CHAPTER 87: THE GARDEN OF WAITING

A guttural groan echoes across the stone chamber.

Sera’s eyes roll back, her body quivers with a glorious tension, muscles trembling like harp strings plucked by divine fingers. Her hands clutches Pip’s smooth thigh plating, breath hitching in rhythmic gasps as he rocks her from behind.

She clenches her teeth, tenses her body, and tries to hold on.

But a slap of Pip’s pelvis against her inner thighs releases another guttural moan.

She slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

Across the room, Vuvi chuckles into her flask. "Oh, let it all out, sweetheart. This place was made for it."

Ka’Lula and Penelo have abandoned their spots with the team and now swirl joyfully around the pedestal with the witches, dancing in half-time to the chanting melody.

Their limbs move with free, gleeful abandon, like leaves fluttering in an enchanted wind.

Veena, seated beside Vuvi, fans herself with a vine-woven fan she found somewhere in the temple, lips parted, face flushed.

"This is... a lot," she breathes, eyes fixed on the altar.

Vuvi peeks sideways and smirks. "You good over there, princess?"

Veena freezes mid-fan. "Fine."

Vuvi raises an eyebrow. "Still haven’t tried Pip, huh?"

Veena fans faster. "It’s... complicated."

"We’re practically sisters at this point, Vee. I’ve watched you elbow Sera in the ribs and yank Lula off the massage bed. I know you’re tempted. So spill it. What’s the real reason?"

Veena hesitates. Her gaze drops to the smooth floor. "It’s not Pip," she finally says, voice soft. "It’s me. I ran away from home because I didn’t believe I could ever find love... not with what I am. My mother... her power, her curse... It infected everything."

Vuvi listens, flask resting in her lap.

"I left the Demon Lands to try and find meaning," Veena continues. "Real love. Not the kind you bottle and sell or cast in a spell circle. Something true.

Then I met Pip. And he’s... amazing. What he does is beautiful. But it’s not that kind of love. At least, I don’t think so."

Vuvi leans in, her voice low. "But he can love, Veena."

Veena’s breath catches.

Vuvi smiles slyly. "I know he definitely loves me. But probably more like a mother... or a big sister at least.... I hope."

Veena swallows hard and turns away, cheeks burning. "Sera’s form is ridiculous," she blurts.

Vuvi laughs loud. "Nice subject change."

They both look toward the pedestal.

Sera now straddles Pip like a goddess taking her rightful throne. Her back arches, skin gleaming, every muscle flexing in a perfect blend of power and bliss. Pip lies beneath her, surprisingly relaxed, fingers gripping her thighs as they move in perfect sync.

"She’s like a statue come to life," Veena mutters in awe.

Vuvi nods, sighing dreamily. "I really outdid myself."

"Truly," Veena says. "It looks like heaven."

Sera lets out another low moan that echoes through the chamber, and both women glance away, suddenly bashful.

Veena glances sideways. "So why haven’t you tried Pip?"

Vuvi snorts. "Oh, don’t you turn this on me."

"You built all the constructs of Blackthorn Apothecary, right?" Veena teases. "The place where all the infamous pleasure devices come from?"

Vuvi straightens with pride. "Damn right. I tested most of them personally. Every prototype."

"So why is Pip different?"

Vuvi’s smirk fades into something softer. "Because he’s not a toy. He thinks. He feels. He loves."

She glances away, voice quieter now. "I can’t treat him like a machine. Not after everything we’ve been through."

A moment of silence stretches between them.

Then Vuvi frowns. "Wait. Look at the doors."

Veena turns and gasps.

The massive, overgrown doors leading into the Seedmother’s chamber now stand slightly ajar. A soft, verdant light spills out from the crack between them, beckoning.

"The doors are open!" Veena yells, bolting upright.

The witches break their dance, eyes wide. "The Seedmother’s chamber?!"

"Oh, that," Zora calls from above, casually flipping through a notebook as he hovers near the ceiling. "They’ve been open for like... twenty-five minutes."

Vuvi’s mouth falls open. "Zora!"

He shrugs. "We were in the middle of a deeply sacred pelvic ceremony. I didn’t want to interrupt."

"You always interrupt!" Vuvi shouts.

Grabbing her satchel, she marches toward the doors.

Veena is right behind her, with the witches, and a still-glowing Penelo and a slightly dazed Ka’Lula, scrambling to follow.

Pip tries to rise from the pedestal, but Sera places a firm hand on his chest and pushes him back down. "Don’t worry, ladies." she calls out, voice sultry and breathless. "We’ll catch up."

He gives a resigned beep as Sera shudders back into position with a vicious grin.

Zora flings open the heavy doors where Vuvi and Veena step through and both stop in their tracks.

The chamber beyond is no chamber at all. It’s a garden, stretching impossibly far in every direction. Giant glowing flowers bloom from twisting trees with silver bark. A stream of golden water flows in soft spirals across the soft moss floor. Hummingbirds made of light flit through the air, and soft chimes sing in the windless air.

At the center of it all stands an ethereal figure.

She glows like moonlight on fresh dew, tall and radiant, with hair made of wild vines and skin like smooth bark. Flowers bloom where she steps. Her eyes shimmer with galaxies and green fire.

The witches fall to their knees, pressing their foreheads to the ground.

"Seedmother!" they cry in unison.

The figure turns, arms full of blooming lilies.

She looks over the group with a bored, half-lidded expression, her lips curled into a mild pout.

"Oh, fiiiinally," she sighs, voice melodic but dripping with sarcasm. "The doors opened for the first time in centuries, and you make me wait another twenty-five minutes?"

The entire group stares, slack-jawed.

Zora, who had been distracted by a fair of floating frogs, gasps. "Oh my gods. She’s real!"

"Of course I’m real," the Seedmother snaps, plucking a blossom and stuffing it into her hair. "I’ve just been... napping. But do you know how annoying it is to wake up to the sound of divine pelvic slapping and have to wait for someone to say hi?"

Vuvi pinches the bridge of her nose. "Oh no."

The Seedmother strolls toward them, inspecting each person like a gardener judging flowers. She pauses in front of Veena and hums thoughtfully. "You smell like demon royalty. Ew."

Veena flushes. "Oh."

Then the Seedmother turns to Vuvi.

"And you must be the mother of that lovely golden thing that just summoned me with his performance." Her eyes sparkle. "Exquisite craftsmanship."

Vuvi clears her throat. "Uh, thanks."

The Seedmother sighs. "Well, I suppose you’ve earned a moment of my time. Come in, sit, bask in the ambience. Just don’t touch anything. Some of these flowers bite."

Zora floats in behind them and immediately starts taking notes on every tree, blossom, and glowy mushroom in sight. "Oh I love her."

Ka’Lula and Penelo help the witches to their feet. They all approach reverently, while Vuvi and Veena exchange a nervous glance.

"So... what now?" Veena whispers.

"I guess we find out why the goddess of love and fertility is really here," Vuvi mutters.

The Seedmother pauses, then turns back to them with a sly smile. "Oh, I’m here because the world is broken. But, you knew that already. But, I have also come back because the world was promised a golden god to bring back balance. And based on the thunderous altar-rattling I just heard, I think he’s finally arrived."

She sits gracefully on a glowing stone throne and folds her hands. "So. Let’s talk destiny, shall we?"