The High Priestess

Note: this story follows the numbering convention of Tarot cards, and thus starts with chapter 00.

Riley double-checks the address card Ali gave them. They're on the right street, they know, but the house number- 5040- is not emblazoned or painted on the side of the door. There's no door at all, in fact. A wooden sign with "5040" painted in black letters hangs over a chest-high gate that looks over a garden.

Despite the dry, almost oppressive heat of the world around them, the garden is a lush and verdant green. Thick grass paints the landscape, recently trimmed and surrounding multicolored pools of flowers. A large, thick tree casts a beckoning shadow over the ground next to a shimmering pool of blue water.

With nothing else to do, they open the gate and step inside. Immediately, they feel their stomach tighten as if they're breaking a rule. If people are allowed to just walk inside, wouldn't the place be totally full? They wait for someone to stop them, call after them and say they can't be in there, but nothing comes. They cast a glance behind them, and no one's even looking at them.

Weird

.

They step further in, stepping lightly as to not stomp all over the grass. The air seems cooler in here, even though the sun shines just as brightly. "Hello?" they call.

"You found it," a soft voice says. They turn towards the sound, but there's no one there. When the speaker talks again, the sound comes from behind them. "I see you've finished with Ali."

"I, uh... I have, yeah."

"Your appearance has changed, but your voice betrays you." They look to their left, and there's still no one. "This isn't something you can fix overnight."

The voice comes to the right now, and this time there's a person there. She's about Riley's height with dark hair and narrow eyes, highlighted by long wings of eyeliner. She cups a hand around Riley's cheek, and her brown eyes gaze into their face. "This is a sufficient disguise."

"It's not supposed to be a disguise," they say. "I just like looking like this."

"Hmm." She walks around Riley, looking their body up and down. "You may need to disguise yourself as a passing woman in order to receive power from your enemies."

"I don't want to disguise myself. I told Ali, I'm not lying to anyone."

"Perhaps not," she says. "But if you're in a situation where you have to, I'd much rather you have all your tools at your disposal."

Riley sighs. "I guess."

"I can give you the skills to change your voice, but it's a long process. There's no easy shortcut to change it, it requires time, discipline, and effort. Are you up for the task?"

"Is this like when I'm playing a video game and someone gives me a yes or no question, but if I answer no they just make me keep trying until I say yes?"

She gives them a stare which makes it very clear she's not amused.

"Alright, I'll learn."

Her face shifts into something closer to a smile. "Good. Sit down for a moment."

Riley sits down, feeling the grass against their legs. They expect it to be itchy, but it's soft and springy, strands gently brushing their skin without being irritating. When they look up, the woman is gone again.

"Hey, uh..." they realize they don't know her name. "Are you here?"

They hear her voice, but can't see her. "I didn't leave. Be patient."

They tap their hands on the ground while they wait. A few moments later, they look up and see her only a few feet away from her, holding two bowls of greens and two forks.

"Can you teleport or something?"

She sits down across from them and places the bowls down. They're full of salad, mostly lettuce with some colorful vegetables and a sweet-smelling dressing. "No. Nothing classic like teleportation or invisibility. People simply... cease to notice me unless I direct their attention at them."

"Um... is that the power I'm going to get from you?"

She shakes her head and takes a bite of her salad. "I can be much more selective than this. I ensure I'm not noticed because I like not being noticed. If I wished, I could turn it off, but there's no reason for that."

Riley stabs their fork into the bowl. They never much liked salad, but this is tangy and almost sweet. Much more interesting than greens drenched in ranch. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Call me Ara."

"And what do you do?"

She narrows her eyes. "What do I do?"

"Yeah," they take a bite. "For a living."

"That's not important to you."

They look to the ground, downcast. "I just thought-"

"Ali's friendly. I'm not. We're not here to be friends, I'm here to be your teacher and to bestow my power onto you. You don't need to know my backstory."

"Okay." They turn to focus on their food.

# # #

Riley expected Ara to take them somewhere else to have sex. Sitting out in the garden was nice for voice practice, but even though they're the only ones in it it's hardly private property. But after finishing their salad and learning the techniques they'd need to alter their voice, Ara surprises them.

"Okay. Get naked."

"Huh?" They look out into the street, which still receives a decent amount of foot traffic.

"Don't worry about them. They can't see us. When they look over at us, all they see is an empty alleyway. Their eyes hardly even focus on it."

They'd like her to go first, if she's so confident, but her gaze tells them they shouldn't expect her to. Riley pulls their shirt over their head, discarding it on the ground next to them, then undoes their bra. They fumble with the clasp for a moment, not used to the garment, and after a moment it falls away. Ara looks their body up and down, and nods.

"You did good work there. Natural shape." Her eyes are sharp and interrogating in a way that makes them want to shrink back. "Take your pants off."

They unbutton their shorts and strip their boxers along with it. Ali was comfortable to be in front of naked, but they can tell Ara's mentally critiquing every inch of them. The constant stream of passersby on the sidewalk doesn't help much either.

"Will you be comfortable altering yourself?" Ara asks.

"I'll give it a try." The idea of screwing up something important rests at the back of their mind, but they'd rather it happen here with Ara rather than on their own in some hotel sometime.

"Good." Their mouth shifts into something that Riley can almost call a smile. They slide their skirt down their tanned legs and step out of it when it falls to the ground. "You may use me as a reference."

# # #

The transformation wasn't as odd as they were expecting. Their body goes numb when shifting, and they're grateful they don't have to feel anything moving around. Watching the process is strange, but not as unpleasant as they expected, and most of the time is dedicated to small aesthetic tweaks.

Ara sets herself down on the grass, and looks up at the first hints of sunset painted onto the horizon. "So," she says, stretching out her legs. "Are you content?"

They look down at their body. Their new frame is unfamiliar, and even though it's jarring to see their body suddenly so different, but that feeling is crowded out by excitement. They can turn their body into anything they want. However they're feeling on a certain day, their body can match it. "Yeah," they nod. "I'm content."

"Good," Ara says. "Ready to get started?"

"I'm ready. What do you-"

She cuts them off. "Put this on and shut up." She holds a dark sleeping mask in her hand, and Riley has no idea where she got it from. "The only noise you make will be feedback. If you don't like what I'm doing, you will tell me. If you like what I'm doing, you will simply moan. Am I understood."

Riley instinctively goes to say "Yes", but catches themself. They moan in agreement, and their heart skips a beat when a cold smile forms on her face.

"Good." She leans forward, and drapes the sleeping mask over their eyes. The world goes completely dark, and the next thing they feel are Ara's hands firmly maneuvering them to lie flat on the grass. They're still for a moment until soft lips land on their forehead, barely grazing their skin. A faint trail of kisses paints a line down the side of their face, from their forehead down to their temple, cheek, and jawline.

Riley prepares for her to reach their neck, but instead they feel her fingers on their waist. She drags her nails up their sides, leaving a faint tingling sensation as she goes. Her hot breath meets their neck, leaving them in suspense for an agonizing few seconds before her lips meet their skin, ecstasy blossoming under her touch.

Her fingers trail up and down their side in rhythm, slowly moving inwards as she works their way down their neck. She moves with excruciating slowness, to the point where it's hard to tell if she's moving at all. Each touch and kiss makes their more sensitive parts long for attention, they want Ara to kiss their breasts and touch their clit, but she adamantly refuses to give them any kind of satisfaction. The desire to beg pokes at their mind, but they remember Ara's orders and don't want to know what'll happen if they disobey.

Her lips finally reach their collarbone. Their body feels too hot, like they're burning up from the inside out. They want to lean into her, twist their body to be closer to their lips, but they dutifully stay put. They want to prove they can be well behaved and patient.

Ara pulls away from them, and next thing they know her hands are between their thighs. Her thumbs drag up towards their pelvis, then back down as if she changed her mind. Riley feels themself twitch under her touch, desperate for her to help get them off. Her next trek upwards gets ever so slightly closer to where Riley wants her, but she again refuses to indulge, trailing back down.

And so she goes, teasing them endlessly. She doesn't take a single shortcut or cut a single corner, but by the time Riley's ready to start squirming on the ground, her thumbs touch the edges of their lips. "Please," Riley moans, unable to hold it in anymore.

They regret it as soon as Ara's hands vanish from their legs. Her hand pats the side of their face repeatedly, not hard enough to be a slap but it's clear she's dissatisfied. "Is there a problem with my methods?"

They shake their head. A hot, uncomfortable sweat forms on the back of their neck.

"Is there something you'd like to say about my methods?"

Riley does the only thing they can think to do, and lets loose a low, passionate moan.

"Good," Ara says. They can't see her, but her voice sounds like she's smiling. "I forgive any mistake the first time it happens. I won't punish you for this. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

They moan in a way they hope sounds grateful. Ara drags her nails down their body, starting at their shoulder and then down their side, over their waste, and between their thighs. She parts their legs, sparking a skip in Riley's heart, and she shifts so her head is in front of their crotch.

She spreads their lips with her fingers, and pokes her tongue just over their entrance. Riley moans without even thinking, body flushed with relief from just that touch. She starts the same dance as she did on their thighs, an endless cycle of up and down, going ever so slightly further up each time. Riley whimpers and moans, Ara's tongue drawing out faint sparks of ecstasy but holding out on the stronger feelings they know are coming. They squirm at their touch, thighs tightening and back arching.

And then her tongue reaches their clit, and their body shines with ecstasy.