(Vol 2) Chapter 48: The Charm of Nymphs

Her feet splashed in shallow, clear water on smooth stones, as all around was a mood-lit cave of natural stone in hues of blue and white and turquoise. In the shallows and upon the stone shore were neon rainbows of colorful aquatic plants, swaying in the air as if indeed still underwater. The walls and ceiling of the cave reflected shimmers from the light sway of the water, and a beautiful, soft harp melody played from somewhere or nowhere.

The natural beauty was further facilitated by rich, gilded decor intermixed into a space like a hall — fine vases, candelabras, and statues were arrayed, and murals were carved into sections of the walls. A chandelier hung from above. Nearby was a large leisure area full of bountiful floor cushions over plush-looking rugs. Floral scents intermingled with incense in the air.

Wow…

Seven pointy-eared naiads awaited her approach up the little shoreline, smiling with their arms out in welcome. Each was a different shape, size, and shade as if covering all the bases of beauty one might be partial to. They wore exceptionally sheer gowns, jewelry, and wreaths atop their heads, all slightly distinctive yet matching at the same time.

Sammy meanwhile had pretty much subconsciously chosen the standard casual dress she’d worn first in Tashome’s dream. Perhaps ‘queenly’ more than flagrantly goddess-like as her primary form was.

The naiad in the front was more majestic than the others, with a greater aura and charisma to her — quite clearly the same beauty that had first greeted and invited her. “Here you are, and what beauty indeed to take our very breaths away! I am Princess Ellepetra and these are my sisters. May we approach you, hug you, to receive you as a friend and new sister, according to custom? Please?”

“Yes — oh please, Goddess!” another implored, face the picture of youthful desire with her fingers literally interlaced together in a begging gesture.

“It would be such an honor!” another declared.

More hopeful sounds and mutterings chimed from them as a whole.

Samantha blinked at the barrage, fairly overwhelmed. “I- uh, um sure, if it’s the custom, th-that’s fine…”

Ellepetra beamed as she approached and embraced her visitor warmly, saturating her with the mingled fragrances of perfume and whatever botanicals layered her skin and hair. A throaty squeal of delight was uttered as the nymph squeezed her.

So soft…

The others took their turn in greeting, murmuring compliments the entire time, lingering close and offering more after the hugs broke. Her hair was so pretty! Her subtle makeup so accentuated her natural beauty! The colors of her dress matched and suited her eyes! What gorgeous nails! What scent did she wear? On and on.

Sammy was soon beaming along with them, quickly and irresistibly becoming rather giddy with the attention. She began throwing out her own compliments, which got still more responses in kind from the nymphs, in a massive feedback loop of positive reinforcement.

It made her feel like one of the popular girls for the first time in her life. Sure, she was an actual goddess who received worship from dozens of people, but this was a whole other kind of dream come true!

I feel so comfortable with them! Hmm. But they also all want in my pants, too? Ugh, it’s so confusing…

Before she knew it, they were all lounging on floor cushions, drinking wine from goblets — not exactly something she’d trust if she were there in the flesh, but with it all in the mind, what harm could it do?

“Would you mind if I help you relax that tension in your shoulders?” One of them asked with a pleasant grin, close to one side, and knelt down.

“And your feet!” Another one exclaimed with tragic airs. “They look as if they’ve never been massaged! That would be just dreadful, to persist so.”

Taking a sip of fruity, deliciously sweet wine, Sammy thought about it with her brows furrowed. “Well, I have been under a lot of stre-”

Wait. No-no-no, these are seductresses! One inch becomes a mile!

Sammy cleared her throat and shook her head, smiling politely. “I know that would be too lovely, but I should decline to keep my mind as sharp as possible. Though I have never been in company so pleasing as this, I am, after all, here on a kind of business.”

The nymphs only bowed their heads graciously in response.

Ellepetra nodded slowly to her statement, sipping from a goblet herself propped up on one elbow where she lay. “Redberry stated you wanted to learn how to be us, or to seem like us. I’d suggest receiving, so that you may learn to give likewise. The best way to absorb is to throw oneself into the role completely.”

The rest all nodded and murmured their firm agreement, as though it were elementary. Academic.

Yeah right, it’s because they want to snog me! Every single one of them!

Sammy tried to hide her expression — and probably her blush — behind a thankfully quite large golden goblet as she took a significant swig. “I appreciate the suggestion, but I don’t think I need any… deep… dives into it, just impressions and information enough to put my own spin on things. I’ve already absorbed quite a lot. It is a privilege to meet so many new sisters and I hope this is the first of many meetings.”

They definitely liked that. All those with goblets lifted them in salute before drinking to it as well.

Ellepetra’s mesmerizing eyes seemed to glitter at the prospect. “Likewise and multiplied. To truly have a new, close friend such as you, eternal and resplendent — that is the penultimate privilege to a naiad, Your Majesty. Perhaps you should bring your girlfriend along next time to share in all that you partake of here. I’d recommend coming in the flesh as well.”

The other nymphs were ecstatic about that, gasping and exclaiming how wonderful it would be to have yet another sister and to fully experience them.

Samantha paused for far too long on that suggestion. Once more, she sipped on wine to stall. No way am I bringing Azure here! “I will certainly consider it. I think it would be quite a trip to take, but it is definitely something I want to do eventually. I’m interested in the elves as well.”

“They’re quite pleasing,” a naiad offered, “though by now we long for more varieties to visit us in our seclusion here. Humans.”

Several nymphs sighed dreamily, and then one said very salaciously, “Naugites.”

The agreement was ecstatic, with tittering and giggling amongst themselves. Yep, definitely not bringing Azure. Those are my horns to- wait-

“Sisters!” Ellepetra raised her voice to quiet them. “Nyniane, whatever your decisions, you’re always welcome here or at our physical lake, as are your servants, and we’ll gladly tell the Thirikira that you are our friend and to be trusted. In fact, we can introduce you to them as the entity you pretend to be, no? Among such secluded mortals, you could be this openly, and convert many to worship you.”

“We’ll worship you, too!” another nymph called. “You are so worthy of it! In every way. Though sadly, we cannot provide the energy of mortals. We are often accused of draining energy, though not of that kind.”

They tittered and giggled once more.

Samantha found herself giggling with them as she sipped the delicious wine. She was actually feeling more relaxed around them. It was so easy! They were like the personifications of permissive acceptance.

Ooh, worshippers! I do love those. And elves! I love elves. I should totes do that.

New Quest unlocked: “Freed to Fake It” — Travel to the Lake Yura Elven community as Stillwater and gain at least 1 Follower.

● Rewards: +30 FE, 3 exp in [Goddess], 3 exp in [Bard].

“I got a quest!” Samantha cried out with a big grin.

A naiad leaned in close next to her, eyes wide. “Oooh, is it for us to worship you? Surely we would help…”

“Er, no. It’s to come here as an Avatar and gain Followers, as the princess suggested.”

“Oh… may I brush your hair?” She held up a brush. “It’s a very soft brush.”

“Hmm? Oh… yeah, sure… I don’t see why not.”

Her tiara was removed and soon the brushstrokes began, practically massaging her scalp and slowly descending, almost rhythmically. The simple act was incredibly relaxing and pleasurable…

Ellepetra gestured with an open hand. “Feel free to ask questions, dearest…”

Sammy asked for a brief rundown on their origins, what they provided to mortals, their motives, and so on. Most importantly, what a goddess raised among them might want.

Interestingly, Ellepetra was not created by Redberry at all, but befriended her and worked with her to create more, rare, persecuted entities of the ‘Elven North’, which included such fae as the rare naiad capable of leaving a specific water body. Her sisters were born of Redberry’s deific artifice, as well as 'her lover’s' powerful spellcraft, with Ellepetra providing aid as a template and in certain matters of the spirit.

“What can you tell me of Redberry’s lover?” Samantha had to ask, though it was difficult focusing under the feeling of brushed hair and — as she had automatically agreed to after being asked — her feet being massaged sitting in the lap of another naiad.

Ohhh wooow… I cannot believe how good this feels, hrrngh… why has this not been in my life — why?!

Ellepetra shrugged. “An Elven beauty. Someone who inspired her toward the Freedom domain, expanding influence, creating more independent fae, becoming more integrated with the mortal populace… so on and so forth. Basically a revolutionary. And then the Dominion came, hmm? Now she’s dead, and Redberry is dying. What ambition always brings: death.”

The naiad brushing her hair said, “Far better to live in peace, seclusion, and luxury. To live! And Goddess, would you mind if I massaged these tense shoulders — aka the mental representation of the great weight you take upon yourself daily and selflessly? Oh, but how you deserve a little relief!”

“Yeah, I kinda do, don’t I,” Samantha said vaguely, then sighed from the all-too-happy naiad’s ministrations down-leg. “Mmn, do my mind-feet really get tense, too? That’s crazy!”

The massaging nymph turned her beautiful face around to wink. “Of course, Your Majesty! Sensates like us mimic all — or mostly all — that a mortal feels, and subconsciously translate even to our mental selves. Strain needing relief. A desire for others to fill the gap. You would not have the opportunity for such pleasure if you simply turned it off.”

“I see…” Samantha took a sip of the wine and tried to remember what she was talking about. Important info. Right. “So… Ellepetra… do you remember the other gods?”

The princess shook her head sadly. “No one does… not to the level of their names. All I remember are fragments. Broken pieces of divinity. As their psyches were destroyed there was something else, too, something that scours the whole world, ripping memory from minds, or perhaps ‘breaking’ it is indeed more apt. Shattering belief itself and returning it to the glittery aggregate of the spirit realm.

“I remember the moment of not remembering my patron. I felt it, felt their death and the scouring like it was scooped out with arctic iron.”

“That is… frightening…” She could fall asleep under the skillful hands of the nymphs on her faux muscles...

“He is.”

“Who?”

“The First Sage, the Sage of Truth. The slayer of the gods, who called them all liars, whose accusations are backed with the finality of Oblivion… for those of us without past lives, anyway.”

The words sent goosebumps of familiarity over her skin. Truth. The First Minister. The Ministry of Verity. Words of another reality and time, she thought, but reflected across it.

“I’d really like to get at the rest of this back, Your Majesty!” exclaimed her shoulder massager at her ear. “Perhaps you would lower your dress and lay on your stomach?”

“Oh, yes, let me just-” Sammy blinked, and her eyes lowered to the goblet of wine she’d been drinking constantly. That was always filling itself back up, too. And it was definitely making her feel good, foggy... more agreeable...

Drunk! Fuck... a drug that affects spirits and deities. Ambrosia. Of course. I’m an idiot. A fucking idiot! Of course deities would come here to get lit! Nymphs are the tempters of even the gods!

Her own half-hysterical, half-drunken laugh at herself interrupted her words. But she set the drink down and tried to compose herself firmly. She gently pulled her feet away from one nymph, then slid away from the other, trying a polite smile. “Actually, I think I better get going. Don’t want my girlfriend worrying!”

I better get out of here while I still have my virginit- er, clothes on! Wait, would mind-sex even count... stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it...

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