Tempted by Celestial Bodies

Chapter 2

chapter two

leo

I was beginning to doubt the quality of my sacrifice, but the strange physical aspect of My Most Horrifying and Sublime Goddess finally seems to have accepted my initial offering. Relief and satisfaction condense in my mind, but I must keep pride at bay. This is merely the first day of my honoring ritual, and she could still immolate me with a thought if she wished.

When my brethren and I left our watery home world and set out on this pilgrimage to find corporeal aspects of our most beloved divine being, I somehow knew slipping between realms would be my best course. Perhaps it was her sacred guidance that called me forth. Something had surely brought me here; some inward pull in the direction of this tiny backwater galaxy.

I turn my eyes to the desolate planet tangled with this moon’s orbit. There is no question in my mind that it suffered my death goddess’s wrath. This cold metal cocoon on a dead moon orbiting a devastated planet is the perfect place for her hibernation cycle, which leaves no doubt in my mind that I have found her.

I would never question her judgment, but the location does make my honoring ritual challenging. Collecting living sacrifices of unworthy males would be much more manageable if there were shreds of life on the slowly rotating brown rock below.

Honorable Sindaria obviously means to test my mettle for the next thirteen turns. Finding dishonorable flesh for her consumption is my duty and privilege. I am taken aback slightly by her choice of corporeal body, as it seems small and weak in comparison with mine, along with the rest of our devoted priests. I don’t find it altogether unpleasant to behold—this four-limbed aspect of meat and bone—but it does make me wonder: Where does my divine lady hide her monstrous, world-rending tentacles?

No matter. I question her not. The idea of being near her— with her—is almost too much happiness to bear after my long, solitary journey. The thought that I won’t be alone any longer buoys me as I float through the Void Between Things. If she accepts my second sacrifice, I will gladly shift to match her shape, reveal myself to her, and complete the ritual and my pilgrimage. My brethren will be envious, indeed, that after searching for our immortal death goddess, I have found Fearsome Sindaria hidden away in this odd little galaxy with so little life to sustain her prodigious, incomprehensible desires.

I feel the small vibrations of her body and watch with all my eyes as she paces in the large metal cocoon. Her garb is different than earlier, and I find this much more pleasing. It’s thinner, softer-looking, and brushes against her limbs when she moves. The rate of her vibrations increases, as if she’s excited or in distress, and it’s all I can do not to flail my tentacles with pride. She must be pleased with my second sacrifice.

It’s difficult for me to wait camouflaged out here in the Void Between Things, but the pain of cold only adds to my feelings of devotion. When Glorious Sindaria exits her metal cocoon again to collect the body of the three-legged Cha’orth I brought her, I will take the opportunity to scan her form so I can replicate it. Then, my real work begins.

My goddess has disappeared from view, and I sense her making her way to the lower part of the cocoon. Anticipation sends ripples through my hood. This was how she emerged last time—I must be ready.

Disappointment flutters through me when she exits the cocoon wrapped in the same robes as before, the thick, ugly ones that obscure her body and encase her omnipotent brain in a round crystal. It will be difficult for me to scan her as such, but not impossible. It simply means I must get closer to her to do so.

This time, she brings a metal cart with her, and I shake with barely restrained joy when she hefts the Cha’orth on top of it. Slowly, I float down behind her and softly caress one of my sensory tentacles across the outer surface of her raiment. The touch is not enough for her to sense me, but it is enough for me to absorb the anatomical guidelines coded within this aspect’s genes. She pauses for a moment, then whips around, searching for my phantom touch. This close, I can see more of her shape, and there is such alien beauty to it, I nearly collapse.

She only has two eyes that I can see inside her crystalline head covering, but they are as blue as the deep waters of my home. White-blonde hair covers the top of her head, reminding me of thin icicles that form in the northern seas. Her flesh is covered by skin that looks almost as soft as my hood, and pale pink lips the color of my favorite stellar nursery twist in a frown. I’m certain these lips disguise fearsome sharp teeth, because otherwise, my Delicious Sindaria has chosen an aspect with very little to offer besides obvious visual enjoyment.

Her coloring, however, leaves little room for doubt. Her sea blue eyes, ice-white hair, aurora pink lips…she is borne of the oceans of Oseuth. She belongs to me.

Beautiful Sindaria turns around again and tugs the cart with the dead Cha’orth into the bowels of the metal cocoon. Seeing her disappear from my view leaves me with a longing that borders on pain. No time for that now. I’ve gathered what I need to begin my transformation. I’m ready to become the perfect biological mate for my Fierce One.

I sift through her genes, taking what I require and discarding others. I weave my flesh into her form’s echo, relying on my imagination and the inspiration of her divine guidance to finish knitting myself into a four-limbed body that I pray will please her. My final action is to pull my tentacles into my new form, absorbing the filaments of my sensory and stinging cells. I send those cells to the tips of this body’s fingers.

When I’m satisfied that I’ve done my best, I follow Sindaria’s footprints to the lower section of the metal cocoon. I’m dismayed for the merest of moments when I see the electronic box on the outer door but realize I can match the sonic signature of the box with my sonar. This must be the first test, which surely means we’re proceeding with the ritual. The door opens with a hiss of air and as I step into the cocoon, heavy gravity presses in from all sides. I stagger forward, my body’s new limbs adjusting to the musculoskeletal limitations and unfamiliar gravitational pressure. Pain radiates from my many new organs, and I suck in a startled breath.

Ah, so this is what her lungs breathe!

Kneeling on the cold floor, I take a few moments to accustom myself to new thoughts and sensations.

It is warm in here—not quite as warm as the tropical seas on Oseuth, but certainly more pleasant than the icy Void Between Things. It’s strange to see with only two eyes, to smell with my air breather on my face, and hear sounds from the sides of my head. In my true form, I sense almost everything with my tentacles, and these new experiences cause a kind of sensory overload. I close my eyes to center myself—to pray for guidance and search for clues to this body within my divine lady’s chosen DNA.

Some time passes, but I’m not sure how much. I move awkwardly at first, but mimic the confident gait of My Goddess and eventually make progress through the lower parts of the metal cocoon. I send out a few sonar clicks to better locate Stunning Sindaria since I’m not used to these sensory organs and follow her delightful vibrations down a strange tunnel. My two eyes take in such an odd world around me, all sharp edges and cold metal and electronic signatures. Lights flicker on above me, but I cannot see what manner of creature emits the glow.

A single heart beats in my chest and my pulse begins to race as I near the chamber where Sindaria prefers to slumber. In her goddess form, she does not need sleep, of course, but this lovely fleshy version of her seems to require it in staggering amounts. If that is what she desires, I will exhaust her with worship and pleasure and then see nothing disturbs her. I will massage her limbs and wreath her in my tentacles—or rather, I will wrap her in these limbs until her fearsome appetites are sated.

I hear soft noises from the other side of this wall, and I think perhaps it is Sindaria returning to bed. The thought of her in her thinner robes excites me in a carnal way, and I notice that my new body’s reproductive appendage hardens in anticipation of my sexual worship. Curious . I wonder how these bodies will come together. Hopefully Sindaria will be satisfied enough with my honoring sacrifices, and she will show me how to please her. What will it feel like? Tentatively, I run a fingertip down the length of my engorged flesh and the pleasure of the touch zings through every nerve, filling me with a primal need to bury the organ in my goddess and rut until she overflows with my seed and holy benedictions spill from our lips.

Encouraged, I step forward and press my hand to the smooth, cool metal separating me from My Most Horrifying and Sublime Goddess. My mouth lifts in a joyful smile as the wall slides to the side with a soft whoosh and lo, there she lies—sleeping peacefully, resplendent upon a bed that faces a view of the Void Between Things and the devastated planet that somehow elicited her displeasure and deserved wrath.

She is singularly breathtaking, and I have only just learned to breathe. As her fathomless blue eyes open, I sink to my knees and bow before her. I do not know how these aspects communicate, so I stroke my consciousness against hers until she opens her mind to me, and I convey my thoughts with all manner of deference and respect. The ritual words, memorized thousands of times for a thousand years, are as natural to me as anything.

Fearsome Sindaria, I have come to you across universes separated by space and time, from the depths of the seas on Oseuth, all to journey in holy contemplation and devotion to your might. I have begun my honoring ritual and mean to worship you with gifts of sacrifice and pleasure for the next thirteen cycles. Accept me, Devastating One, and bless me with your presence.

When I dare to raise my head from the floor, Sindaria’s vibrations are fast and erratic. I’m convinced it’s a match for my lust and excitement, until she opens her mouth and lets out a piercing scream. Terrified she’s about to wrench my cells apart in rage, I recoil and try to run from her chamber. In my haste, however, I have forgotten how these moving metal walls work, and run headlong into the surface. Pain explodes across my face before I collapse to the floor again, and darkness wraps me in a dreamless embrace.