Archive-name: JourEntr/j320-123.txt
Archive-author: Elf Matheiu Sternberg
Archive-title: Oenone

 
Journal Entry 123 / 0320

     The date was Nenime' 11, and that meant I had a promise to keep.
Not the kind of promise I'd begrudge, but certainly a responsibility I
didn't particularly enjoy having just because I don't like
responsibility.

     But I awoke early and checked the weather to make sure that at
least the morning promised to be warm and sunny, which it thankfully
would.  I smiled and, trying desperately not to awaken P'nyssa, stuffed
the gear I'd want for the day into a waterproof bag.  I made my way to
the roof and leapt down the controlled-G slide to the lagoon sands, then
out to the beach.  Off shore about half-a-kilometer away was the
Succubus, my sailboat.  I looked through the glasses at her to make sure
that there wasn't anything visibly wrong with her from here, threw the
bag around my shoulders and dove into the calm ocean.  The swim was
hardly difficult; the bag was mostly buoyant and I'm in reasonably good
shape.  I reached her and swam between the center and starboard hulls to
the back where the ladder was dropped.  As I swam I checked for
barnacles and rot (Okay, they're technically not barnacles, since all
Pendorian life is diverged from Terran development in the Pleistocene
era; they still smell bad and screw up the dynamics of boat hulls), and
there didn't seem to be much of either.  I clambered up the ladder and
onto the rear deck, hauling the bag up after I had decent footing.

     The Succubus seemed to be in working order, and the water and food
stocks were still more than sufficient for the short outing I was about
to take her on.  I unwrapped the protective canvas from the sail and
checked the lines.  That's when I realized I had forgotten... Oh, hell,
I thought.  I ran forward and pulled up the forward storage compartment.
Damn!  I had forgotten to bring the new jib in, all I had were these two
jibs from previous vessels, one of which was too damned large for this
boat, and the other was far far too small.  I swore again.  The last
time I'd tried to use these things the weather had been so accursed as
to make my life hell; take one up, change, change, change.  I shrugged
and decided to live with the smaller one.  So I wouldn't move nearly as
fast as I had hoped to.  Until I got that Kilm jib in place I was out of
luck.

     I hauled up on the main sail, put the keel in place and lowered the
rudder.  Without the jib I slowly maneuvered her to spinward and to
port, trying to avoid the larger reefs surrounding Monastery Isle.

     After putting to open sea, I hauled out my maps and the inertial
compass (what do expect on a ringworld?  A sextant?  Like Hell!) and
plotted a course for Shipping SDisk S111.  There was naught to do but
wait.  I tested the wind, decided on the larger jib, and was mildly
pleased to note that it seemed to be sufficient for the job.  I ate nuts
and fruit and drank lots of water and sat under the rudderwell's canopy.

     Handling a ten-meter trimaran is a breeze, so long as that's all
you've got for wind.  Blessedly, there wasn't any weather pattern
threatening either here or at my destination that would make my life
difficult, and well before dark I arrived at my destination, as far as I
could tell.  I set the rudder to full tilt, latched it down and dropped
sails.  I waited.

     And waited.  Night came.  Shipping SDisks are cranky things, and I
could wait here for a while, or I could drift out of range.  They can
also be subtle.  If it weren't for the fact that the lights changed and
the horizon suddenly went down instead of up, I may not have noticed the
change at all.

     But it is hard to miss the horizon, and the stars, and the lack of
neighboring daylight regions blazing away in the million-of-klick
distance.  When I finally looked up and saw these things, I jumped to my
feet, determined my position (Shipping SDisk P009) and set sail.  On
Pandora, directions are more familiar; I was headed about forty degrees
off magnetic north.  After a few hours of gauging my headspeed and
distance from the SDisk, I spotted my target, a small clump of island
off in the dark distance, with a single lantern indicating my eventual
landing spot.

     I dropped anchor and slowly went about closing up the Succubus.
This simple daytrip had been short and pleasant, and she had safely
brought me to this different shore, and she would bear me home again, if
I cared for her.  I remembered a phrase I had heard a long time ago- "In
Space, like the Sea, your second mistake is the one that kills you."

     I once again stripped down to my shorts and packed my clothes into
the bag;  I wandered over her deck one last time to make sure everything
was perfect, then jumped over the side.

     The moment I hit the warm ocean water I knew something was up;
there was a definite tug on the bag, and as I clung to it the tug got
stronger, so I gave it up; it vanished into the waves.  I began to swim
towards shore and the waves bore me swiftly.  When I clambered out of
the simple surf onto the shore I was not surprised to find my yellow bag
waiting for me.  I retrieved it and walked up to the lantern I'd spotted
earlier.  There was a little yellow note attached to the tree underneath
with a thumbtack.  It read in Centaur, her language of choice, "Ken, if
you find this note I'm still out getting dinner.  Make yourself at home.
You know the way.  O."

     I smiled, and made my way along the path towards the rather
impressive marble structure that was my hostess' home.  I found the
doors unlocked and the lanterns lit.  The foyer was large and despite
the heat it seemed cold, mostly because of the exposed white marble.
The inner rooms were better prepared, with tapestries of classic (and
not so classic) scenes from her past.  I lay down on a cushioned bench
and waited, helping myself to some of the wine in the meantime.

     She wasn't long in arriving.  She walked in from the back, dressed
in a flowing purple toga and having perfectly arranged little flowers in
her almost floor-length flowing blonde hair.  She smiled when she saw
me, walked a little bit quicker and settled onto the couch, leaning into
me and kissing me, just like she had last time.  "You came," she said.

     "Would I miss this?" I asked.  "Once in a blue moon you invite me
in to dinner, and I'm going to bow out?"

     "You have," she said accusatorily.

     "Only when it was something you knew I couldn't avoid, Oenone.  And
if I let half the people in my life take up two days out of the year
every year I'd never have time for the other half."

     She smiled.

     "You know," I said, "You could be more sociable."

     "No."  Her face darkened.

     "Why not?  What are you afraid of?  Look, I know what happened..."

     "You do not know what happened!  You do not know what he said, or
how he left, or how long I sat waiting for him to return while he was
off protecting his goddamned city all because of that bitch!"  She
seized my wine goblet and threw it across the room.

     "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

     "How could I forget?  For you, Ken, and for everyone, that's myth,
it's unimportant, it happened six thousand years ago!  For me, I was
there, it was only a few hundred years, and I was dying when you came
for me, and do you know how surprising that is?  Do you?  How many
people are there who can time travel, Ken?"

     "Enough," I said.  Too many, I thought.

     "Then why, out of all of them, did you come and save me?  I'm a one
liner in an obscure poem!"

     "I felt saddened for you.  That's no way to treat a goddess."

     "Nymph, Ken.  The correct word is nymph."

     "I'll agree to that.  Can't toast to it, though, you threw my glass
away."

     "You've been hitting the wine a little early."

     "Guilty, as charged," I said.  She turned to the winestain she'd
made on far wall and with a simple wiping gesture made it go away.  Then
two more glasses came dancing out of the kitchen of their own volition,
filled with wine that just would not spill.  I could do that, too, with
AI, biocybe, and gravitics; the fact that Oenone did it with something
far older and more profound than science still made my mouth dry.

     I cured the dryness by sipping wine.  "Do we eat, or do I simply
ravish you here?" I asked.

     "Men," she said.  "Thinking either with their stomachs or their
phalluses."

     "Or both."

     "Or both," she agreed.  "But you're right.  I did have dinner
prepared."  She rose and walked back into the kitchen, emerging a few
minutes later with cold stone crabs and shrimp and a soup that was
simply the finest meal I'd had in some time.

     It took time to crack shells and dig out the meats, so I asked her
"Be calm, sweetheart, and just tell me why you don't come out that
often."

     She sighed and said "Because I can't.  Because I can't trust people
like I need to to go out.  I can't... I can't forget."

     "You trust me," I said.

     "But you're different.  You're like me.  Call it science instead of
magic, but you're as much a godling as I am, Shardik.  Together we built
the Great Hall, you and me and Rhys and Raine and Timor.  You I can
understand, and like I said, I trust you because you care enough.  The
proof is in the day, but that kind of proof isn't as forthcoming from
others."

     "But with the SDisk network and the science of the day you need
never be alone."

     "I don't want to be hurt."

     "Being hurt is part of being human."

     "I am not human!" she said in a shout that shook the walls and
darkened the lanterns; a shout that threatened to storm the island and
wreck the Succubus.  Just as quickly the storm passed.

     "No, you're right.  Nor is the majority of Pendor.  By population
alone the felines take that.  But, you are alive."

     "Yes, I am alive.  In fact, I was the first living thing to walk on
the surface of Pendor without benefit of life support, before you had
put the water in, even.  That was not easy, you know."

     "I can imagine.  Look, Oenone, you choose not to... fade... the way
you were about to.  You chose to go into stasis until year one, to begin
living your life again when life again walked the lands and people
painted song and wrote pretty pictures.  Do you know that there are
people out there who've named their children after you?"

     "There are?"  She seemed honestly impressed.

     "Yep.  In fact, I'm willing to bet some of them are even human.
You could walk around and nobody would know who you were.  You just need
never claim to be 'the Oenone.'  Besides, there are quite a number of
'Kens' and 'Pauls' and 'Carrolls' on Pendor, too, and nobody asks if
they're really the Shardiks."  It was happening again.  I could feel the
simple pull towards her, the desire to bed this woman, this goddess in
the ancient sense that Terrans could feel in their bones as she walked
by.  I knew exactly who the two people she like to collectively refer to
as "That Bitch and Her Bastard" were, and personally, they got the short
end of the stick.

     "Oenone?" I said, quietly.

     "Hmm?" she said, looking up brightly.

     "I love you."

     "I know, and you can't help it, either."  She giggled.  "But I'm
glad it's you, Ken."

     "Me too," I said, leaning over to kiss her.  She leaned over the
table and kissed me back, her lips soft and warm on mine and then she
opened her mouth and her tongue flowed into mine, hot and wonderful.

     We rose from the table and she escorted me back to the stairs which
led down to her bedroom.  The ocean lapped at the third step from the
top, but I had long ago gotten used to her bedroom being completely
underwater.  She led me down, and as I went under I expelled all the air
in my lungs and inhaled deeply;  what met my lungs wasn't water, but it
wasn't quite air, either.  She smiled as she always did at my expression

     I looked around, noting that the water felt warm and comfortable; I
wouldn't get cold in this.  There were no Drexlells keeping me alive;
this was magick, pure and simple, and it was something I barely
understood, but it was entirely hers to play with, even if Neptune
himself was an ancient memory long forgotten and gone away.  I felt
slightly heavy, and settled to the floor of her bedroom.  Her incredible
hair floated free in the seawater, as did mine.  I kept brushing it
back.  She laughed.

     "Well," I said defensively, "I haven't got anything to keep it
under control with."

     "Try this," she said, and with a small gesture it fell back into
place about my shoulders.  "Better?"

     "Much."  I kicked towards her and coasted until we met.  I wrapped
my arms around her and felt her body heat flow meet mine.  We kissed
again, and as we did her hands undid what minimal clothing I was wearing

     As they strayed over my groin, her fingers brushed against my cock,
and she ran her sharp fingernails up along the length of it; that sent
sharp shocks through my spine, and I closed my eyes in pleasure.  I
heard her giggle again.

     I found the knot in her toga and undid it.  I parted from her and
floated free, trying to unwrap her from it; she laughed that
oh-so-feminine laugh and helped me.  I was still slightly tipsy.
Underneath it she was magnificent;  to most people, she was a touch
overweight, a touch too soft in the middle, but my personal preferences
run that way, toward the more 'classical' woman.  I reached down and ran
my hand over the soft skin of her belly, floating back towards her and
pulling her towards me.  We settled back down onto the bed.  I thought
that it was a lot like making love in zero-g, the air was just a little
thicker, a little more viscous.

     Her hands wrapped around me as mine did her, straying down towards
her ass and stroking the soft skin there.  She giggled as my fingers
sought between her cheeks.  She pushed away and floated down towards my
cock, taking it into her mouth and closing down on it in one gulp.  In
the buoyant water I maneuvered around and tried to reach her pussy, but
she wouldn't let me.  Instead, she held me in place and sucked
rapturously on my cock, her head bobbing up and down, her hair following
free in the sea.  I smiled as her insistent sucking brought me closer
and closer to orgasm.  I reached down; I wanted to do something, but her
hands brushed mine away.  I lay there passively as she sucked my cock
for all it worth, and when I came I screamed out her name in ecstasy.

     She looked up at me, smiling, a small droplet of my come at the
corner of her mouth breaking free and floating up towards the surface.
That made me laugh.  "Still good?" she asked.

     "Still the best.  Come here."

     "No," she said.  "Lie there, and I'll be right back."  She rose
from the bed and floated up towards the dry dining room we'd been in
earlier, returning after a few minutes with refilled wine glasses.
"Drink this," she said.

     "What is it?  A love potion?"

     "Something stronger."

     I looked at her with this dubious half-smile, than downed the wine.
She did the same.  As I did, I felt revitalized, strengthened.  "What
was that?"

     "Well, there was some magic in it, just a little.  However, the
main ingredient is phenylethylamine."

     "Wow.  Quite a kick to it.  I feel much better now."

     "Good.  I was hoping you would."

     "Any reason you need me at full capacity, O?" I asked.

     "You'll see."  She slid towards me on the bed and kissed me deeply,
our tongues meeting again.  I noticed that I couldn't smell anything,
but that was okay; the fullness of Oenone filled my senses.  I let my
hands stray between her thighs and stroked the thick patch of pubic hair
she had, my fingers stroking between her public lips.  A small moan
escaped her through our kissing, and I smiled through as well.  She
backed off a little and I looked into her demigod eyes.  "Fuck me," she
said.

     "How do you want it?"  Whatever she had given me was not just some
amphetamine.  But it did have that arrogance that goes with it.  I felt
empowered.

     "From the rear, Ken.  Like this."  She knelt on the bed and leaned
over full, her head lying on the pillow.  She grabbed handfuls of the
bedsheets to keep from moving in the increased buoyancy.  I came up
behind her, between her parted legs, my erection in hand.  I paused for
a moment to run my hands on her ample, beautifully smooth ass, and then
I positioned my cock at the entrance to her cunny.  With one hand on my
cock and one on the small of her back, I slid into her.  Her tight cunt
wrapped around my cock and I could feel, really feel, her outer lips
tightening further around the base of my cock.

     I grabbed her hips and began to stroke her cunt, slowly.  As I did,
I heard her muttering something in another language, one I didn't know;
it wasn't Centaur or Quen, and as she did this other, equally empowering
feeling settled over me.  I was fucking her like a piston, feeling her
tight cunt surround me, hold me.  The water surrounding us began to
flow, at first slow and smooth, like a gentle underwater stream, then
with more force, and as it did it felt like it was streaming under my
ass and between my legs.  I smiled as I realized that Oenone had
summoned a stream of water to play over her clit as I fucked her.

     "Harder," she whispered.  I glady obeyed, holding her hips a little
tighter and stroking in and out, in and out, pummeling her and watching
her buttocks ripple in slow motion with each impact.  It was one of the
most beautiful things I'd ever seen.  I could see my cock passing
between her lips, the small blonds wisps of hair floating free and
wrapping around my dick as it retreated from her.

     The water and my cock were doing their work and she came, groaning
lightly into the cloth of her bed.  "Don't stop," she ordered, and the
order came down like a geas, and I redoubled my efforts, fucking her all
the more.  The flow of water around us was becoming a torrent, like the
Divergent Stream from the Tsern Bands that sometimes warms the Castle.
She came again, and twice more, and still my orgasm seemed to come only
a little closer, cresting and falling, pleasant and frustrating.

     "Stop," she said.

     "What?" I asked.  I did not want to stop.

     "You've worn me out, worn my cunt out."  She turned her head a
little further but did not rise from her position.  She smiled a leering
smile and said "Take me... take me 'greek.'"

     I returned the smile, then slid out of her pussy and repositioned
my cock at her anus.  I pushed against the resistant ring and it gave
way, letting me in easily.  I wondered if that was natural, or was she
no stranger to anal sex?  It didn't matter to me one bit as I plunged
deep into the heated depths of her butt, feeling the smoother
passageways of her rectum seize me tight as I stroked and fucked her.

     It went on forever, and her orgasms came and as they came they grew
in magnitude.  Each one was a victory for me, and I could feel, finally,
in the very base of my penis, that intense, almost painful coil of power
that was my orgasm.  But it didn't reach out like it normally does.  As
I looked down and saw my cock sawing in and out of her puckered asshole
incessantly, that coil grew, tightening as it found it's way up into my
chest.  It grew as I came closer and closer to the point of no return,
and when I came, the whole liquid world exploded in a white, blinding,
majestic light.  It was incredible, and I swore, as I felt, vaguely in
the background, my cock shooting into her deep and wonderful ass, that I
would ne'er forget this night...

 
 
     Dawn.  "Morning, sleepyhead," I heard Oenone's sweet voice above
me, and I awoke with a start.

     "Did I?"

     "Pass out and sleep through the night?  Yes."  She smiled.

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

     "I know, I know.  It's okay," she said, trying to be soothing.

     "But that's so rude!" I protested.  "I mean..."

     "Ken," she interrupted.  "It's okay.  I felt it, too.  I'm just
more used to it," she said, looking wistful.  "Not, mind you, that that
makes it any less powerful."

     "Well, I'm glad for that.  It was intense.  That light..."

     "Beautiful, yes?"

     "Yes."  I leaned forward and kissed her.  She replied back with a
soft and friendly passion.  "Thank you."

     "Thank you," she said.  "It's very rare I find someone I'll let do
that to me."

     "Which part?"

     "The magic.  Oh, the stamina potion and the water flow and the anal
sex, those are all things I'm very familiar with.  It's the final spell,
that one connective moment, that's so rare."

     "What was it?"

     She smiled.  "Maybe someday I'll tell you."  She stood up.  "Look,
we need to get you breakfast.  You said you had to be home by tomorrow's
dawn, and the SDisks are unreliable, so we should get started."

 
 
     "Come and visit?" I asked as we stood at the shoreline.

     She looked out over the ocean for a moment and finally said "I
will."

     "No promises?" I said.

     She laughed.  "No promises.  But I will.  Are there more children
than last time?"

     "Maybe not more, but different children, different parents.  I
guess you notice it less than we do.  We're immortal, but we're not used
to it yet; you've been doing it for a lot longer."

     She nodded.  "I detest long goodbyes."

     "I do too.  So long, sweetheart."

     "Goodbye, Ken.  I'll direct the streams to take you to the SDisk."

     "I can find it, O.  Thanks again.  I love you."

     "I love you too."

     "Goodbye."  I dove into the water.  She helped me to the boat, but
from there on she let me navigate on my own, for which I was grateful.

     Normally, when I sail alone, I talk to myself to keep myself
company.  Not this time.  This time I was very quiet.  This time was
very different.

--
"Oenone"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., And Related Tales
are (c) 1989, 1992 Elf Matheiu Sternberg.  May be freely distributed by
cybernetic media; hardcopies are limited to single printings for
personal use.