“Nicole, are you there?” whispers a lovely, feminine voice. “Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” she said. “But who are you?” It was dark and she couldn’t see anything. She walks forward blindly and feels herself trip and land on her bum.

The voice laughs. “Just open your eyes, dear. Don’t be a stranger.”

She did as the voice said and found herself in a beautiful garden facing Lillian. They were sitting on a marble bench near a fountain, barefoot with the grass soft beneath their toes. The sound of the running water, the perfume of the flowers, and Lillian’s familiar face soothe her. But it wasn’t enough for her to forget the events of last night.

“How did I get here?” The last thing she remembers was Aaron locking her in the interrogation room.

“We’re in a dream. Your dream, to be exact,” Lillian said. She plucks a flower from a nearby bush and tucks it into her silvery hair.

Once again, she found herself mesmerized by the goddess’s beauty. But she quickly snaps out of it once she remembers the conundrum she was dealing with. “You told me that I only had to kill one demon,” Nicole said. “Why are there two of them?”

Lillian’s brows furrowed in confusion. She almost feels bad for upsetting the goddess. “There’s only one demon. Who’s the other one?”

Nicole recounts arriving at the manor and living in the secret room until she was caught by the Lord and the butler. She describes the way the key vibrated in both of their hands and how it was taken from her so she had no way to kill either of them. She leaves out the part where she hesitated to kill Cedric. She was too ashamed to let Lillian know about the real reason she failed her quest.

By the end of Nicole’s story, Lillian was rubbing her temples. “You’ve gotten yourself into quite a mess. But we can salvage this.”

“How? They know I’m lying,” Nicole said.

“They want you to speak, right? Then talk. The best lies are mixed with truth,” Lillian advises.

“What do I say? I already messed up so badly.” She buries her head in her hands. What started as an easy quest was becoming an overwhelming task.

“Hey,” Lillian said, taking her hands, “look at me. It’s going to be ok.”

Nicole looks at Lillian’s beautiful face, taking in her glittery cheeks and perfectly shaped upturned eyes. How did someone so ethereal exist? Her eyes travel down to Lillian’s lips, drawn to how pink and full they were. Before she could think, she found herself leaning into the goddess and pressing her lips against hers.

Lillian makes a small noise of surprise, but she doesn’t pull away. She grabs Nicole’s face and deepens the kiss, tangling her fingers in her hair. Nicole wraps her arms around Lillian’s torso, lost in the bliss of their lips melting together.

Kissing her was like biting into a ripe peach, but infinitely sweeter and softer. Lillian gently bites on Nicole’s bottom lip, asking for entrance into her mouth. She opens her mouth, letting the goddess’s tongue dance with hers. Even though she had initiated the kiss, it was clear that Lillian had taken the lead, pressing deeper into her. The goddess straddles her and they tumble onto the grass.

Nicole pulls away from beneath her, disoriented. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss you like that. I don’t know what came over me.”

Lillian caresses her cheek. “It’s ok. These last few days have been rough on you.”

“I didn’t ask you for permission,” she said. “You didn’t want me to kiss you.” Shame floods her brain. She didn’t deserve to touch someone as beautiful as her. It almost felt like a sin to push what she wanted onto someone so perfect. Almost.

“But I enjoyed it,” Lillian said, her eyes darkening with desire. “Besides, I’ve given you such a hard task. Let me comfort you.” Her hands traveled up Nicole’s thighs, where a puddle of warmth was blooming between her legs.

Lillian’s fingers dip into her wetness, making the girl’s back arch at the unfamiliar sensation. She takes her fingers out, showing Nicole her own slick arousal.

“And it looks like you enjoyed me too,” Lillian said. “May I continue comforting you?”

“Yes,” she whispers, her body aching with want. She ignores the fact that it was too good to be true and forgets that she’s in a dream. Lillian had the uncanny ability to make anything real.

“Good girl,” the goddess said, her hand once again creeping to her sweet spot. Lillian slowly massaged the girl’s clit, using Nicole’s arousal as a lubricant to rub circles into her most sensitive spot. When she feels Nicole tensing beneath her, she strokes her faster, edging her to climax.

Nicole’s legs quiver, pleasure building up in her stomach. Lillian presses harder on her clit while gently stroking her hair. Just when she thought she couldn’t handle more of Lillian’s touch, the goddess stopped fingering her.

Nicole lies on the grass, wet and frustrated. Lillian smiles coyly at her.

“Why did you stop?” she asked. She had enjoyed being under her spell.

“Because it’s no fun if I give you your pleasure so soon,” the goddess said. “I want you to do something for me first.”

“Anything,” she said, relieved and still in a daze from Lillian’s fingers.

“Eat me,” Lillian whispers, her breath hot in her ear. Nicole shivers, aroused by the goddess’s simple command. She gets on her knees and ducks under Lillian’s skirt.

It was her first time doing something like this. She gives Lillian's womanhood a tentative lick, taking in its slightly salty taste. The goddess grabs her head, pressing Nicole's mouth closer to her cunt, encouraging her to continue.

Nicole’s senses were flooded with Lillian’s musk. She continued licking the goddess’s core, tracing the alphabet into her with her tongue until she found a letter that made Lillian tremble. She holds onto the goddess’s thighs, steadying Lillian so that she may continue her gentle assault on her lady parts. The goddess squirms in her grasp, making small noises of pleasure as Nicole coaxes her to orgasm.

When Lillian finally comes, they lie on the grass next to each other, spent from pleasuring each other.

“It’s my turn to make you feel good,” Lillian said, propping herself on her elbows. Despite having just come, she hadn’t broken a sweat.

“You aren’t tired?” Nicole asked, lying flat on the grass. Her tongue was sore and she was sweating, but it was a good kind of sweat, one that came after pleasing a beautiful woman she never even dreamed of touching.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman,” the goddess said. “I don’t feel like sleeping.”

Her eyes widened. “I guess you’re a daughter of Sappho, just like me,” she replies, remembering what Lillian had called her when they first met.

The goddess giggles, girlishly covering her mouth. “Her daughter? More like her mom.”

Nicole looks at her, perplexed. Lillian was the picture of youth, her skin glowing in the moonlight. The goddess laughs again, sensing her confusion.

“I’ve been around for a while. The dimension I sent you into, that’s my home, my parádeisos if you will. It’s a few thousand years old,” she explains.

Her eyes widen, trying to fathom the goddess’s age. She had known that Lillian was old when she met her, but not that old. “Does that mean you’re less than a few thousand years old?”

The goddess avoids her gaze. “No, I’m much older than that.”

“I’m sorry I asked,” Nicole said, quickly apologizing. She should’ve known better than to ask a lady’s age. If anything, she looked terrific for someone who was supposed to be over a millennia old.

“You don’t have to say sorry. Most people find it difficult to wrap their heads around what I am,” Lillian said.

“You’re a goddess, right?” Nicole asks. “What’s so hard about understanding that?”

Lillian sighs. “I am, but I’m also simultaneously more and less than that.”

“Aren’t we all more and less than the labels people give us?” Nicole asks.

“It’s a lot more complicated than that,” Lillian said. “I’ve seen the beginning of time, the endless expanse of chaos before creation.”

“That doesn’t make sense. How could you have existed before time or the creation of anything?” Nicole asks.

“Time is a human construct based around the sun setting and rising. It’s very difficult to explain if you’ve never existed outside of it,” Lillian said. “But you don’t need to know what that’s like to understand what I am.”

“What are you?” Nicole asks. Her head was starting to hurt, wrapping itself around the concept of what Lillian was. It was like trying to figure out advanced physics.

“How do I put this in human terms?” Lillian asks. “I created the dimension that you’re currently in. I’m a creation goddess, or as my brethren say, a dimensional Mother. I willed everything in that plane of time into existence.”

“Then why do you need me there to kill a demon? Can’t you just do it yourself?” Nicole asks.

“It’s because I gave it all up,” Lillian said, smiling sadly. “I gave up being a goddess.”

“But why?” She sits up, intrigued by Lillian’s story.

“I fell in love with one of my creations,” she said, her eyes glittering with memories. “But he wasn’t like me. He wasn’t meant to live for a long time. I had to fall from grace if I was going to share my immortality with him.”

“Were you able to be with him?” Nicole asks.

“No,” she said. "He was slaughtered by a demon, the very one I've sent you to kill. I fell too late. Now I wander the domain of the other gods, unable to die."

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Nicole said, placing her hand on Lillian’s shoulder.

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” she said. “If anything, you’ve given me hope that I could find love again.” She takes Nicole’s hand, their fingers intertwining.

Nicole blushes. Something warm blossomed in her chest, something that made her feel closer to Lillian.

“I’ll kill him,” Nicole said, clenching her fists. “I’ll kill that demon if that’s the last thing I do.”

The goddess gives her a sweet smile and she feels a flutter in her stomach. “You said there were two of them. What did they look like?”

Nicole describes the Lord and the butler to her, detailing their matching eye patches and the Lord’s softer facial features.

“Would you say that the butler has high cheekbones?” Lillian asks.

Nicole nods vigorously. “Definitely. That was the first thing I noticed about his face.”

“It’s the butler,” Lillian said. “The butler is the demon that killed my lover.”

“Then why did the key vibrate in the Lord’s hand?” she asks. She felt relieved that she had hesitated in killing Cedric. To think she would’ve killed the wrong man! But she was also relieved for a different reason. She wasn’t comfortable knifing someone she recognized.

A puzzled expression crosses over Lillian’s face. “I’m not so sure myself. Unless the butler split his body in two, the Lord shouldn’t be a demon. In any case, I have no personal vendetta against this lord. Just kill his butler.”

“But the dagger was taken from me,” Nicole said. “How am I supposed to kill him now?”

The goddess tugs at the grass. “ The dagger has a special magic that’ll keep it close to you. It should be in your pocket now, safe and sound.” She reaches into Nicole’s pocket and pulls out the dagger. It hums in her hands, filled with magic.

“But how do I get out of the interrogation room? I’m tied up and blindfolded down there,” Nicole said.

“They want you to talk,” Lillian said, “so talk. If you have trouble speaking, I’ll give you the words.” She leans into Nicole, pressing her lips against hers and dipping her tongue into her mouth. Nicole’s mouth tingles like she just drank a bottle of soda, the fizz popping with every movement of Lillian’s tongue. The goddess pulls away, letting Nicole come up for air.

“You’re … you’re a good kisser,” she stammers.

“I’ve had thousands of years of practice,” the goddess said. “I’d be ashamed if I were a bad kisser.” She moves behind Nicole, pressing her mouth to her neck. “Shall we continue where we left off?”

Nicole nods and the goddess’s hands move under her shirt, cupping her breasts. “You’ve got a nice bosom.” Lillian plays with Nicole’s chest, rolling her nipples between her thumbs, pulling and teasing them until they become hard little pebbles.

Her hand slid down Nicole’s body, slipping under her pants until once again she was playing with her clit. With one hand on her tit and another nursing her sweet spot, Nicole was in ecstasy. It wasn’t long until she finished, her back arching and her eyes full of stars.

She snuggles next to Lillian, breathing in her sweet scent as she falls asleep on the soft grass, no longer anxious about her quest. Meanwhile, Lillian stares at the sky, turmoil brewing in her eyes.