The Fallen Vampire

247  A Goddess?

Taira recognized the voice calling out to him before he even turned back to face it.

His gaze remained firmly affixed on Shakti as she continued to sleep.

"Done hiding in plain sight now, are we..?"

"… So you know." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I do."

"You're upset."

"There are a laundry list of things that have upset me on this night, and your identity is at the very bottom."

Yem fiddled with the rings on her thin fingers.

She intruded into the room warily- with Vermeil and Lucia mere inches behind her.

"…Do you believe in gods, Taira?"

The line of questioning was unexpected for Taira.

Even before he had ever learned about his world's deities being cultivators, he had never been a man of faith. Perhaps this came from his mother, who taught him the greatest belief he could harbor was in himself.

"I think of them little. But more and more of them seem intent on popping up in my life with the changing of the seasons." He said without looking back.

"And that bothers you..?"

The answer was yes.

To Taira the 'gods' represented variables in his life that he could not account for. They tested the limits of his flexibility.

He was not naive enough to think that they were all as easy to stomach as his master.

And if he were honest, sometimes he was not even fully convinced that he could even trust Velreth.

"What troubles me is irrelevant." He stood up.

There were still spattered blood across his gi from the battle that had just taken place.

His appearance was almost deceptive in nature. The meager amount of blood on his clothing was a drop in a bucket compared to what he had actually spilled today.

And his angelic appearance was like a bad caricature of the monster who had reared it's head earlier.

But Yem had a bit more insight into what might've been troubling him than most.

He pointed to Shakti. "You said you can help her then that is all that matters. Concern yourself with me later."

This kind of poison was a tricky one to deal with.

Taira and Keran could not simply burn the toxin out of their bodies because the metallic compounds would likely melt into the tissue of their lungs.

Vermeil was working on a detoxification remedy but the ingredients had to be cooked in a very specific way and it would take a few more hours before she was done.

Taira wanted everyone's suffering to be over as quickly as possible.

"I would have done that even if you hadn't asked, Taira. And I do not intend to exact a repayment from you for my efforts."

Yem stopped just shy of Shakti's bed. "This may be a bit disorienting… you may want to hold onto each other."

The girls each held onto one of Taira's arms for support. After everything that had happened they would've taken any excuse just to touch him. If only to remind themselves that he wasn't as far away as he felt in the moment.

At first, nothing of note happened.

And then the entire world shifted.

They didn't know how to describe it.

At one point they were standing in the ship waiting for Yem to act.

At the next, they were somewhere almost entirely different.

A near boundless black landscape. Glimmering with beautiful, shining stars close enough to touch, yet somehow also too far away to truly make out.

Shakti wasn't the only sick soul who had been brought here.

Every single sick disciple on board their ship was floating unconsciously through the cosmos.

But the most surprising thing of all was Yem herself.

She had to have become over 200 meters tall.

Her mermaid-like features were a thing of the past. She looked nearly human now.

No, that was wrong. Humans were far from this sublime. This divine. Every feature on her figure was perfect and emphasized her beauty more than the last.

But as beautiful as she was, she did not arouse feelings of lust.

Such a thing felt inherently wrong for reasons they could not explain.

She wore the same simple, soft white dress that she had on prior to bringing them here.

Reaching for her shoulders, she pulled down the straps of her dress and freed her breasts.

21:55

Like a mother hoping to feed a newborn babe, she milked herself and produced luminous blue water from her nipple. Enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool.

The water enveloped the bodies of the afflicted like a living entity with a mind of its own.

It washed and cleansed them down to the very depths of their being.

Some coughed up a metallic powdery substance, others sneezed it out, and a few released it from their pores.

But all were relieved of the venomous powder causing detriments to their health.

And finally, the trio understood something integral about Yem's- or whoever she was- true nature.

This woman was maternal in every sense of the word. She was nurturing. She was protection. She was comfort. She was cleansing and rebirth.

She was a goddess. And perhaps more deserving of the title than anyone, anywhere who had ever drawn breath before.

Taira was a prideful man with neither the heart or mind for faith.

But even he felt the urge to fall to his knees and worship this woman. She had an instinctual way of stripping away one's traumas and healing them with her very presence.

This was why he couldn't feel lust for her despite her beauty.

She was far too pure for that.

As quickly as the scene unfurled, it was over.

Taira, Vermeil, and Lucia were back in the cabin as if nothing had ever happened.

The fox and the dragon were equally awed and stupefied by everything that they had just seen. They weren't sure where to begin asking questions.

But Vermeil was.

She stepped forward with a hint of wariness in her voice as if she weren't certain how she should address the cult's cook anymore.

"By any chance… is 'Yem' short for Yemoja..? Like the Orisha..?"

Yem turned around and smiled at her warmly.

"You have always been quite the smart woman, haven't you, Verm…"

In a horrifying turn of events, the duo watched Yemoja form a small nosebleed and go tumbling towards the ground.

I recognize that people might be kind of put off by the fact that Taira is being so mean to Yem this chapter but please just be patient with him. he defines himself by his ability to protect and his entire cult got poisoned right under his nose buddy just needs a minute