This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

7.53 – The Scenario

Zoey woke to a dark, enclosed space. Her hands shot out, and she traced the interior of a stone box just large enough to hold her.

A coffin?

After taking a second to calm herself, she thought: how nostalgic. Unlike that first shard, though, she wasn't crammed inside with another girl to keep her company. Nor was she so weak that she couldn't break out. Flexing and pushing upward, the stone cracked and groaned, holding for a long, precarious second before exploding open.

Dim blue light flooded in. To her side, another coffin—actually, the boxes were sarcophagi, the stone tops carved like people—was being forced open. Sitting up, Zoey watched Astrid likewise straighten out and snap her head around to scan the room. Her attention settled on Zoey.

Though illumination was poor, the braziers in the corners of the room gave off enough light that she could make out Astrid's figure. She was naked. As was Zoey herself, she realized. She was getting so used to it that she hadn't noticed right away.

"I kinda expected the shard would split us two up," Zoey mused, standing and stretching wide. Her muscles were sore, as if she'd been trapped in the box for a while. Astrid's eyes flicked down Zoey's body, but jerked away just as fast. She stood abruptly, with a jerky motion that suggested she was uncomfortable with either Zoey's nudity or her own.

The warpaint Astrid wore didn't, apparently, cover her whole body. It was concentrated on her face down to her neck, hands to her elbows, and feet up to her knees. All else was smooth skin. It was an attractive, exotic look, in Zoey's opinion.

She hadn't seen Astrid in even a state of half-undress, so it was more than a little gratifying to suddenly be in her company while nude. She had a lovely figure: well-built, with strong arms and legs, yet with a definite feminine build, a nice dip to her waist and swoop to her hips.

And amazing tits. A given. Stuffed into her leather armor, Zoey hadn't realized how well endowed Astrid was in that regard. Had suspected, of course, but now that her tits were out in the open to be gawked at, she discovered that Astrid gave even her a run for her money. She had a bigger chest than even Delta.

Zoey wouldn't outright stare, naturally; she made all of those observations quickly and averted her eyes. Half out of politeness, and half because they had entered a new shard, and she ought to be studying the environment, not Astrid's tits—as tempting as the latter was.

"You expected this?" Astrid asked, her tone somewhat flustered, but predominantly calm. She had come to terms with what entering a lewd shard would mean, and being stripped naked was within her range of tolerance. Yesterday's … introduction … with Rosalie had probably set her expectations.

"You're the new member in the party, and I'm—" She paused. "Well, shards like to focus on me. So it put us together. I figured there were good odds. From my experience, it's actually less common for the whole party to stay together."

"I see." Astrid stepped out of her sarcophagus. "Weapons, inventories. Both gone."

"That's normal too. We'll get them back at the end."

She had been briefed on these possibilities, so she wasn't surprised. "I'll lead?"

"I'm in your care," Zoey agreed, amused at how eager Astrid was to begin the adventure, not even bringing up their nudity. Probably, she was looking to distract herself.

As Astrid led them out of the starting room, Zoey took note that the girl didn't just have amazing breasts; a lifetime of physical training had done wonders for her figure in all aspects. And no doubt a healthy dose of good genetics was helping too. She watched Astrid's ass as they walked forward, eyes lingering for longer than was appropriate considering how they were headed out into the dangerous unknown. She reluctantly tore her attention up and away, focusing instead on the hallway they were entering.

The hallway wasn't just a hallway. To their left was a tall, long cubby inset into the wall. Lines of light blue flame glowed along its top and bottom, illuminating a set of murals. Astrid peered around, checking for threats, before turning to frown at the images. Zoey joined her, tilting her head curiously.

Stretching down the hallway, there were a dozen or so of the images, each separated by patches of empty wall to delineate them.

The first was of five figures approaching a pyramid. Their stylized armor and weapons marked them as distinct roles: a robed caster with a staff, a warrior with a shield, an archer, a rogue, and a cleric in light armor. Clearly a party of wayfarers. The pyramid loomed in front of them; Zoey suspected it depicted the one they had found in the Fractures, the one holding the shard entrance, had it not been buried by sand.

The next image was of a sarcophagus, more ornate than the ones they had woken in. Its surface was etched with jagged, arcane symbols. Black flames rimmed by dark violet surrounded the box. The artistic rendition emanated a single clear concept: the sarcophagus held something dangerous inside. It was a warning. Though of what, she didn't know yet.

"It's telling us how the shard works, probably?" Zoey murmured as they idly walked sideways.

The third mural was of the adventuring party again. Something had gone wrong. The warrior with the shield faced off against her four allies, and her irises were glowing red. Her weapon was raised menacingly, about to cleave down. Her allies cowered.

"Possession?" Astrid asked. "Mind magic?" She didn't sound disturbed, but she did sound concerned—Zoey could imagine why. Possession introduced all sorts of tricky tactical considerations.

The fourth panel was, ah, the most interesting yet. The warrior had mounted one of her defeated allies and was riding him, eyes still glowing, her expression wild and excited. Those same dark flames from the sarcophagus gathered around the lewd imagery—and were flowing rightward, to the next mural where the flames surrounding the ornate sarcophagus had grown in intensity.

Zoey was formulating an idea of what was happening, and her theory solidified as they continued down.

The sixth and seventh murals were of the adventurers reaching some room, destroying a chalice-like artifact, and the cursed black-and-purple flames on the ornate sarcophagus receding. They had reduced the threat, somehow.

Finally, the murals split into two paths. The adventurers found the ornate sarcophagus in both of the variations, with the top path showing a sarcophagus surrounded by roaring black flames and the bottom showing a much smaller, muted fire effect. In the first path, the party of wayfarers was defeated handily, a cloth-wrapped mummy emerging from the sarcophagus and tearing through them. In the path with the black-and-purple flames that weren't burning so intensely, the party fought hard yet eked out a victory.

"I think I get the gist," Zoey said.

"You do?"

She walked to the first mural and pointed at it.

"Group of wayfarers enter a shard. That's us, in the example." She pointed to the next. "That's the boss. The black and purple flames are, I don't know, a representation of how strong it is. Let's call it Curse Level?" The first thing that had come to mind. "Members of the party can get possessed, somehow," she said, pointing to the third. "And they won't try to kill you, they'll just, ah."

She cleared her throat and waved at the image of the female warrior enthusiastically using her downed party member for her own enjoyment.

"And any time the possessed member 'wins' a fight, the Curse gets stronger. But there are also ways to decrease the Curse." In the murals, the party had destroyed some chalice. "Maybe there are items we have to go around and break before facing the boss. Anyway, depending on how strong the Curse is, we're either in for a guaranteed loss, or a typically hellish fight." Because even if they properly reduced the Curse Level, the fight wouldn't be easy. Not in a fifth-advancement shard. "At least, that's my running theory."

Astrid nodded along, not seeming surprised; Zoey suspected she'd made most of the same conclusions. "Agreed. Have heard of shards with similar designs." Keeping her head forward, she looked at Zoey out of the corners of her eyes. "But these … Possessed. Thoughts?"

"I've got no clue how it really works, of course," Zoey said. "But we should be ready for Maddy, Delta, or Rosalie being under the influence."

Morally speaking, she didn't have a problem with the shard's concept. By this point, they knew what they were in for when it came to shards, and being mentally influenced was something they'd discussed and come to terms with in advance.

Frankly, the idea of a sex-possessed Maddy, or anyone else, trying to pin her down was—well, not the worst thing in the world. It sounded fun. This shard would have been uncomfortable were they not all girlfriends, and had they not had prior discussions on the possibility of mental influence, but as things stood, Zoey honestly found herself excited.

"Rosalie," Astrid grunted.

Zoey's lips turned up, but then she picked up what Astrid meant, and they quickly quirked down.

"Let's hope it's not her," Zoey said, her stomach sinking.

Not because being pinned down and ridden by a sex-possessed, aggressive Rosalie wouldn't be enjoyable. She would love to be on the receiving end of that.

But because the d'Celestin heiress might solo their whole team and doom them in the process.

"Let's hope we can find everyone else, just in case," Zoey said. "We can win four-versus-one, surely." She meant that; Rosalie wasn't that far ahead of them in skill. Even two-on-one shouldn't be so terrible—though Rosalie had the best solo class among them and was an incredible duelist. She really might be able to pick them off one-by-one or in pairs, and raise the Curse to an unmanageable level.

"We should get a move on," Zoey finished. "No time to waste."

Astrid didn't disagree.