her skin as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I was watching you the whole time. You both just quietly slipped your clothes off while Celeste was delivering her sermon."

"What? But why would we...why would I..."

Celeste only chuckled melodiously. "Oh, there's no need to be so hysterical, girls. Freeing one's body of the vestments that confine and constrain it is what every woman desires to do, deep down. And nothing enflames that desire more than hearing the words of our ancient Scripture."

"Ancient...Scripture?" said Mindy as she ruffled around with her clothes in what Carol knew was likely a vain attempt to put them back on. "It makes you take your clothes off...so that must have been why I..."

Carol blinked as Mindy trailed off. Why she...what? "Did something happen, sweety?"

"Uh...it's a long story," said Mindy. "Funny one too actually. I'll tell you about it later, maybe...once I...have time to get over it."

"Y-yeah," murmured Erin as she too struggled to redress herself. "Me too."

***

The trip went by without further incident, and it couldn't have ended faster. Carol was desperate to complete her conversion to Zenrism, so much that she was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, against the door to her side, and on the gorgeous redhead next to her. So when the van rolled to a stop and Celeste announced that they reached their destination, the nude woman was out the door in a flash.

She shuddered as the fresh air hit her naked skin, every inch of it. On her bare shoulders, her bare stomach, her bare hips, her bare thighs, her bare feet. And of course, on her bare breasts, large and bulbous, creamy and white, bouncing happily towards the sky, and within her bare vagina, lips slightly parted, pink folds shuddering from the influx of heat pouring over them. The air was warm. Not oppressively so like it was yesterday, but enough for Carol to feel like she was getting a full body massage just by standing in it. Standing, in all her glory, in her natural state, uncovered, exposed, in the buff, au natural, starkers, as a jaybird, the way she was born, as she was meant to be. Naked. Naked. Absolutely, completely butt-NAKED! She...

She blinked, confused. This wasn't her apartment building. This...this looked like Lezling Park. What were they doing in Lezling Park? And why was there a news crew and a sizeable detachment of security milling about in the lot?

Carol bit her lip. For a moment, she considered ducking back into the van. Not out of embarrassment, of course, but simply out of habit. Zenrism might have been a legally recognized religion, but how many people in Beringall even knew about it? For all Carol could tell, she was just minutes away from being hauled off in a police cruiser standing outside like this without any clothing on.

However, Celeste was by her side before she could do anything, naked as always and completely unconcerned about it. And right next to them, even more naked women were pouring out of Henrietta's car, acting like their nudity was nothing special. Most of them marched forward towards the grassy knolls leading to the park's more scenic areas, while Maisie, who had been driving it, approached the van twirling the keys in her finger.