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.
