The patter of rain against the steel roof of the abandoned aircraft hanger was almost calming, and Mika had a small smile on his face as sipped from a warm cup of coffee.  Chloé was napping peacefully, coiled tightly in the middle of the massive space in her Naga form.

“How much longer does she need to sleep?” Oklahoma asked, walking up to him.

“Can we give her a few more hours?” Mika asked with a sigh, “ Chloé’s been in human form for a couple of days without a break, she’s exhausted.”

“Yeah,” Oklahoma muttered, “It’s just going to cost us another few thousand dollars, the guy who owns this place thinks we’re packing drugs in here so he and the crews will stay away so long as we keep “renting” it…” She chewed her lip a moment, “Do you have any idea where you want to go? I can’t keep dropping money on hiding spots like this, we might not get lucky enough to find another open aircraft hangar with an unscrupulous owner.”

Mika waved her to the hangar’s small office, and she followed him curiously. Inside he’d arranged his father’s journal, several printed maps, and some webpages pulled up on an ancient looking desktop computer.

“These guys don’t have the best internet,” Mika said, “but between my dad’s notes and a few things I looked up… I think I’ve got something.”

“Is this an X marks the spot situation?” Oklahoma asked, leaning over his shoulder and squinting at the blurry computer screen.

“Not exactly,” Mika explained, “the four additional temples were shown on a map at the one back in Brazil, but it’s very basic, essentially just showing what continent they’re on. The thing is, they included directions, of a sort.”

“Of a sort?” Oklahoma frowned.

“It’s hardly precise coordinates, and I can’t read the language so we’ll have to trust that my father’s interpretations were correct, but there are a number of geographic features described near the temples we’re looking for, things like they lay between two rivers, or beyond where the red flowers grow…” He pointed to the computer screen, “I think I’ve narrowed down the location of one, it’s in Mexico, the Yucatan specifically.”

“It could be worse,” Oklahoma sighed, “Okay, I can get us there… but there had better be some gold or something I can bring home from this one, because I’m running out of cash and I don’t know a lot of people in Mexico.”

“I’m sure it’s going to have something,” Mika said, “I didn’t find any reports of any ruins or anything in the area I think it’s in, so if it does exist, it’s probably untouched.”

“You’re not going to get all weird and tell me that the artifacts belong in a museum, are you?” Oklahoma asked with a wry smile.

Mika started, “W-Well some of them obviously do, there’s so much hidden history… I understand we’ll need to pawn some of it, but surely you see the academic value-“

“Okay, okay,” she said, raising her hands in mock surrender, “When this is all over, we’ll sell the artifacts to a museum, at a very reasonable price.”

Mika just rolled his eyes and reached for his coffee cup.

…

Emilia thumbed through the pages of her grimoire with a frown, more to distract herself than out of any particular desire to find anything. She’d immediately requested a meeting with the Princesse, hoping to meet with her in person to discuss the matter of Mika, and what the organization intended to do about it.

“Stop playing with those pages,” Yukia grumbled, stretching and yawning from her seat on their private jet. With a scowl she blinked her eyes open, glancing out at the sunlight coming in through the window. “Are you going to tell me why we need to meet the boss lady? I feel like we could have chased them on our own.”

“It’s a uh… special request,” Emilia muttered. She hadn’t let Yukia in on her findings, she was on decent enough terms with her usual partner on field missions, but Yukia was very happy with the status quo.

“Whatever,” Yukia drawled, “Higgins, how long until we land?”

“Forty-five minutes ma’am,” he said in a serious voice. He was seated up a few rows from the pair in the private plane, and hadn’t said much during the flight. Every now and then his eyes glanced up to the catlike ears that the pair of Nekos possessed, then back to staring ahead.

“What, are you still hung up on us not being humans?” Yukia teased.

“It’s somewhat… disconcerting,” he admitted in a gravelly voice.

“Normally we’d have wanted to work with you for a few more years before letting you in on the secret,” Yukia said with a shrug, “but you were a bad boy and found out on your own.” She beamed, “You’re pretty useful, so the easy thing to do was to keep you around, but remember, there’s only one way out now!” Higgins glared at her, and she giggled, “I can tell what you’re thinking,” Yukia said, “You’ve been threatened before, right?”

She stood up, “Yukia,” Emilia warned, suddenly watching her warily.

“I’m just demonstrating something!” Yukia said dismissively, “Higgins, get up!”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, but he obeyed, glancing down at her uncertainly. On its face it was a comical situation, the towering and serious looking man in a business suit standing over a petite young woman with cat ears. Somehow though, he knew there was more to this, and the concealed handgun inside his suit jacket didn’t bring him the sense of security it usually did.

“Try to strike me,” Yukia said with a gleam in her eye.

Higgins hesitated, “I don’t-“

Like lightning Yukia’s hand leapt up, a tiny claw popped up from under her fingernail, tracing across the man’s face and leaving a thin trail of blood so shallow it could have been confused for a shaving cut. Still, the message was clear, and with a snarl Higgins threw a punch. Yukia dodged it with a giggle, ducking under the wide kick that was all the more impressive in the tight confines of the private jet.

“Yukia, enough!” Emilia shouted angrily.

Higgins gritted his teeth and adopted a new stance, raining a series of quick light blows down and widening his eyes in shock as Yukia deftly moved out of the way of each, occasionally stopping to stick her tongue out at him teasingly. He forced himself to calm, refusing to give in to the taunt as he fell back. Yukia leapt up one of the jet’s seats, leaping through the air in a graceful motion with a smirk on her face.

Gotcha, Higgins kept his face neutral as his hand shot out, deftly catching Yukia’s throat. Her eyes went wide, and it took all of his willpower not to return the teasing smirk he’d received from her earlier.

“Wow,” she rasped, grinning, “nobody’s managed to do anything like that in a really long time! You’re really good, and not just for a human!”

“Thanks,” he growled.

“The problem is, you’re still just a human,” she said with a mocking smile. Her open palm reached up to his hand, skin meeting skin.

Higgins felt a tingling, almost like an electric shock, and then he was falling through the air, flailing his arms for purchase as massive black clouds billowed alongside him.

No, he realized distantly, not clouds, fabric, that’s my suit! The realization was driven home by the sound of his gun, now the size of a city bus, clattering to the floor.

This time Yukia’s hand shot out, curling triumphantly around the now naked mercenary before he could fall any further. He struggled in the soft palm as she slowly brought him up to her face, giggling mischievously. Her warm breath billowed out over him as she licked her lips, and the catlike ears on her head twitched in excitement as her tail swayed back and forth.

“And you’re still fighting me,” she said, her smile growing wider, “that’s pretty brave, most humans just start screaming around this part.” She tilted her head back, and Higgins felt his heart race as he watched her mouth open wide, letting him look down the glistening dark tunnel of her throat.

“Yukia!” Emilia snapped.

That took the black haired neko back to reality, and she scowled, “I was just teasing him!” she insisted. She looked down at Higgins with an almost apologetic look, “You know I was just teasing you, right?”

He didn’t respond, gritting his teeth and tensing himself for whatever would come next. Yukia rolled her eyes, and a moment later he was sprawled across the floor of the jet cabin, landing on his clothing. He shakily gathered his things back up, slipping his pants back on and buttoning his shirt up. By the time he’d strapped his gun holster back under his jacket, he’d almost brought himself back to a state of calm.

“I guess now you know what happens to the humans that get in the way,” Yukia shrugged, “Serve us well, and you won’t need to worry about it.” She glanced at the back of the plane, where a private bedroom suite waited. She licked her lips again, “Speaking of, I feel the need for a little in-flight snack, I’ll see you two later!” The way she sauntered towards the back of the plane left no doubt in Higgin’s mind about what she had in her private cabin, and he wondered who would be taking his place in her belly.

Her back is turned, he thought, slowly reaching for his holster, she’s fast, but not faster than a bullet.

“I wouldn’t” Emilia said quietly.

He hesitated, and then nodded, “I… was simply adjusting it,” he said. He sighed, sitting back in his seat, trying to digest the insanity of what had just happened.

“So, things like you run the world,” Higgins said, causing Emilia to look up. It was a statement, not a question. “Your friend seems rather scatterbrained at times…”

“If you’d lived for as long as we have, you’d only remember the big moments yourself,” Emilia said, staring out the window. “In two hundred years you’ll be lucky if Yukia remembers you at all, let alone your name.” She gave a small smile and patted her own grimoire, “We write down our small details in these, to keep track of the things that would otherwise get swallowed up eons of other memories. I’m our people’s archivist because I’ve got a better mind for details.”

Higgins nodded, “So… where do I fit in with this?” he asked quietly.

Emilia shrugged, “We’re not complete monsters, many of our human servants live well, retire, and die happy when we’re done with them. If that ending appeals to you, do your job well. I don’t suppose I need to explain what happens if you don’t.”

“No,” Higgins said gravely.

Emilia turned back to her grimoire. Higgins wasn’t a good man; she’d read his profile and knew the sorts that Ouroboros typically enlisted. Still, she found herself hoping he wouldn’t find himself swallowed down by one of her sisters, and if she could help him by providing some slight reassurance, she would.

“She hasn’t consumed a human in several days,” Emilia said quietly, “she’s much faster and stronger immediately after doing so, all of us are. You’ll also want to avoid skin contact, that’s how the magic works.”

Higgins raised an eyebrow, “Thanks,” he said quietly.

The pair sat quietly for a moment, listening to the hum of the jet engine as the private plane began to descend. The small gulf island was, to outside observers, little more than an aircraft runway and a small private health spa catering to wealthy tourists. In reality of course the spa never had any guests, and was simply to explain the aircraft that came and went to local governments. The real purpose of the island was located beneath the Island’s surface. The many underground levels of the secret base, dating back to the cold war, housed luxury villas, research laboratories, and other facilities, a relic of a time when Princesse Natasha had been concerned that the humans would fire their atomic weapons at one another, sending both themselves and the Nekos back to square one. The base remained however, and at her behest Natasha had already arrived to hear her news.

“Stay with the jet,” Emilia said, standing up as the plane rolled to a halt. She saw his uncertain look, “Yukia will be joining me,” she said. Higgins had a look of relief come over his face, and a moment later seemed to resume his usual impassive stare.

…

Emilia entered her research lab at a quick pace, Yukia following behind her curiously. The pneumatic doors hissed closed behind them as she placed a steel suitcase on one of the tables, clicking it open and revealing the vial containing Mika’s blood sample.

“Emilia!” an eager voice called. She turned to see Myla, one of her research assistants. Like most Nekos she had dark hair, and an excitable air as she greeted her superiors. “I prepared the serum just like you ordered, the Lemurian fruit is easy enough to work with, once you understand it.”

The door hissed open, and the three of them started as Princesse Natasha walked in. The Neko ruler smiled, nodding slightly and putting them all at ease. She was wearing a flowing black dress, and at her side was her own grimoire, a massive tome with gilded pages and an ornate smiling face carved onto the wooden cover. Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked into the lab, causing all of the other Nekos to step back unconsciously.

“Yukia, Emilia,” she said with a polite smile, “I didn’t expect to see you two again so soon, I hope this surprise meeting has to do with opening the Temple of Eternity?”

“No,” Emilia said, quickly moving past the frown that appeared on Natasha’s face, “but this is important, maybe even more than the temple!”

“That’s a bold claim,” Natasha said, raising an eyebrow as her tail swished curiously behind her.

“Myla,” Emilia said, “The Lemurian fruit serum please?”

“Y-Yes,” Myla stammered, “right this way!”

She led them over to a glass beaker, where a pale blue liquid pooled at the bottom. The Lemurian fruit itself was often stored in large freezers in the back of the lab, when exposed to room temperatures it degraded quickly, but a stable serum could be prepared from it which contained all of its properties.

“Good work,” Emilia said with a smile. Without waiting another second, she extended one of the small claws below her fingernail, puncturing the tip of her thumb. Yukia and Myla watched curiously as she squeezed a drop of blood in, causing the blue liquid to react in a fizzing motion. Seeing their looks she grinned, “The Lemurian fruit amplifies our ambient magical abilities,” she explained, “and those of the Naga.” She walked over to where Mika’s blood sample waited in the refrigerated suitcase. Not much of it remained, but as she popped the top a small amount of the congealed red liquid managed to dribble down into the waiting mixture of Emilia’s own blood and the Lemurian fruit serum.

“Whoa,” Yukia said, eyes wide as the mixture fizzed again, then went calm. “Does that mean that the boy, Mika, has magic?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Emilia said, “but our blood is compatible, look at how the serum absorbs both mine and his!”

“That… That needs to be written down or something,” Myla muttered, watching as the twin drops of blood dissolved into the blue liquid, merging with one another.

“What does this mean in practical terms Emilia?” Natasha asked.

“Obviously the theory would need some hands-on testing,” she blushed a little at the thought, “but it looks like Mika, the boy who has taken up with the Naga, can reproduce with us!”

There was stunned silence for a moment, Myla and Yukia turned to Natasha curiously, but the Princesse just scowled, waving dismissively.

“This changes nothing,” she growled, “I want you two to return to your search for the Naga and her human companions, they will be visiting one of her temples soon and I know you are aware of their locations Emilia.”

Emilia gulped, “Y-Yes, I am, but I think you’re missing the importance here!”

“Emilia, we lost our males to the humans and the foul Nagas in the first place,” Natasha snapped, “I will not pollute our lineage by replacing them with this… mongrel!” She scoffed, “I shudder to imagine how such a thing could have even happened!”

Emilia sighed, “Natasha…” she looked to Yukia and Myla for help, but they turned away. “We could end all of this! This curse we’ve brought on ourselves by consuming the humans, this long war, it could be a bad memory! We should find Mika, take him someplace safe, and then start making children!”

“Curse!?” Natasha laughed, “Please, we’re stronger than ever!” She ran a finger through her own black hair for a moment, “the humans fuel us Emilia, as they should. We are on the cusp of victory; I will not see us abandon rulership over humanity in order to be their bedwarmers. I am concerned by your refusal to partake in our natural prey, it has been long enough that you should have come around by now.”

Emilia was about to say something, but the sound of breaking glass interrupted her. They all looked to Myla, who had slipped trying to place the glass beaker back on the counter. Some of the fluid had splashed on her palm, and she looked up at them all in surprise.

“Myla, quickly,” Emilia said, “you should wash that-“

“EEE!” the other neko squealed as she shot downward, the shrinking magic taking effect and diminishing her down into the puddled clothing.

“T-The serum enhanced my natural shrinking abilities,” Emilia stammered, quickly dropping to her knees and searching for her tiny assistant. “The mixture of Mika’s blood must have amplified it too…” She grabbed the squirming naked form of Myla, slowly rising up and showing her to an amused Natasha and a concerned Yukia.

“W-We’re not supposed to be able to shrink each other!” Myla squealed.

“Indeed,” Natasha chuckled, licking her lips as she looked down at the now tiny catgirl.

“Hey, can I hold her?” Yukia asked, her eyes gleaming as she grinned.

Myla looked back and forth at the two dark haired Nekos, then up at Emilia in panic, “Fix this!” she demanded.

Natasha reached out curiously, touching the tip of her finger against Myla’s tiny head, “Odd,” the Princesse mused, “It doesn’t seem that I can regrow her…”

“The mixture of Mika’s blood may have made it permanent,” Emilia said nervously, “I’m sure that I could figure out a fix with some time…”

Yukia and Natasha were looming closer, each of them locking eyes on the tiny Neko, “Time?” Natasha chuckled, “I don’t think you have any of that Emilia.”

“Yeah, we need to get Mika and the snake,” Yukia agreed.

Myla’s catlike ears went flat against her head as she looked up at them, “Y-You guys are treating me like a-“

“Human,” Natasha muttered, “Yes, you’re just the size of a reduced one now, it’s making me…” Yukia’s hands darted for Myla, but Natasha was faster, chuckling as she held the tiny Neko out of Yukia’s grasp.

“Aw, come on!” Yukia pouted.

“Rank has its privileges!” Natasha laughed, gripping a flailing Myla by her tail and lifting her high.

“You can’t be serious!” Emilia panicked, “S-She’s one of us!”

Myla went pale as Natasha’s head tilted back, her pink lips parting and revealing the long glistening tunnel of her throat as her tongue lolled out. Myla had done this hundreds of times before from Natasha’s position, and knew what was coming.

“NO!” she squealed, grabbing at the air as the fingers released her. Emilia watched in horror as Natasha’s mouth caught Myla, the pouty pink lips sealing behind the tiny catgirl and muting her cries.

*Gulp*

Emilia felt numb as she watched the small bulge move down Natasha’s throat.

“Delicious,” Natasha laughed, “very similar to human, but… richer. ”

“It’s too bad there was only one of her,” Yukia murmured.

“Emilia, pack your things and return to the search,” Natasha ordered, as if nothing had happened.

“As you wish,” Emilia said numbly, walking back to her workstation and collecting her suitcase.

They’re insane, she realized, they’ve always been insane. She fought back tears, for centuries she’d tried to ignore what her sisters did to humans, but somehow seeing it happen to her own lab assistant had brought it all home.

Emilia looked at the readings on Mika’s DNA one last time, then clicked the case shut. She watched Natasha and Yukia leave, then moved to follow them.

All they want is to torment the humans for the rest of time, she thought bitterly, there isn’t any future there… Emilia grimaced as she thought about it, letting herself reckon for the first time with the reality of what the world Natasha was building would look like. The humans would never survive it, she thought bitterly, they’ll all be consumed or destroyed, and then what? Who will we turn on when we’ve had our revenge? 

The answer was obvious, and Myla had just offered a preview of who would be next on the menu when the last human had disappeared. 

Mika, he’s the only pathway to a future for our people. She sighed almost painfully as she realized what she had to do. The only way for me to save our people… is to betray them.

 …

The loud thrum of the cargo plane’s engines rattled Mika as he looked out the window, gulping nervously at what he knew was coming next. The group had managed to barter their way onto a cargo plane headed north, and per Oklahoma’s instructions he hadn’t asked what the other cargo was.

“Well, what do you think?” Oklahoma said, her voice raised.

“T-That looks like it,” Mika replied, “Look, there’s a large clearing of red flowers there, that’s fairly unique for this climate, and two rivers…” he pointed to a pair of small streams, barely visible from the aircraft.

“I definitely feel something here,”  Chloé murmured, peering down, “like I’ve been here before…”

Oklahoma slapped Mika on the back with a grin, “I’ll tell the pilot to get us lower, and we’ll jump out over those flowers, we won’t get a better landing spot than that, it’s easy to see and it’s nice and flat!”

“Are we really going to jump out of the plane?”  Chloé asked excitedly.

“Yes,” Mika said, his face pale.

“Okay snake-girl, you’re with me,” Oklahoma said, strapping in to one of the parachutes.

“This is so exciting!”  Chloé giggled. Oklahoma helped her strap her own vest on, then clipped theirs together.

“L-Let’s go over this again,” Mika stammered, looking down at his own nervously, “I wait three minutes, then pull the cord?”

“Right,” Oklahoma nodded as he buckled it on. “Don’t sweat it too much, it will automatically go if you get too close to the ground.”

“That’s a relief,” Mika sighed.

“Then again, the kinds of people who take ten thousand dollars in cash for a no questions asked flight over Mexico might not be up to date on all of their safety inspections,” Oklahoma said with a shrug.

Mika stared at her, “Y-You’re joking, you’ve done this before, right?”

She shrugged, “No, I’m more about landing planes than jumping out of them, but there’s a first time for everything.”

“Come on Mika,”  Chloé said eagerly, “it’s another new thing to try together!”

“Okay,” he sighed, moving over to the large sliding door of the aircraft.

There was a roar of wind as Oklahoma worked the door, sliding it out of the way as the pilot circled the large crimson field below. Mika’s face went white, and he froze.

“I-I don’t think I can-“ There was a push at his back, then he was screaming as he fell through the air, flailing wildly.

“There we go,”  Chloé said with a giggle.

“Wow,” Oklahoma chuckled, “I was going to do that, but I was going to give him a minute to get ready for it.”

“Let’s go!”  Chloé said eagerly.

“Alright, just don’t turn big while we’re in the air,” Oklahoma said, grinning as the pair leapt together into the open air.

…

Mika’s heart raced as the chute deployed, slowing his descent. He breathed out slowly, trying to calm himself as he descended towards the ground. He grunted as his feet made contact, causing him to bowl over as his parachute slowly descended around him. As he tried to free himself from the falling fabric, he saw Oklahoma and  Chloé, landing far more gracefully than he had only a few dozen feet away.

The trio freed themselves from the parachutes, leaving them on the ground as they walked towards each other through the field of red flowers. They were something like marigolds, but Mika doubted that they naturally grew as a vast carpet like this. He looked around, surveying the open expanse they’d found themselves in.

“Look,” Mika said, pointing to the edge of the clearing. Several trees poked higher than the rest, swaying gently in the wind. “Those are Lemurian fruit trees,” Mika said. They weren’t as tall as the ones in  Chloé’s jungle, and the few fruits they bore were small, withered looking, but there was no mistaking what they were. “This has to be the right place.”

“Well, I don’t see a pyramid or anything,” Oklahoma said, hands on her hips.

Mika frowned, “ Chloé, can you change into your true form?”

“That would feel great,”  Chloé muttered, stretching. “Just a moment!” Without warning she began stripping her clothes off, tossing her shirt to the ground, followed by her bra.

“Not a lot of modesty in that one, huh?” Oklahoma commented, crossing her arms.

“I don’t want to tear up my clothes!”  Chloé said defensively, “Just put them in your backpack or something!” She beamed at Mika’s quick glance and blush, even after all of this time seeing her naked could bring it out. “I don’t care if you like looking at me Mika,” she laughed, “You’re my friend, stare all you want!” she turned to Oklahoma, “That goes for you too I guess.”

Oklahoma smirked and rolled her eyes, “I need a lot more liquor in me than we have before I start staring at other girls, but thanks.”

 Chloé walked away from them, giving herself space. A moment later there was a shimmer, and  Chloé’s body expanded outward, her legs fusing together into the familiar red and yellow tail. As always Mika couldn’t help but stare as she took the form of a goddess, her looming form blocking out the sun as she stared down at him over those house sized breasts.

“Shouldn’t you make yourself invisible, or whatever it is you do?” Oklahoma shouted.

“No,”  Chloé muttered, looking around, “There aren’t any humans nearby except you two… or at least they aren’t taking any footsteps.”

“She can sense our footsteps?” Oklahoma whispered.

“She’s our natural predator, snakes can sense vibrations through the ground to track things, she can too,” Mika said in a hushed tone.

Oklahoma pursed her lips, but said nothing.

 Chloé suddenly had an odd expression on her face, “Mika, I can hear water!”

“The streams?” Mika asked, peering beyond the treeline.

“No,”  Chloé said, looking down, “It’s… below us?”

She slithered forward a little, and Oklahoma and Mika jogged after her massive form as she left a trail of trampled flowers in her wake. After a few minutes she found herself at a place in the middle of the field, but she leapt back with a cry of surprise as a massive stone pillar began to rise out of the field. The ground shook, and the three of them watched in shock as the stone, easily thirty meters in circumference, continued to lift itself up until it stood as tall as  Chloé did.

“Yeah, this is probably it,” Oklahoma muttered.

The two walked to  Chloé’s side, looking up at the stone monolith as  Chloé studied it, “Look here,” she said, “This looks like a pair of lips?” She pointed to the middle of the indented carving, “And there’s a little human sized pair of lips in the middle…”

“Uh… okay,” Mika said, pulling his father’s journal out of his bag. He flipped through the pages, eventually finding the relevant section. “It says here that in order to enter the temple, the goddess and her human priest must both kiss…”

“That’s easy enough!”  Chloé reached down for him, scooping his body up in her hand and lifting him high before he could say anything. His stomach lurched as he was brought up alongside  Chloé’s grinning billboard sized face. Her pillowy pink lips slammed into him, and his words were muffled as he did his best to purse his own lips against hers. They parted a moment later, and  Chloé frowned as she glanced at the stone monolith. “Why isn’t it opening?” she wondered.

Mika studied the pillar, in particular the carved pair of lips at the top, the small human sized ones with the larger set, obviously carved for a Naga…

“I think we’ve got to kiss those, ” he said, pointing to them, “at the same time.”

“The only way to do that is with you in my mouth,”  Chloé turned to him with a grin, “I do like having you there.”

“Yeah,” Mika muttered, sighing and readying himself. You’ve been in her mouth plenty of times before, he told himself, this isn’t any different.

 Chloé’s mouth opened, her tongue lolling out as he felt the familiar animalistic terror grip him. It was fleeting, wrestled back down by his conscious mind, but it was always there, somewhere in the back of his head. The warm humidity of  Chloé’s breath rolled over him like a thick fog as she gently opened her palm, tipping it and sending him sliding down onto the soft pink mattress.

“O-Okay, we need to kiss it at the same time, so just kind of-“

Her tongue lifted him up, casually twisting and flipping his body over. Mika grunted as his upper body was thrust forward, and a moment later the soft upper and lower lips clasped around his face and hands like a pillory.

 Chloé began moving her face towards the giant stone lips, and Mika did his best to pucker his own as his face was pressed into the smaller, human sized pair in the center.

This time the pillar lit up, sigils like the ones in the South American temple coming to life across it as it slowly descended back into the ground. There was a rumbling sound, and down below them Oklahoma fell back in shock as the field before them collapsed, slowly forming a massive tunnel leading down into the earth. Deep within it there was an odd blue glow, almost beckoning them.  Chloé slowly pulled Mika out of her mouth, staring in awe at the revealed passageway.

“I guess we know where we have to go,” Mika said, wiping a bit of  Chloé’s saliva off his arms.

 Chloé slithered forward, then paused, looking down at Oklahoma, “I don’t think you’re supposed to go in here,” she said sheepishly.

Oklahoma looked at the gargantuan underground passage with a grimace, “I’m fine with that,” she said, “I’ll wait up here, you two have fun.”

 Chloé nodded, cupping Mika in her hands as she began her journey downward into the underground chamber. The pair left the pilot behind as they descended into the tunnel, and within a few moments they’d come to the source of the blue light as the passageway opened up into a colossal chamber, large enough that even  Chloé couldn’t touch the ceiling. In the center was an elaborate blue fountain, seemingly carved of luminous crystal. The waters bubbled clean and clear, and small grooves in the floor carried water that spilled from it to the corners of the room, where more of the stunted Lemurian fruit trees waited.

That fountain must give them enough light and water to survive , even down in a place like this Mika realized. Beyond the fountain waited the temple itself, a columned building of the same elegantly carved stone as  Chloé’s, and while it wasn’t an elaborate complex like the one in South America, it accommodated  Chloé’s size easily as she made her way inside, holding Mika up.

Welcome to the Temple of Desire, a voice echoed. Mika and  Chloé started, and as they looked around for the source, he realized that it wasn’t speaking in English, or any other language he recognized, yet he could understand it.

“It’s coming from inside my head,”  Chloé murmured.

“Yeah,” Mika whispered back, squinting his eyes and peering into the darkness.

The far wall lit up suddenly, much like the moving engravings they’d seen before. The green snake goddess smiled out at them, as if in greeting, and the high priest, a simple stick figure with an ornate headdress, joined her.

You have come here as part of your rite of passage, as all your mothers and sisters before you did. You have brought your companion, ready to earn his trust, and the trust of his fellows.

The snake goddess lifted her human to her, holding him before her body almost the same way that  Chloé was to Mika in that moment.

To partake in the long-guarded secrets here, you must take your companion into your most sacred place, let him explore you, take you to the heights of pleasure, resisting the urge to take him for yourself, to control and consume him.

They watched as the snake goddess lay across her back, smiling as the hieroglyphic human slowly approached her lower body. At that the images stopped moving, leaving the two in silence.

“So… I think you’re supposed to go inside me again,”  Chloé said, chewing her lip and trying to hide her excitement.

“Yeah, that seems to be what they want,” Mika muttered, rubbing his chin as he thought, “fertility rites are fairly common in ancient cultures, but there’s something else here.”

“What?”  Chloé asked curiously.

“I think I have to take the lead,” he explained, “and you just have to lay back and let me.”

 Chloé frowned, “so wait, I can’t put you in, or-“

“Or push me back down, or any of that,” Mika said with a small smirk. “This place seems like it’s one big trust exercise, a human has to go into a Naga’s mouth to open it, and now it looks like I’ve got to go inside your…”

“Pussy?”  Chloé giggled.

“Yeah,” Mika said, smirking. “I suppose there’s nothing to do but get started.”

“Okay,” she said eagerly, reaching for his shirt.

“I think undressing me would defeat the purpose of it,” Mika said, holding up a hand, “put me down.”

 Chloé pouted, but obeyed, slowly lowering him down to the stone floor of the temple. She watched, barely containing herself, as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, then his pants, finally kicking off his shoes and socks and standing naked before her.

“Okay, lay down,” he ordered.

 Chloé gave him a small seductive smile, then stretched out, laying on her back across the massive stone floor. Her hands went up behind her head, letting him look at her body as the mountainous thing it was.

Okay, he thought, walking towards her, let’s get climbing.

 Chloé shivered at the ticklish sensation as she felt his tiny hands and feet tracing up her tail, and a moment later a small giggle erupted from her as he got higher up. For Mika’s part he felt almost like an insect, crawling across the body of a goddess as he worked his way along the scales of her tail.

He could see her leaning up now and then to watch him, biting her lip and fighting the urge to grab him and have her way. The temple went from blue to red, causing him to pause, “ Chloé,” he said sternly, “were you going to-“

“I was thinking about grabbing you, yeah,” she muttered, laying back down as the temple lighting returned to normal.

“We don’t want to find out what happens if we fail one of these,” Mika reminded her, “just lay back, I promise I’ll make it feel good.” He paused as he reached a strange interlocking set of scales. Idly he started to lift them, causing  Chloé to gasp.

“D-Don’t open that!” she stammered.

“Why not? What is it?” he asked curiously.

 Chloé blushed red, “T-That’s where my waste comes out, don’t mess with it!” He chuckled and moved away from it, causing  Chloé to give a sigh of relief as he continued his climb.

There was a low gurgling noise below him, and he stopped, looking down at the striped red and yellow surface of the scales, almost iridescent in the low light of the temple chamber. He knelt down, laying his hand flat on the smooth surface. He shivered as he could feel just the tiniest bit of movement, the remains of Chloé’s meals passing through her.

Her digestion is a lot like a snake’s, he thought to himself, shivering slightly, she swallows things whole, and she processes them slowly. As always when he thought of Chloé’s eating habits, the intrusive thoughts crept in, he saw himself squeezed through her lower belly, slowly being pushed along that tail by a powerful and ruthless digestive tract.

Focus, he told himself, trying to ignore the strange rush of excitement the idea held. He breathed out slowly, then continued up her body.

Finally, Mika finished climbing the scales, and  Chloé squeaked in surprise as he reached the part of her body where her skin began. A moment later he was standing over her slit, inhaling the warm musky scent of her arousal. With a grin he stood up over it, placing a foot on either side like a conqueror as he looked down at the massive body of the girl stretched before him.

From this angle you can’t even tell she’s half snake, he thought with a wry grin.

“Go in!” she pleaded.

“Not yet,” he chuckled, stepping further across the soft bouncy expanse of her skin.

“Mika!” she whined.

He ignored her, gently leaping over her bellybutton with a smirk. Walking across her skin was like traversing a large mattress, soft, springy, but also incredibly warm. As he made his way up her body, he walked in the valley between her mountainous breasts, taking a moment to watch and enjoy the gentle rise and fall of her breath. He glanced up, not surprised to see  Chloé leaning up and looking at him again.

“You’re beautiful,” he remarked, giving a small smile as he enjoyed the up-close look at her face. “I don’t usually have the chance to look at you up close like this…”

“If you want me to let you walk around on my tummy you just have to ask,”  Chloé said, blushing slightly. She raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer to her, tickling her body as he stepped along her breastbone and then up the tender flesh of her neck. Chloé gulped, suddenly nervous as Mika stood at the base of her neck, looking up at her face.

“The skin on your face is so soft,” he said quietly, brushing his hand along her chin. She almost reflexively lowered her head a little, leaning into his touch and letting him reach her lips. He poked them almost playfully, smirking at Chloé’s flustered expression.

“Y-You’ve touched my face before,” she stammered.

“I want to take my time with it,” he said with a smile. He kept going for a few moments, tracing his hand delicately across the surface of her cheeks, reaching up to playfully pat her nose, then finally leaning in and giving the lower half of her face a quick hug, savoring the warmth with a sigh. 

Chloé’s face was crimson, and she was fighting a giggle as she spoke, “Okay, are you ready for the rest?”

“I’m getting to it,” he laughed, turning back towards her chest. He reached up, gripping a handful of  Chloé’s breast as he forced himself up it, climbing slowly to the peak. She winced slightly at the tiny pinch of his hands, then watched eagerly as he reached the peak of her breast, looking down at a nipple the size of his chest.

“Oh,”  Chloé groaned, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back as he grabbed the top of her nipple, gently pinching it between the palms of his hand. Around him he saw her skin begin to prickle, the terrain growing rougher as goosebumps spread down her body. He grinned and licked his palm, adding a bit of lubrication to his efforts as he toyed with the giant brown point, teasing the nipple and causing  Chloé to pant slightly.

When she began to make small low mewling cries, he decided he’d done enough, and he slid down the far side of her breast, tumbling over the bumpy terrain as she shivered with excitement.

 Chloé gulped nervously, trembling with excitement as she felt the tiny pitter patter of his feet walk down her belly once again, jumping playfully over her bellybutton as he made his way back to her womanhood.

She’s definitely ready for me, he thought with a smirk. The slit below him hadn’t quite flowered open yet, but it was wet and glistening, almost overflowing with the rich smelling juices. It was odd, standing over her womanhood, a force of nature that had easily overwhelmed him on its own, and being in control. He slowly lay across the puffy lips of her labia , careful not to slip between them as he looked up Chloé’s body again, making contact with her pleading eyes as they met his own, staring through the valley of her breasts.

I’m at the gateway to your temple, Mika thought with a grin, now to open it.

His hand reached up, and with a slow, deliberate motion, he let his hand cup the sphere of her clitoris, resting at the top of her womanhood. He slid his hands over the moist pearl like it was a crystal ball, grinning as he watched  Chloé’s faraway face contort in pleasure.

“Ah!” she cried, panting as she fought to remain still. Below him Mika could feel the trembles of her body, the tremors of some explosive volcano, ready to erupt at any moment… But he continued, rubbing the sensitive node more and more until  Chloé was a quaking mess, helpless before his onslaught.

He felt himself getting excited too, and the tip of his manhood was pressing between  Chloé’s lips as he lay across them, tantalizing him with a promise of what lay inside.

When  Chloé thought she could take no more, the tantalizing torment ceased. With a heaving chest Chloé looked down her body, feeling her heartbeat quicken as Mika stood up over her womanhood once again. She bit her lip as she felt his bare feet plant themselves on her labia minora, spreading her open. She almost sat up with a jolt as Mika let himself slide in feet first, entering her up to his waist with a wet *schlick.*

“Are you okay?” Mika called up.

“Y-Yeah,” Chloé stammered, “it was just really intense!”

Mika began wiggling his way further into her, the wet mouth of her pussy gripping him tightly as he struggled to squeeze himself lower. His stomach disappeared, leaving him up to his armpits in Chloé as she breathed out slowly, fighting the urge to press him the rest of the way in. As he looked up at her, he smiled, feeling the force of gravity beginning to help him slide into her. 

“G-Good luck!” she yelped as she watched his shoulders slide into her, then, like a man going beneath the surface of quicksand, his head slipped down into her. 

Her powerful walls pressed tightly against Mika, gripping him like a vice as he grunted and struggled to wiggle his way down. Each motion made it harder for  Chloé to control herself, but with a mewling whine and a grimace, she clenched her fists, willing herself to relax, loosening the tunnel enough that Mika could continue. Gravity was his ally as he felt his body slide against the silky wet walls of her vaginal canal, and even when he paused, he still continued his inevitable slide downward. 

Within her Mika could see everything, bathed in the strange low light that seemed to exist everywhere within her body. The ridged pink walls seemed to invite him in, pulling at him and drawing him deeper to the core of her being, more and more Chloé realized that she wouldn’t be able to stop his descent if she wanted to, her own body betrayed her, and a thrilling sense of helplessness washed over the giant Naga as she felt a new tingling wave was over her as he dove deeper into her.

The steady thump of her heartbeat let Mika know what he was doing to her, and each slow advance through the dripping passageway caused it to flutter, a drum solo played only for him as the smallest touch of his fingertips against the sensitive walls caused new moans of excitement from the rumbling goddess he was now journeying into.

“C-Careful,”  Chloé managed, feeling herself tighten against him involuntarily.

Mika paused, giving her a second to recover before continuing, shivering as the motion of the soft fleshy tunnel against his own manhood brought him his own waves of thought scattering sensations. She probably couldn’t stop him, even if she clenched as hard as she could, she was soaking wet, and even if he held still he had a feeling he would slowly drift downward anyway. Still, he wanted to do this gently . The smell and taste were beginning to cloud his head too, the rich aroma burned in his nostrils, and each time he gasped for breath in the swampy confines more of her juices entered his mouth, coating his tongue and throat with the ripe musky taste of  Chloé’s juices, lingering on his skin and lips like a silky oil.

He continued forcing himself downward , fighting the urge to collapse and pleasure himself then and there, nearly given in just as his foot reached a spongy floor .  Chloé trembled around him like a collapsing subway tunnel, and he peered down curiously, blinking the warm juices of her arousal out of his eyes as he took in the small portal at the end of her womanhood.

Her cervix, he realized, gently tracing his toes across it. It quivered slightly, and he heard a loud low moan from outside . He didn’t hesitate any further, and with a grunt he curled his body downward, using all of his remaining strength to invert his body and bring his hands down to the entrance to Chloé’s womb. His fingers curled around the edges of the quivering ring of flesh, stretching it open as he dove down into the deepest part of Chloé’s womanhood.

“MIIIKKAAA!”  Chloé screamed, her eyes going wide as the floodgates burst, sending her over the edge as her tail writhed across the stone floor.

Mika grunted as his body slipped through, feeling the soft texture of the new chamber seeming to close around him, accommodating his body and keeping it safe, secure.

There was a sudden flash of blue, the same low shade as the temple fountain put off, then Mika and  Chloé cried out together as a wave of pleasure carried them into a trance.

…

Mika looked out across the vast city from his perch upon  Chloé’s shoulder. With a start he realized he was wearing a ceremonial outfit, not unlike what he’d imagine a priest in Egypt to have worn.

You trust each other, the snake goddess’s voice rang out, and that is the foundation of our relationship with one another.

The pair looked down as the snake goddess herself waited in the city’s central square, watching the countless humans parading past her, smiling and waving. She returned the gesture, and behind them neon lights burst into the sky.

We desire them in many ways, they rightfully fear us, but we can both prosper if we control our desires. Take from them only what is freely given, and give back to them more than you take.  

…

Mika blinked as he came back to reality, trying to process what he’d just seen.

Her womb, he realized, slowly touching the walls, I’m in her womb!

Outside  Chloé was panting, covered in sweat as the last remnants of the powerful orgasm left her. She collapsed onto the floor, her hand drifting down to her stomach and resting on her lower belly, subconsciously protecting the tiny fluttering motion of the human deep within her.

“ Chloé,” Mika said slowly, “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” she said dreamily, “you feel so wonderful in there Mika… You could just stay, at least for a little while.” She crossed her arms behind her bed, relaxing with a smirk, “What’s it like in there, anyway?”

“It’s soft, very warm,” he said, touching the walls again, “a little pink?” He yawned, “a man could fall asleep in here…”

“I’d be okay with that,”  Chloé said, “it’s like you’re a little ball of light or something, it’s nice to have you there.”

“No,” he insisted, “We’ve got to finish this, I’m pretty sure the next part is you releasing me,  Chloé.”

She sighed, “Fine… What do I do?”

“Just relax,” he insisted, “and don’t worry, we’ll do this again sometime.”

With that he brought his hands down to the bottom of the tight chamber, pressing against the same ring of muscly flesh as he forced his way outside. He could feel it pressing against him, halfheartedly trying to keep him from escape, but with a final grunt he flopped his way back into  Chloé’s pussy, starting the journey back out of her.

 Chloé winced, feeling his hands once again begin their stimulating fumbling and pulling motion against her walls as he crawled inside her, but this time she took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. 

Mika frowned as he looked up at the distant light at the end of the tunnel. The climb out took much more of his strength, and he found himself straining his muscles as he tried to keep a grip against the slick walls around him. The gravity which had aided his descent now worked against him.

Chloé felt his struggles, and smiled, clenching around him and providing some rigidity to the tunnel around Mika.

“Thanks,” he sighed, finally able to continue his ascent. It was odd, being able to climb out of a body that seemed made to consume him in several ways. That’s the point, he thought, thinking on the temple’s instructions, I’m supposed to trust that she won’t hurt me, or simply take me, even though she could…

Within a few minutes he’d nearly reached the end, and as she looked down her body again, she saw his head pop out of her almost like a groundhog, looking around and blinking her juices out of his eyes as he hauled himself up, his arms on either side of her labia as he flopped out of her womanhood.

“Mika,” she giggled, snatching him up and squeezing him to her cheek before he could catch his breath. “That was… amazing!”

“Yeah,” he agreed, blinking, “It was.”

Being in control during an encounter with  Chloé had been… illuminating. She’d always been so powerful, so overwhelming, it had been like making love to a hurricane. Now though? It was almost like she was a normal girl.

…

Outside the temple Oklahoma was throwing rocks at nothing, occasionally glancing at the pit and wondering with Mika and  Chloé would return. The ring of the satellite phone startled her, and she leapt up, answering it quickly.

“Boss?” she asked, frowning, I don’t have a boss? The mental fog vanished as Emilia spoke.

“Oklahoma, I need you to tell me your location,” Emilia said in a hushed tone, “I’m going to come to you soon.”

“Can you send some more money?” Oklahoma said casually, “We’re out.” She paused, frowning, “And who the hell are you, anyway?”

“My influence on your mind is wearing off,” Emilia explained with a low chuckle, “but I’ll introduce myself again soon, and yes I’ll bring some more money.”

Some good news at least, Oklahoma thought with a grin.