The Goddess' Chosen

This one has dysphoria and some denial but ultimately a wonderful end for a cute bean who just needs from transformative venom to feel better, but I wanna give heads up if you're not in the right headzone to read that kind of story.

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Legend has it that the Acolytes of Nekebah have the ability to see people's souls. They could see their hopes, their shames, everything that made them who they were. And on their trips to the villages and hamlets that dotted the lands around their Temple, they laboured to serve their goddess. They healed the righteous, defended the weak, punished the wicked. And once in a while, they searched for a soul in need of saving.

Loni hadn't thought he needed saving. He worked as a seamster, as his mother had before him. And as her fingers failed her, he picked up the trade and provided the village with its garment needs. He paid particular attention to dresses, and each was given a special flair in one way or another. Women's clothes just gave him more creative freedom, he reasoned, far from the drab practical outfits of his male counterparts. And he delighted in seeing the smiling faces of his customers when they came in to receive their gorgeous new outfit. It was, overall, a happy life.

But something was amiss. Something he couldn't quite place, or give a name to, or even say if it was real and not some fabrication of a wandering mind. He had everything he could want, he thought. A job, a family who cared for him...why did he stay up at night believing something was missing?

Nevertheless, he was as shocked as everyone else when the priestess singled him out. The Acolytes of Nekebah transcended many of the taboos that his village observed. Regardless of the weather, they wore almost nothing. The one that came to his village had made some adjustments for modesty and wore a loose skirt around her waist. Aside from that, her form was completely uncovered. No one dared scorn them, or try to threaten them. One did not anger the Goddess of Change and stay the same.

"There must be some mistake!" Loni said, a lump in his throat forming.

But the ethereal woman was adamant. She was deathly pale, her eyes coal black and piercing. Her hair was so dark light didn't seem to touch it, and jagged fangs like that of a shark sprouted in abundance from her mouth. Despite her divinity, she looked like a creature from the depths of the underworld.

She crooked a long, spindly finger at Loni. "You are touched by the Goddess, child. Tomorrow night, at the height of the Moon, go to the Temple. Your future awaits."

He spent his time asking what others knew of the Temple, and of the secretive Acolytes. They had few answers, only relaying half-remembered stories of similar events happening in the past. All were uniform in the belief that being selected by the Acolytes of the Goddess of Change was a good thing, and that all would work out in the end.

Even as he walked toward the entrance to the Temple in the failing light of dusk, he was still unsure. What could they want with him? The other Acolytes who had visited had been nothing but kind to his village, and one had even ordered his services from time to time. But the unknown was a terrifying thing, and the threat of 'what if' nearly sent him scurrying into the forest and exile.

The stone ruins of a colossal loomed overhead, its faded glory obscured by the plants around it and partially buried in a landslide several years before Loni was born. The Elders said that it was a Pantheon once: a temple dedicated to the glory of all the Gods. But, the Gods being the way they are, they broke into capricious squabbles amongst themselves, as did the old order of high priests. The old Pantheons crumbled, or were brought low, and their foundations used to build the fiefs of whatever God claimed the territory. In this case, Nekebah. But while the location of the Temple was known to everyone in his little village, accessing it was another matter. All he knew was that it was somewhere under his feet...

Night fell as he searched for the entryway. All paths seemed to lead to the ruined building above, with the sole sign of human habitation being an array of torches, freshly oiled but without a way to light them in sight. Outside, all that remained of a once opulent courtyard was a recessed fountain of marble. Brackish rainwater filled the pool where once crystal clear waters gushed forth in abundance. There were no open doors, no yawning cave mouths. Frustrated, he sat on the lip of the fountain. He stared into it, reflection backlit by the rising moon.

Unlike many of the men of his village, he went through great pains to keep himself smooth shaven. His brown hair was cut short, though since it dangled around his ears that it was much longer than the rest of the men in the village. He knew that, impartially and without bias, he wasn't unattractive. But he always felt discomfort at his appearance. Like it was missing something. Something he couldn't put words to.

"I wish..." he mumbled, staring at his distressed expression. The moment those words left his mouth, the ground quaked. He lost his footing, catching the lip of the fountain and held on for dear life. When his hand didn't sink into water, he unclenched his eyes. The pool was draining!

At first he thought it was a crack in the stonework caused by the quake that was draining it away. But as the water receded, it revealed the edge of a stone step. More and more steps appeared, continuing down in a spiral staircase that disappeared from view out of the moonlight.

A flash of colour. He looked up to see the torches around the temple erupt at once. Like they were offering themselves to him. He pulled one from the dirt and, with a deep breath to steel himself, begun his descent into the darkness.

The torch shook in Loni's hand as he descended the long, winding stone steps. His footsteps echoed off the claustrophobic rock walls. The steps, steep and slicked by the now drained water, were harrowing. One slip could spell his doom. But he comforted himself with the knowledge that, if the Acolytes had wanted him to come this far, they wouldn't let him die such a pointless end right before he found out their purpose. With renewed strength, if not quite a stout heart, he continued deeper into the earth. The moonlight disappeared, leaving only the faint glimmer of stars above and the light of the torch to keep him company.

After what seemed like an eternity, the wall around the staircase opened into a gigantic chasm. Torches and mirrors maintained a low illumination, yet it was still bathed in wobbly shadows as the light from two dozen temperamental sources flickered. When he spotted the figures below, he nearly lost his footing.

No two Acolyte looked the same, or even similar. There were huge, hulking brutes who engaged in spirited conversation with people a quarter their size. Ghostly thin shapes walked with people of much more robust countenance. Skin colours varied from the ones he had seen before to ones he had the scarcest idea even existed. Browns and beiges and blacks melded with blues and greens and greys in a rainbow of possibilities. Some had traits that he'd never seen a human have before. Horns, tails, even a pair of wings! It was all he could do to keep descending and not stare agape at the sheer variety of form.

"Welcome!" he heard a melodic voice call out, "It's been so long since we've found another lost soul. We're all a little excited, I must say."

The voice again...it took him a moment to remember. It was his old customer, Valah! He hurried down the remaining steps, eager to see a friendly face.

The stairs ended in a vast plane of mosaic tiles, depicting scenes he couldn't quite make out from ground level. Perhaps they looked remarkable higher up, but he'd been too busy trying not to slip to notice them. He stepped with care, however, fearful of damaging an expensive piece of art.

"Valah? Is that you?" Loni ventured.

The woman who spoke approached him. She was extremely curvy, almost resembling the totems of fertility he'd seen on display in the homes of families hoping for more children. Her hair was golden and spilled down to her enormous hips, her face moon shaped and welcoming. She still wore the top he'd made for her, the one that worked overtime to hold back her prodigious breasts. She was naked below that, however, and showed off every inch of her freckled skin.

"Loni! Oh, I had my eye on you but I had no idea. Erm, I mean, hello! Welcome to the Temple of Nekebah. The High Acolyte will see you momentarily. Just through that door there," she said, then pointed back to one of the four gigantic archways leading further into the cavernous temple.

"Why did you call for me? What do you mean my soul is lost?"

She waved him off. "All will be explained. Please. The High Acolyte will be so pleased you came!" When he didn't move, she came up and gave his hand a quick squeeze. She was much stronger than she looked. "Don't worry! You're safe, we wouldn't harm you. I promise."

With reluctance, he stepped in that direction. He could feel the eyes of the other Acolytes on him, and felt mild relief when he left their sight. As good as it was to see Valah again, he was not a fan of being the centre of attention.

The room beyond was much smaller, but that still meant it was still larger than any structure he'd seen before today. The centre of the room was a large circular dais covered in fluffy cushions and furred blankets. Huge braziers burned on either side, dangerously close to the fabrics in the middle. A glint caused him to look up and gasp at the sight of a thousand gemstones of various colours, arranged on a slate black ceiling to look like constellations.

"They look down on us, even in the depths of the earth," a voice said. He looked around, heart pounding in his ears, spotting a humanoid shape moving with an unnatural back-and-forth motion into the flickering firelight.

She had the head and torso of a human, with curly black hair wreathed in rings and strips of gold. Her thimble sized nipples were visible through the elegant cutoff top made of translucent silk. His eyes drifted down past her exposed abs to the pattern of iridescent scales that began where her legs should have been. A long, serpentine body continued past where it reached the mosaic covered floor, extending behind at least another fifteen feet, where it tapered down as it coiled around. The patterns on her scales almost looked like the mosaics he'd seen on the floor. Distorted in shape, perhaps, but the similarities were clear.

"Y-You're a snake?!" he asked in complete befuddlement. His heart pounded, his legs gave out. He landed hard, the pain barely acknowledged given the circumstances.

"Hardly," the hybrid woman said, her body lowering until it was just above eye level with Loni. "Be not afraid, young one. I am High Acolyte Iara. I am the Goddess' Chosen. She of Many Forms granted me this boon for my service."

Loni blinked. "You...you wanted to turn into a mon-" He caught himself on the word, not wanting to offend the woman who could squeeze the life out of him if she wanted. "That is, I mean, you wanted to look like this?"

Her smile had a hint of sadness to it. "My form before wasn't true to my soul. Through my faith, and my devotion to the Goddess' will, she blessed me with the chance to become so much more." She slithered in a circle around Loni. Though she didn't seem to be immediately threatening, the act reminded him of a predator eyeing up a meal.

"I've heard that you can see what a person's soul actually looks like...and one of your order told me that mine was 'lost'. What did that mean?"

"It means you're like me, in a way. Or rather, you're like us. The Acolytes of Nekebah were all soulsick, at one time in our lives or another. Our souls didn't match our bodies. I can see the same dissonance in you."

Loni shook his head reflexively. "That's not true. I'm not 'soulsick', I feel fine!"

"You cannot lie to me, child. I see your spirit as clearly as I see your face. You must have felt it. A disquiet without words, a lingering feeling when gazing at your own reflection."

His own thoughts came back to him in a rush. The moment at the lip of the fountain, staring at a body that was not...right.

"Well, so what if I feel that way. Lots of people do!"

The snake woman nodded. "Yes. They do. And the ones that we find, we bring here. Many choose to go back and return to their lives, or start new ones as the case may be. But others stay, taking up the mantle of the Acolyte."

"What...exactly do you do to them?" Loni asked.

She bared her teeth. Her upper row of teeth featured a pair of dagger-like fangs. He recoiled on instinct, which made the snake woman titter. "Don't mind these little things. Everyone I've bitten has felt much better afterward than they did before." She laughed again, almost like it was a private joke, then continued, "My benefactor has given me the ability to put most bodies into a suggestible, elastic state. Without physical restraints to hold them in place, the soul is free to make whatever modifications it desires."

His eyes widened. "Whatever it desires? It would change my body?"

"Really, you would be the one changing your body," she replied, running a finger from Loni's temple down to his chin, "I'd just be facilitating the transformation."

Loni shivered at the touch, her claw-like hands making it all too obvious that she could hurt him without even trying to. But for some reason he couldn't understand, he believed her.

"And...and if I don't want to change, deep inside?"

"Then nothing will happen," she said with a shrug, "But if you've made it far, it's by the Goddess' will. All the same, it's up to you to decide."

Indecision roiled in Loni's gut. But some tiny part, long dormant but growing in strength, whispered that he should believe her. That he should trust her. That deep, deep down, he wanted this.

He barred his neck. "Do it," he said, then slammed his eyes shut.

Pain shot through his neck in two blinding white spears. He shuddered, but Iara held him tight. An icy feeling followed, numbing the pain but suffusing into his body and spreading, making him shiver. It felt like cold water was pouring into his empty form, filling him up.

The snake woman pulled her fangs out gently, letting tiny purple droplets of venom drip out of the dagger-like points. The wound sealed itself almost instantly, leaving behind a pair of beauty marks. "Shh...it's done now. Nothing you can do but let it happen."

"S-so cold..." he said, teeth chattering.

Iara's body tightened around him, coiling around his legs, his torso, wrapping him up in scales. "There. Let my body warm you..."

He had no choice, of course. Her powerful serpentine body surrounding him was far stronger, his body bound in her unyielding scales. But that was almost comforting, too. Like a hug over his entire body. He sagged into her embrace and let the venom run its course.

The first thing he noticed was the tingling around his face. It felt like he'd slept on it and pinched a nerve somehow, pins and needles mingling with the chill of the venom for an unusual sensation. But with his cheek pressed into the side of Iara's body, he felt his face...shift.

"Whuh..." he began, his jaw barely going that far. His vocal cords cracked, and the next noise he made was a high pitched squeak. He cut himself off immediately, horrified at the sound. When he spoke again, it was still high, but at least he sounded human...if a little feminine. Hair shot down like questing vines, turning from his natural brown colour to an aposematic scarlet. He shook it out of his vision. "What am I turning into?"

"You are becoming yourself."

Another wave, this time around his chest. Parts felt like his shoulders shrank, while others felt like they were bloating up. Iara released the pressure around his torso, and he was able to look down and see two mounds pressing out from his body.

"Breasts?!" he squeaked. His mind pieced things together. High voice, smaller shoulders, breasts... "I'm turning into a woman?"

"If that's how you feel. Your soul's preference is clear, but only you can decide what to call yourself." She rippled her coils around Loni, reassuring him of her presence. The contraction of muscles squeezed against a particular part of his anatomy, one that was feeling a tingling sensation of its own.

"Ngh, I...oh damn, I'm sorry," Loni tried to excuse, feeling his cock harden against her. "I can't help it!"

More gentle laughter. "I told you, be not afraid. Every part of your body is valid, if your soul deems it so. Here, let me show you." She pulled off of him briefly, allowing him to fully examine the 'changes' to his form. He cupped the two mounds on his chest, feeling a sudden jolt of incredible sensation as he did so. When he looked up to ask for an explanation, he saw that he wasn't the only one getting excited.

Where her thighs should have come together, a long fleshy slit had opened. It drooled clear fluid in expectation, and from the flushed expression on the snake woman's face, her arousal was clear. But he was caught by surprise when a tapered red shaft emerged from the slit, pressing outward with every beat of her heart until it dwarfed Loni's cock. It was twice as wide at the base as it was at the tip, making him gulp at the thought of getting taken by something so big.

"You're..." he began, but Iara put a finger to his lips.

"I'm just like you. I transformed, but my soul wasn't keen on losing my manhood entirely...so to speak. I yearn to use it on those willing to receive. Tell me...are you?"

Loni wavered. The tingling in his body only grew more intense, spreading out across his entire form now. The chill was turning into a gentle warmth, like slipping into a hot bath. Whatever was in that venom must function like a drug. Lowering inhibitions. Yes, that had to be it, he reasoned. He gave himself license to act on his feelings, under the pretense that he wasn't entirely in control of his actions.

"Mmm~ You look so hot, Miss Iara," he said. He stripped down his breeches and shirt, both hand crafted and finely made, and folded them neatly on the ground. All that remained of his modesty was the bulge in his smallclothes, and that had diminished from what he was used to. "I...that is...I want to touch you."

The snake woman nodded, and wrapped him up once more. This time, a skillfully slid tail end allowed her to pop off the seams of his underwear, completely exposing Loni's nethers. A part of his body that was changing rapidly.

Despite how hard he was, he watched his cock shrink back into his body. Iara wrapped him back up, this time in a way that pressed her enormous member against his diminishing one.

"It's happening," the priestess declared in an authoritative voice, "Your soul cannot lie. Tell me: who are you?"

She thrust forward, grinding against him clear pre spilled down her tapered tip, slathering his diminishing dick and adding lubrication to the act.

It was hard to think. But that meant that the self-deception was hard to summon. Who was he? Who was...

"Lyla," Lyla said, and the little dick imploded inward in a shower of thin cum, squirting away as it deflated, leaving behind an indentation. A space between Lyla's legs that grew in size and depth as she watched, mouth agape.

She. Lyla was a woman this whole time. And not because of the vagina slowly asserting its form in her flesh. But because that's who she was. Her soul's desire to reform her body to fit. It felt like wearing the wrong shoes for years until finding a kindly cobbler to slip the right size effortlessly onto your weary feet. More than the orgasm, Lyla cried out in sheer relief.