Homelands Pt. 06 Ch. 04

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Author's note

As ever, if you have questions feel free to email me or leave a comment. Either way, I'll try to respond in a timely manner.

This is primarily an incest story, but it is also sci-fi/fantasy, and supernatural elements are not incidental to the plot. Additionally, many chapters will feature elements of other categories, particularly group sex and anal.

All sexual acts are consensual and involve parties who are at least eighteen years of age.

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As they climbed the hill, making their way up towards the Temple of the Sun, Veronica felt a growing sense of dread. The temple itself might well have inspired awe, under different circumstances. The simple beauty of its classical architecture, the stark contrast of all that bright gold against pale marble, to say nothing of its prominent position on the highest point of the island, certainly demanded a measure of respect.

But she finally saw what her grandmother undoubtedly had sensed from the beginning. That its presence marked a dramatic and irrevocable change in Summer.

Grandma Flori hadn't said as much, of course. But what she hadn't said spoke volumes. When Veronica had asked, not for the first time, whether it was good news that the king had turned to Eternal Garden rather than Daphne, her grandmother had replied in the affirmative, but with as little enthusiasm as possible. An unspoken "but" had dangled on the end of her words.

It shouldn't have taken her until now to see why.

It was just that the past few days had felt like a dream. She'd caught the baby fever that seemed to be going around, and her brother hadn't hesitated a moment before telling her how much he'd love to start a family with her. From the moment Nick's seed had taken root in her garden, Veronica had felt like a new woman. And the world around her felt new as well. As if it had been restored to some prior state of glory. The Homelands were suddenly filled with promise and possibilities. No longer did she see an unforgiving realm that had torn their family apart and nearly killed her brother. Rather, she walked amidst a magical paradise, a fantasy realm that she'd reluctantly leave behind in a matter of days, only to return once her children were grown.

Ever since she'd discovered who she was, she'd dreamt of bearing Nick's child. Of living with him as his wife, rather than his sister. And now, after telling herself for so long that she shouldn't indulge in such hopeless fantasies, they were coming true.

Thanks to her father.

How could there be anything wrong with that?

Even after their grandmother had failed to show any sign of relief over the news of Daphne's noninvolvement, Veronica had refused to let go of that optimism.

That they were all required to visit the temple and worship the Illuminated hadn't seemed like such a big deal. Nor had Veronica thought much of the fact that they could only go in ones and twos. Sure, the idea of treating Kurt and Olivia as deities was a little absurd, but if that was the price for the future she'd never thought she could have, Veronica would gladly pay it. It was all just for show, anyway. A few hoops to jump through. Nothing more.

With every step nearer the temple that she took, though, Veronica found it harder and harder to deny the obvious truth. The king might have done what he thought was best, and he might even be right to do so, but they'd soon learn that the protection of the Eternal Garden did not come cheap. The whole business of worshipping their sunlit cousins was a whole lot more serious than she'd first assumed too.

"Don't be nervous," her grandmother said, laying a hand on Veronica's shoulder.

"I'm not," Veronica lied.

"You wish your brother was making this trek with you."

Veronica looked away.

She understood why he wasn't. Or she thought she did, anyway. Nominally, their mother wanted some time alone with Nick. Wanted to coach him in what to do, and what not to do, as Veronica's time got closer. But that wasn't really it. Though pregnancy was a briefer affair for their kind than it was for mortals, there was still plenty of time for that talk. No, the truth was that her grandmother wanted to be there with her when she went before their new sunlit overlords. And since they were only permitted to enter the temple one or two at a time, that meant that she and her brother would have to make the journey separately.

"I understand, dear," her grandmother said.

And that was the last that either of them had to say about the matter.

They topped the hill in silence, and Veronica felt the air go out of her lungs. Beautiful as the Temple of the Sun had seemed from a distance, it was indescribably so up close.

A pair of obelisks flanked the arched entrance to the temple, each bearing a golden sunburst the size of her head. The paving stones underfoot were similarly purest gold. Veronica had never seen so much of the precious metal at once.

"Welcome, children," a voice called from deep inside the temple.

It occurred to Veronica that the temple was surprisingly dark. There were no torches or windows or anything. At least, not that she could see. Perhaps it was different farther in.

Zoey slowly came into view. She looked every inch the High Priestess. Her white silk gown was trimmed heavily with cloth-of-gold. A belt of thick, golden medallions encircled her waist. Then there was her necklace and her earrings, the many rings she wore upon her fingers and her toes, the diadem perched atop her head, and the bands around her willowy arms. It should have seemed excessive to Veronica. Opulent. Decadent. Yet somehow, the woman's attired struck her as utterly appropriate, as though anything less would be unbefitting a goddess of Zoey's stature.

The woman Veronica had once considered her aunt held out a hand, wrist limp and fingers hanging like branches from a tree. She tilted her head back and softly glowing eyes stared down a slender nose at them.

Grandma Flori was the first to her knees, but Veronica was not far behind. They kissed Zoey's hand then waited patiently for the High Priestess to signal for them to rise.

"You are with child," she said to Veronica, pressing a hand against her midsection. What little light there was in the hallway winked out as the High Priestess closed her golden eyes. She drew a deep breath before saying, "Your daughter will be strong and healthy."

That should have filled Veronica with joy. But the warm hand pressed against her bare skin felt wrong. Menacing. It bore her child no blessings.

"Come inside," Zoey said, turning on a heel and retreating into the darkness.

Veronica looked a question at her grandmother, who merely nodded.

Heart pounding, she followed the High Priestess into the bowels of the temple.

#

"You really don't mind?" Patty asked.

"Not at all," Eric replied, giving his sister's hand a reassuring squeeze.

The bigger question was whether their mother cared. But he didn't tell Patty that. Besides, though their mother wouldn't be crazy about having to visit the temple by herself, she'd understand how hard it would be for Patty to see Kurt again, to bend the knee to him and pretend he was a divine being. Seeing as they were forbidden from entering the temple more than two at a time, either Patty or their mother was going to have to go alone. And it wasn't fair to ask Patty to bite that bullet.

"Guess we should do it, then," she said.

Eric nodded.

As they headed up the hill, he found himself marveling at his sister. Not long ago, he'd have found it hard to imagine her looking and sounding so calm at a moment like this. Of course, he'd have had a hard time imagining a moment like this, but even so. Due to the strange workings of time, his sister had technically spent considerably less time in the Homelands than he had. Yet Patty was no less changed by her time here than he was.

Granted, there wasn't much reason for her to be anxious anyway. Kurt would undoubtedly be glad to see her. As he hoped Olivia would be to see him, despite the fact that he'd given her plenty of reason not to be. Yet he knew his sister, and if Patty was feeling as calm about this as she let on, he was a purple elephant.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Patty asked. "They're our freaking cousins."

"I know," Eric said. "Illuminated. Could it sound more pretentious?"

His sister snickered. "Not much, no."

As they drew closer to the temple, though, they fell silent. Eric had to admit, it was more than a little impressive. It all still struck him as incredibly odd, but he could see how someone who didn't remember Aunt Zoey making a complete fool out of herself during family softball games, who hadn't given Kurt countless wedgies or stuck gum in Liv's hair, would greet whatever beings dwelled within this temple as divine.

"Hey, guys," Olivia said as the topped the hill.

Patty looked at Eric as if to ask, "Can you believe this?" then started giggling.

"Oh, sorry," Liv said, stepping out of the shadows. Her voice deepened. "Welcome, children," she announced.

"That's more like it," Patty said.

Eric looked his cousin up and down. She wore white silk and cloth-of-gold and tons of jewelry. Her skin had turned the color of her mother's, complete with metallic glint. She looked exactly as he remembered her, and yet so too did she look like precisely the type of otherworldly being that ought to inhabit the majestic temple.

"Is this the part where we bow?" Eric asked.

Olivia shrugged.

"This whole thing some big joke?" Patty asked.

"If you ask me, it is," Liv replied. "But unfortunately, the official answer is different."

"The others are taking it seriously?" Eric asked.

His cousin nodded. "I think Vee left her feeling like she'd seen a ghost," she said. "My mother's really getting into the whole High Priestess thing."

"And...Kurt?" Patty asked.

Olivia sighed.

"Even worse?" Eric guessed.

Liv laid a finger on her nose.

Eric put an arm around his sister. She flashed him a quick grin, patted his chest, then pulled away. Watching her draw herself up to her full height made Eric want to laugh. The girl didn't even reach five feet. But she still managed a measure of dignity.

"He's waiting for us inside," Liv said. "Follow me."

With that, she spun and headed deep inside the temple. Eric and Patty followed.

The hallways were dark, but when Olivia spread her hand out before her, a golden beam appeared, as if she was a human flashlight.

Every ten paces or so, their cousin would take what seemed to Eric to be a random turn. Every intersection, every stretch of hallway, looked exactly the same. On and on they went, hanging random rights here and inexplicably turning left there.

After a seemingly interminable length of time, they rounded a corner just like every other and found themselves in an open courtyard. Marble columns reached like outstretched hands into the sky and slabs of pure gold lay underfoot, but the darkness was gone. The sun shone so brightly overhead, in fact, that Eric had to cover his eyes.

The gold paving stones didn't help anything either.

Near the center of the courtyard, a winged Kurt hung in midair. His head was thrown back and his eyes closed. It looked like he was praying.

"For fuck's sake," Eric muttered under his breath.

Olivia hid a snicker behind her hand.

But their other cousin was less amused. His eyelids snapped open and he glowered at Eric as he settled softly to the ground. For a brief instant, Eric was certain that Kurt was going to conjure a flaming sword and charge at him.

If he did, he'd have been sorely disappointed with the outcome.

However, he simply approached them slowly, a look of grim determination on his golden face. And the closer he got, the less smug and confident Eric felt. He started to wish he was somewhere else. Or else that the little twerp would at least blink.

"It's good to see you again, Patty," Kurt said, his unwavering gaze still locked on Eric.

Beside him, his sister went to her knees.

Eric considered remaining upright, but not for long. After enduring staring back into his cousin's golden eyes for a second or so, he too knelt.

"We are not worthy to be in your presence, Illuminated One," Patty said.

To Eric's ear, it almost sounded like she meant it.

"Rise," he said, beckoning them to their feet with a gesture of his hand.

Eric noted that their cousin hadn't taken issue with Patty's claim.

"Kurt," Olivia gently admonished.

He silenced his sister with a curt glance.

Olivia took Eric's hand in hers. "Come. Let's give these two lovebirds some privacy."

Eric started to protest. He found himself somewhat less than enthusiastic about leaving Patty alone with Kurt. No matter that Patty could probably take him in a fair fight, even if he wasn't quite the scrawny bean pole he'd been back in the Playground. It wasn't a physical altercation that he feared. Though their cousin had changed even more than he or Patty had, and not for the better, his sister still carried a torch for him. He was sure of it. She was crazy about Mike, and presumably wasn't hoping to rekindle things with Kurt. But whatever residual feelings for him she still had left her vulnerable.

Liv didn't give him a choice though.

She gave his hand a sharp little yank, and he nearly lost his feet. If she'd put any real force behind it, he'd have gone soaring across the courtyard.

"Play. Nice," she said to Kurt as she led Eric back towards the hallways.

Eric looked over his shoulder and saw his cousin place a hand gently on Patty's shoulder before drawing her in for a hug.

Maybe the kid had just gotten a little creepy after drinking too much Kool-Aid. Religious zealots were always uncomfortable to be around. That didn't necessarily mean they weren't safe to be around. Besides, hadn't he just been thinking to himself that Kurt would be glad to see Patty? And wasn't that obviously the case?

"He's not the same as he used to be," Liv explained once the courtyard disappeared behind them. "But he's still a good kid." Her voice lowered. "Sometimes, I wish I could have the old Kurt back."

"Only sometimes though?" Eric asked, sensing a subtle shift in her Libido.

Liv cleared her throat by way of response.

She'd always gone a little weak in the knees for a guys with a lot of confidence. Most girls did, to some extent. But it was a real soft spot for Liv.

One he'd exploited ruthlessly, back before his mother had opened his eyes.

It wasn't hard to see how this new, ultra-intense Kurt might get his sister's juices flowing. If he were to at her the way he had Eric back in the courtyard, she'd completely lose it. Turn into a living sex doll for him to use as he pleased.

Without any warning, his cousin rounded on him and slammed the heel of her fist into his chest. Eric crashed into the nearest wall so hard he feared the marble slab would fall down on top of him. His body ached as it never had before.

"By the way," Olivia said, "You've got some fucking nerve."

"What?" he asked, holding up his hands defensively.

She stood over him, hands balled into fists, but she made no move to strike him again.

"What'd I do?" he asked.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I...I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure you didn't."

Eric tried to get up, but his back spasmed and he fell back down. Damn, but the girl could pack a punch. Maybe their sunlit cousins really were a cut above the rest of them.

It was worse than a back spasm, he realized. At least one of his ribs was cracked. Breathing shouldn't hurt like that. He pulled energy out of his Libido, mending the bone.

"Didn't want you to see me crying," Eric said after he gathered up enough energy to speak again. "Okay?"

She didn't respond.

"I know, it's stupid," Eric said. "You deserved a real goodbye. But all I could think of at the moment was that you couldn't see me like that."

"`There's no crying in baseball."'

"Exactly," Eric said.

Olivia shook her head. "Sometimes, in my crazier moments, I think that men are just hairy people. Then I remember you're really a species all your own."

"I am sorry," Eric said as he finally climbed back to his feet.

"You should be," Liv said.

"If I'd known how strong you were...." Eric said.

His cousin helped him wipe the dust off his shirt. "A likely story."

"Seriously, though," Eric said. "Are we so far beneath you?"

Olivia sighed. "Kurt thinks so."

"He does?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Certainly sounds like it, most of the time."

Eric fell silent.

"I didn't ask for this," she said, turning away. "Well, in a sense, I did. I've wanted to come back to Summer for a while. But not like this."

"What's this really all about?"

"Who knows," she said.

Olivia herself did, for starters. Eric sensed it in her Libido. A flash of guilt tinged with fear. She knew something that she wasn't going to tell him.

Eric rested his hands on his cousin's shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Must not be easy, being caught in the middle."

She choked out a sound that was equal parts disgust and agreement. Laying a hand atop one of his, she said, "You have no idea."

"You don't have to be, though."

"Is your mother carrying your child?" Liv asked.

The question took him off guard. But he wasn't about to lie to her. Not after the way she'd laid him out earlier. He only had so many bones to break, after all.

"Yes."

"Mmm-hmm," his cousin said.

"Liv."

"Don't, Eric. Okay? Just don't."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Stop," she said. "You've got your family. I've got mine. And, in the Homelands, family's all anyone's got. Nothing anyone can do about it."

He'd never known his cousin to be so fatalistic. Had never known her to take much of anything seriously, come to think of it. He decided that it didn't suit her. No more than the god complex suited his goofy cousin, who'd never been fanatical about anything other than baseball before they'd reached Summer's shore.

"It's good to see you again," she said quietly.

"Yeah." He kissed her golden hair again. "Same here."

His cousin leaned back against his chest. "I'm going to have Kurt's baby."

Eric slid a hand down from his cousin's shoulder to her flat stomach.

"No, I'm not pregnant yet," she said. "But that's the plan. After we establish the temple, some other lesser nobles will come and take over and we'll return to the Eternal Garden. Then my mother and I will conceive."

"I see," Eric said.

He should have said more, probably. Should have told her that she shouldn't go back to the Eternal Garden. Told her that her place was here, in Summer, with him. But he couldn't do that. He belonged to his mother.

As she'd said, he had his family and she had hers.

Eric wished Uncle Wes was still alive. Maybe all of this would still be happening, but at least Liv would have someone other than Kurt. Someone who didn't think that the rest of them were insects. Someone decent and kind and modest.

"No sense fighting it," she said.

He didn't reply.

And with that, Liv had apparently decided she was done talking. She took him by the hand and led him to a sitting room, where they didn't do a lot of sitting.

#

"Is everything okay?" Patty asked her cousin.

The moment the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back. Though it hadn't been a week since the two of them had run off together, that might as well have been a lifetime ago. He wasn't her lover anymore. Nor even a friend. He was a sunlit lord. An angel. A representative of the Eternal Garden of the Sun.

And she was just Patty.

Kurt gave her a puzzled look. She almost expected him to ask what the fuck she was talking about. But his face softened a moment later, and he took her hand in his.