When I awoke several hours later, I had the answer to one of my previous questions: the energy of the pool did nothing to abate my appetite. I awoke, floating in the pool, feeling completely energized, and completely famished. Losing my last meal to the corruptive smoke of the boogerman… I still can hardly believe it was actually once a white rose bush! The way that damn thing looked, I would’ve sworn it had always been some sort of twisted, other-worldly monstrosity!
But anyway… Trying to get my poor thoughts back on track – I get distracted easily when I get hungry, and at the moment, I was famished! The pool had revitalized my energy, by the time I woke up drifting in it, but my poor stomach was completely and utterly empty – and it wasn’t afraid to remind me of that fact!
”Groooowwwwww wwwowwooollll wwoow!” Growling so heavily that it made Shadow wake up and snarl cautiously in my direction, my stomach was demanding subsistence. Trying to ignore it as much as possible, I slowly eased over to the side of the pool, learning ever so slowly more and more about how to swim from my extended time within it.
“Laulaia, Alaina,” I softly called out to the two girls, “can one of you grab me whatever’s left of our food?”
“I’ll do it,” Alaina volunteered, hopping up from where she was sitting cross-legged and sharpening her stone dagger across the stone floor.
“There’s not that much left,” Laulaia warned me, biting her lower lip, worried. “I thought the Lady of Life was going to provide some food for you, if we stayed and cleansed those creatures over the next week or so?”
The concern in her voice made a small smile creep up the corners of my face. That was the closest to a complaint that I think I’ve ever heard her or Alaina issue against one of the gods. The two were raised with an almost fanatical level of respect for them, and if Laulaia was voicing doubts aloud, her heart had to be troubled quite heavily.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” I told her, taking the small bundle of our edible supplies which was leftover in Laulaia’s hosiery. Smooshed and mashed almost into a paste, all I could do is scoop my fingers into the gloop and try my best not to taste it, as I crammed it down my throat and forced myself to swallow.
“From what we just witnessed last night,” I sighed, not liking the idea even as I was having it, “I think those boogermen are probably our food source. If a rose bush can get corrupted and turn into one,” I reasoned, “then so can a grape vine, a corn stalk, or a potato plant. I imagine if we keep hunting and purifying them, eventually we’ll find one that will produce something edible.”
“But what if we don’t?” Frowning heavily, Laulaia paced back and forth across the stone floor several times. “Alaina doesn’t know how to tell the difference in what type of plant might be corrupted, so hunting them is nothing more than pure chance. What’s to say that she won’t bring back plants like poison ivy, weeds, or some other trash plant that can’t be ate?”
“Faith,” I said, barely believing it was myself talking. Since when the hell was I one to use faith as an excuse for planning for the future? “We just have to have a little faith,” I repeated, though I was starting to doubt it myself.
“It’s not faith,” Casper chuckled, lightly in my head. “It’s simple probability. Ages past, when the great damn failed and Golden City was flooded, leakage from the alchemist’s academy spread across the town. That spill reacted with the fertilizers people were using and helped cause the corruption in the plants that were planted in it.
“Do you know anyone who fertilizes their poison ivy?” Laughing happily, it was obvious Casper found the very thought amusing. “Humans fertilize plants which they find useful to them,” she assured me, “whether that’s for eating, medicine, or just esthetics. Your people don’t generally fertilize weeds and such.”
Finishing a final scoop of gloop – there was probably enough to last another day, or so, at most – I eased the rest of the way out of the pool and hugged Laulaia. “Even if we don’t find any edible plants to cleanse,” I teased her, “you’ve got these.” Gripping one of her breasts gently in my hand, I lifted it up and down a few times, meaningfully. “I can always slice off a bit here, then heal you back good as new, you know.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Crossing her arms protectively around her chest, Laulaia’s face drained of all color as she went pale.
“You can eat mine,” Alaina offered, a strange expression stitched across her face, before adding, “They might not be as tasty as hers though.”
“Now I see why you like breasts so much!” Casper’s voice sounded delighted, as if she’d just learned some great secret of mine, though I had no idea what the hell type of conclusion she’d jumped to. I was only joking!
“Well, if they’re not as tasty as hers, then I guess I’ll just stick to eating Laulaia’s.” Practicing my most evil laugh, I changed back into my male form and hovered threateningly over Laulaia’s much smaller body. “Besides, they’re larger, softer, and have more meat in them to help calm a man-sized hunger!”
“That’s not meat! It’s all yucky fat!” Backing away from me, Laulaia’s whole body was pale and shaking. Honestly, she looked like she might pass out at any given moment!
Unable to contain my amusement any longer, (and honestly starting to feel a little bit like a heel, as if I’d carried on the joke for too long, staring at Laulaia’s terrified face,) I struggled hard not to laugh. “Fine. Fine. I’m not going to eat you,” I promised. “I’m not a cannibal after all!”
“Are you sure?” Biting her lower lip worriedly, Laulaia showed no sign of being persuaded by my words.
“I’m sure! I’m sure!” Holding both hands up innocently in the air, I tried to convey my lack of hostility. “As long as you never bite my sausage, I’ll never eat your breast meat,” I promised, smiling broadly to show the whole thing was just a joke.
“Fine.” Snorting slightly, Laulaia slowly lowered her arms back down to her sides. “But I’m warning you,” she glared, threateningly, “if you eat my breast, I’ll completely bite off your sausage, chew it up, and swallow it!”
“And I think she might too,” Casper added, laughing excitedly. “She’s a strong one, that she is,” she chuckled, praising Laulaia.
It’s a good thing that I have such a large member as a man, because I swear several inches of it curled up and hid inside my ball sack, hearing such nightmarish promises!
----------------------------------------
After everyone calmed back down, and Laulaia finally quit staring at me nervously from the corner of her eyes, I shifted back to my womanly form. Heading over to Alaina, I prayed to Casper to heal her, several times, trying to learn and memorize the feeling of the disease called Thornrot. Afterwards, it was back in the pool to cycle between soaking in its magical energies, and then another time of praying for a healing again, repeatedly. After about the third or fourth cycle, I didn’t feel like I could learn anything more about the way the disease felt under the goddess’s magic, so I finally cured Alaina completely.
I had time for another nasty meal of mushed gloop, and then both the girls had their fun drinking milk and teasing me mercilessly, until we went to sleep after. Waking up, Laulaia and I were left basically twiddling our thumbs once again, while Alaina ran out into the late evening light and worked on luring a boogerman onto the temple grounds above.
“My ladies, I apologize.” Coming back well after dark, Alaina was covered in sweet, but seemingly unhurt. “The creatures are acting erratic this evening – almost as if something had them already worked up before they even saw me,” Alaina explained, sighing sadly. “Every time I tried to lure one to the temple grounds, others would appear on the path I was taking back. I had to dodge and weave through the maze that is the city, and it got completely dark before I could lure one here.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“There’s several close,” Alaina snorted, obviously frustrated, “but none which are on the temple grounds.”
“That’s fine.” Heading over, I gently hugged her. “Take me on up to the nearest one,” I ordered, smiling brightly. “We’re in no hurry to purify the ten for the goddess’s task, and I can still cleanse them no matter where they’re at. After it’s cleansed, we’ll bring it back to the temple ground and plant whatever you brought us, and hope that it’s something edible. You did fine,” I assured her. “As long as you come back to us unhurt each evening, that’s all that really matters.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Smiling slightly, Alaina gave a slow thumbs up of appreciation. “They’re out this way.”
“Wait!” Shouting at us to stop before we even got started, Laulaia rushed over and dipped something into the pool before coming back. Holding out a small white cloth, she blushed charmingly. “Wear these. They might help keep you from having as bad of a reaction if that damn thing smokes up again, like last time.”
Taking the cloth gently from her, I slowly unfolded to see what it was…
Panties. Her faded white, lacy as hell, panties! “Umm….” What the hell am I supposed to say when presented with such a thing? Do I really look like one of those weird panty-sniffing perverts who like to wear a pair on my head? “Thanks,” I coughed, embarrassed, “but I don’t think they’ll be that effective with all the lacework in them.”
“I know that,” Laulaia said, turning even redder after seeing my embarrassment. Chanting just a few simple arcane words, a soft white glow traveled from her hands over to the panties I was holding so gingerly. In no more than a few seconds, they had almost tripled in dimension. Another few words and the cloth reshaped itself to become more of a surgical-style mask.
“The shape will stay,” Laulaia informed me, smugly, “but the size will return to normal in a few hours. That’s still plenty of time for you to work the cleansing while wearing them, so they should help protect you somewhat from the smoke.”
“Besides,” Casper taunted, once again popping up in my mind when least wanted, “you know you’d enjoy having an excuse to smell her bloomers.”
“Shut up, dammit! That’s not true!” Misunderstanding that I was blurting out a denial to Casper, shock and surprise flashed openly on Laulaia’s face.
“I… I’m sorry.” Blushing brightly, tears creeped up into the corner of her eyes. “If you really don’t want them…”
Oh shit! “No. No. No! I’m not talking to you,” I rushed to correct my mistake. Poor Laulaia! First, I threaten to eat her breasts, and then I shout at her like an abusive asshole! Being a Chosen One, and having to deal with a stupid goddess in your head all the time, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!
----------------------------------------
After several long minutes, which were required to calm Laulaia’s hurt feelings, Alaina finally led the way back up to the surface. Laulaia stayed back, partially to hold back Shadow to stop him from roaming and getting into trouble since we were surrounded by boogermen – And the gods know what else! – and partially to nurse her wounded pride.
Heading to an ancient alleyway cluttered with rubble from fallen buildings and ruined walls, Alaina pointed out a small cluster of three slime-covered bushes. “I tried to separate them, but they weren’t interested in cooperating with that idea at all,” Alaina sighed, ruefully.
“That’s fine,” I reassured her, once again. “Since I can’t tell one plant from the other, why don’t you take the honor of choosing one for me to purify?” Tying the newly altered panty-mask around my face – which was rather odd looking when you consider it was the only stitch of clothing either of us were wearing – I was hoping that letting her choose might perk Alaina up slightly. Perhaps she’d view it more as a reward, or a sign of trust, or some such, rather than just another chore to complete. At least, that’s what I was hoping.
Moving cautiously up to the night-still creatures, Alaina took her task a lot more seriously than I would’ve. Since we really don’t know anything much about them, does it really matter which one is chosen? I’d think one would be as good as any other, but Alaina was straining her eyes in the dim light to make out any and all differences in them.
“I don’t think the one on the left is one you want to cleanse,” she finally decided, after several long moments of inspection. “Like the one yesterday, it has thorns on the limbs. I don’t know of any fruit or nut that people grow in their gardens which has thorns.”
“Blackberries. Raspberries. Lots of berries protect themselves with thorns.” Even though I thought it in my mind, I didn’t say anything aloud. Maybe practicing talking in my mind with Casper isn’t such a bad thing all the time, either.
“I can’t tell too many differences in the one back there,” Alaina said, pointing to the boogerman in the rear of the grouping, “and with the one on the right. The stem of the one on the right seems thicker, and the leaves of the one in the back seems wider, but I don’t have a clue what that might represent,” Alaina sighed, deep in thought again for several long moments.
“Let’s just ease around from the other side,” she finally suggested. “The one is there by itself, and if they somehow wake up while in the presence of your magic, there’s no chance of being sneak attacked by the one beside it. I saw how the one creature acted when you magicked it,” Alaina smirked. “I don’t think it’ll lash out at us, and it’ll be between us and the other two on this side, if we circle behind them.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed, giving her a big thumb’s up. Part of me felt like such a gesture was kind of juvenile, but it’d somehow sort of became “our thing”, much like thumping her hand across her chest was all “Alaina’s thing”, and chewing on her lower lip was “Laulaia’s thing”.
Circling around the ruined buildings, and working our way back to the three creatures, only took a few minutes in the cool air. Alaina stayed completely professional, and 100% on alert, pausing and checking to make certain everything was clear and safe every few steps. She takes her duty as a scout, and as a guard, very seriously!
Knowing what to expect this time, made the cleansing much easier. For starters, before I ever even placed my hand on the shrub, I made certain my face was covered and I was flat on the ground, on my stomach, as far back as possible. No more squatting right beside it, and having the smoke go right up my nose and in my mouth! I was completely clear of the corrupted mist that arose when I cleansed the poison this time!
I suppose, since we weren’t on holy ground, Casper didn’t help teach me anything this time around, either. She was silent as I cautiously removed the disease from the plant, and she was still silent as I repeated the process with the poison. She didn’t give any name to the poison or disease the plant held, nor did she tell me what the plant was, even after I’d cleansed it.
Not trusting the core of the cleansed plant to be completely free of any remnant of the corruption that oozed from it, I refused to let Alaina carry it back to the temple grounds for us. I was going to let her dig the hole to plant it in, once we got there, but was pleasantly surprised to find that unnecessary. Laulaia and Shadow had already dug a nice spot across from the rosebush for us. All I had to do was drop the remains into the hole, and then shuffle my foot to kick the piled-up dirt tight around it.
“Lady Life, grow this… whatever the hell it is,” I finished, shrugging slightly.
As the light pink glow formed itself at the tips of my fingers once more, then slowly spread into the newly planted shrub, I was once again amazed at watching it spring up and grow before my eyes. A small bud. A short stalk. Then a long, broad leafed plant rose up, taking shape…
“Tobacco! It’s a tobacco plant!” Laughing lightly, in my soft little womanly voice, I almost instantly knew what type of plant this was. Back when I was a child, my grandfather used to grow and dry his own tobacco, and this was indisputably a tobacco plant! By the time the single growth spell had faded from the plant, it stood a healthy four feet tall, and had many large, broad leaves growing thick upon it.
“It’s probably about half grown,” I told the girls, smiling broadly at the nostalgic memories which it brought back from my youth. I’d never smoked the stuff, and personally didn’t like the smell of it – and nobody in the modern world likes the health effects it produces – but it certainly did bring back a lot of nice memories for me.
“Can we eat it?” Ever curious, Laulaia raised an eyebrow and stared at me, questioningly.
“Maybe,” I mused, trying not to dismiss the idea completely. “The leaves are full of nicotine, which can poison the body in high enough doses, or can cause various diseases, but the Lady of Life has granted me magic to cure those issues. I don’t think it’d taste good, but in a pinch, it’d be better than trying to carve off chunks of your breasts and cooking them.” And honestly, we are getting in a pinch, as the last of the mashed up gloop is almost all gone.
“For now, though,” I offered, “let’s go back in and rest in the pool for a while. Under its influence, I can recover from using the Lady’s gift in about three hours, or so. That’s enough time for us to head out and purify two more plants before daylight, and bring them back here. Like this one, it won’t count towards our goal of cleansing ten upon the temple grounds, but it’ll increase the odds of us finding a food producing plant soon.”
“Sounds good,” Laulaia agreed, coming over and snuggling back up against my side. “And you’ll need to turn back into a man soon,” she reminded me. “Me and Alaina certainly don’t want to fall behind on our duty to the Ritual of Soil and Seed.”
“Of course, you don’t.” Sighing, I couldn’t believe that I’d ruined something so enjoyable. I’d figured the girls wouldn’t like it, that telling them what I did might get them to perform such a ritual for me once, or twice a week. I’d never imagined they’d want to perform it every day – both of them! And that’s on top of trying to satisfy both of their normal sexual needs!
I now know why my daddy used to warn me, “Boy, be careful of the pie you eat. It tastes good today, but if you have it for every meal, it’ll end up tasting worse than a plain bowl of pinto beans.” I’m really going to have to come up with some sort of excuse to reduce the frequency of this ritual, before the girls suck all the joy out of it!