Cult Appeal 3 (Patreon)

Early the next morning, before Kon could try to apologize to her, Cassie drove downtown. After a sleepless night, feeling the speed of her convertible, the wind in her hair and the sun on her face.

I know there's more to Kon than being a skirtchaser and a gloryhound. But if all he wants to be is his usual shallow self, does it matter he has hidden depths? Doesn't he realize there's more to life than sex and food? Our whole lives could be more fulfilling if he would only try to better himself like I am. How can he care so much about helping people and then not think past that to the real meaning in life?

The denied ache in her pubis was a lingering reminder of how Kon’s pigheadedness had cost them both their satisfaction. It only convinced her to throw herself all the more firmly into checking out her mother's suggestion.

Not that I'm a rube, but how can you see all the things we see in our lives and not want to know more? I can't believe it all adds up to wanton sexuality like Kon’s.

Though she couldn't deny that part of what made them such a good match was that she shared his voluptuous sense of passion. And she also couldn't deny that as much as she respected her mother's judgement, the woman didn't approve of Kon. She wanted Cassie in a relationship with a lawyer or a doctor. Living together with a superhero… she only saw the risks. Like Cassie had gotten together with a stuntman or something. 

All of which, ironically enough, seemed to Cassie very materialistic compared to how drawn she was to Kon's spirit. But with Kon being so obtuse, it was like he was ripping apart that inner argument of hers. How could she be drawn to the spirit of a man who insisted spirituality didn't matter?

And so, though Cassie wasn't determined to believe in Nirvon… she would very much like it if she was able to prove Kon wrong.

She turned off the freeway and onto the road the letter had mentioned. It did not fill her with confidence: it was a rundown district, all warehouses and bars and hotels that charged by the hour. The steering wheel felt cold under her fingers as she held it, looking for somewhere to park.

There was a small building pinned between two larger, condemned buildings. The glass front door was frosted with a symbol she recognized from the letter she'd gotten. So this is the place, Cassie thought, giving up on the neighborhood improving by the time it got to the address she wanted.

She parked and made sure her car doors were locked before she went inside.

The door was heavier than it looked. It only let her inside slowly.

Then it stopped abruptly.

“What are you doing here?”

It was a woman's voice, not unwelcoming, but not lacking in wariness either.

“I'm here looking for the Sign of Nirvon?”

“You wish for purity? You wish to be clean?”

“Doesn't everyone?” Cassie retorted, before realizing this must be some sort of ritual she was going through.

“Many say they wish enlightenment, but few are prepared for it. Even less can bear it.”

“Well then, I want to find out if I can take it,” she said assuredly.

The door finished opening. Before Cassie stood a tall, muscular woman wearing a white robe with golden stars sewn into it. No matter its looseness, the robe couldn't hide how her massive breasts protruded from her front or how her hips equally rounded out her powerfully built figure.

“Power Girl?” Cassie gasped.

“Here, I am Sister Karen, high priestess of Nirvon. You may enter.”

She stepped aside and Cassie went past her. The door closed behind her. It wasn't very loud but it was resounding somehow. 

It didn't seem very occult inside. More like an office. Not a cubicle farm, but there were more than a few desks and chairs that wouldn't be out of place at a car dealership. But no rental outfit or lawyer's office would have the erotic yet mythological paintings on the wall. And in the middle of the room, where there'd normally be a front desk, there was a statue depicting a centaur the size of a Clydesdale. The upper body was hairy and well-muscled, with thick arms holding a cornucopia bursting with fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Even birds in flight.

The horse body of the thing was rippling with muscle too, very masculine. Very, very masculine. Cassie blushed a little at the sight of his endowment, erect and detailed so realistically that it seemed more like a real cock encased in stone than a sculpture.

“That is the source of all our blessings,” Karen said, her voice low and husky.

Cassie blushed further at having her interest noted. “I was just… you know… taking it all in.”

A flash of amusement went through Karen's expression. “Is that why you came here then? To ‘take it all in‘?”

“My mother sent me here. She was fascinated by your teachings. That's why I want to learn all I can.”

“And if you learn about your mother? How well do you wish to know her?”

“I already know my mother,” Cassie said, confused. “She's my mom.”

“Then you know what she dreams of at night? What she burns for when she's alone? Do you know what makes her come?”

Cassie could only be cowed by how this vaunted superhero was talking about her mother. “What are you talking about, Pe… Sister Karen?”

Karen broke into a warm, maternal smile. “Only that you don't know as much as you think you do, even with those you are most intimate with. So how can we know whether you are a gawker or a thrill seeker? There are not many ready for the truths we share. But doubt is a useless thing in a world so overflowing with reality. I may be more willing to believe in you than you are to be believed.”

Karen closed her eyes then, as if concentrating on something. Suddenly she threw her arms upward as if catching some immense weight crashing down on her.

“Oh! It's you! It is truly you! I wanted to let the spirit within reveal itself to me, but I already sense your power. You are exactly as your mother described you! Just as we all had hoped!”

She fell silent, but with her lips in low, steady motion… as if she were repeating instructions only she could hear in the first place.

Her eyes flew open, as did her mouth. She gaped at Cassie with both.

“You're luminous, my dear!” she said ecstatically. “It is as the seer saw! You were once the high priestess of Nirvon! Millennia ago, you served him in person! And now you have returned to us, to pick up your journey once more!”

She knelt down and did not stop kneeling until she had kissed the hem of Cassie's dress.

At first Cassie thought she must be joking. She let out a little laugh just to show she'd gotten the joke, though she hadn't, but then she saw the seriousness on Karen's face… and a feeling of excitement went through her.

Well, maybe it was true. It would barely even count as weird in her world, and Karen wasn't the sort to get things wrong. And when do much weirdness was something bad, something that hurt people, why shouldn't some of it be good? And she had felt a connection to that symbol. Maybe that was a sign.

She looked again at the representation of Nirvon and felt her heart pounding in her chest. Maybe it was just her imagination… it could just be her imagination… but this felt a lot like what it would have to feel like to be chosen!

Karen got up off her knees. She was on the verge of crying. Tears of happiness shimmering in her eyes.

“This is a long awaited day, the end of all our waiting and the reward of all our patience!”

“Are you sure?” Cassie asked, put off by Karen's enthusiasm. How could she be so certain about… her? “Isn't there a chance you have it wrong?”

“No. Not at all. We acolytes of Nirvon have known for years that someone was coming, someone of grand importance. But there's been no one, no one, who has come with energy like yours. You are the one who was prophesied!”

She hurried to the door into the building’s interior, opening it and calling inside: “Titus! Come quickly! You must come right now!” Then she looked to Cassie. “You must meet the master. No one has anticipated this more than him!”

Footsteps heralded Titus’s arrival a moment before Cassie saw him emerging from the darkness through the door. She immediately reacted to his appearance… or felt like she was already reacting to him, somehow. Her heartbeat racing, her face flushed, sweat touching her underneath her clothes. 

Titus was shirtless, velvet pants clinging tightly to his well-formed legs. His chest was slender but athletic, every muscle in perfect relief with the others. Cassie wondered if he was a metahuman. He was certainly as well built as she'd ever seen Tim or Kon.

She was particularly enthralled by his tattoo, recognizing the familiar symbol that was the single mark on his flawless skin. Despite the spirituality she'd come here to feed. Cassie felt an intensely erotic attraction to him. She wasn't sure if it was because he was so different from Kon or in spite of that.