#polyvessels

Part One: Like Caramel

Chapter 1: You were trying your best

Chapter 2: Godspeed to my enemies

Chapter 3: Sanctified by what's below

Chapter 4: Bursting colours

Chapter 5: Dangerous to me

Chapter 6: Something you say or something you do

Chapter 7: Take what you want

Part Two: Like The Rain

Chapter 8: More than just somebody I was destined to meet

OChapter 9: Frothing at the maw

Chapter 10: Something beneath

Chapter 11: Metaphors fall short

Chapter 12: Keep me sharp

Chapter 13: Oceans recede

Chapter 14: Pull at the chains

Chapter 15: You will disappear

Part Three: Like Heaven

Chapter 16: Dripping from the open mouth

Chapter 17: The love you want

Chapter 18: Swallow my desire and choke on it

Chapter 19: Take everything

Chapter 20: Eyes of a predator (soon)

You walked into the temple, sunlight filtered into the room through the stained glass windows. The sight was breathtaking, colors and lights dancing on the floor. For a brief moment you forgot about the burden you carried. You were summoned by the vessel's of the god of dreams to appear before them. You stood before the altar, a bed of granite in the front of the worship room. You weren't left waiting long, a familiar masked figure entered from behind a curtain, the golden skull mask hid his face but you would recognize IV anywhere. He stood before you, broad shoulders covered in green and gold robes.

"Welcome, you arrived swiftly, the others aren't quite ready yet." IV explained, his tone a mix of mystery and professionalism. You had known IV since you were both kids, you knew him before he was chosen by Sleep. His presence brought you comfort. You attempted to smile at him, trying to calm your nerves.

"I…I'm honored." You muttered, you started to fidget with the hem of your tunic. You knew your whole world was about to change, but how was the question. IV walked around to your side of the altar and pulled you into an embrace. His blue heavy lidded eyes gazed into yours.

"It's alright, We won't let anything bad happen to you Love. I promise." he muttered softly.

"IV, You shouldn't make promises you don't know if you can keep." Another voice joined the conversation. You looked up to see that the other three vessels had entered the room. You didn't know them as well as you knew IV. You had spent time with them in the temple during times of worship or when giving offerings to Sleep. Having worshiped the god your whole life this was something you had done many times. Vessel was the one who spoke, the mouth piece of Sleep, his first. By his side was II, a shorter man but no less impressive. III stood slightly towards the back, leaning on a pillar, watching you closely. They all wore the same green and gold robes. II and III wore the same mask as IV, however Vessel wore a more intricate mask: the sigil of Sleep above a golden maw, like he had torn at the flesh of gods, with only his teeth.

"I plan on keeping this promise, fates be dammed." IV huffed as he pulled you closer, holding you against his chest. You felt your heart flutter. You weren't even sure why you had been summoned yet. Whatever the reason was, it must have been dangerous for IV to have reacted this way.

"Told ya he's attached to her." III chuckled, he stood up and made his way over to you, taking your chin in his hand and examining you closely. His light blue eyes scanned your face as he pressed his thumb against your bottom lip. Your heart raced in your chest, you locked eyes with him and you felt like you couldn't breathe. You could see the smile in his eyes as he spoke "I can see why, she's quite a pretty ting."

"Oi, knock it off III." II huffed, pulling the taller man out of the way so he could stand beside you. "Don't pay him any mind, he just doesn't think with the head on his shoulders most of the time." II placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed gently. III made a sound of protest at II's remark but didn't defend himself at all. Before you could reply or ask why you were here in the first place Vessel cleared his throat and suddenly everyone's attention was on him. He crossed the room and stood in front of you, the others backed away slightly.

"Thank you for coming. I'm sure you have questions. I hope I can answer them." Vessel spoke softly. He took your hand in his and guided you to the altar. "We asked you here help us preform a ritual. I'm sure you have heard of the disease that has taken many lives across our lands?"

"Yes, the plague has taken many lives, and caused much strife." You replied with a nod. Vessel's lips twitched up slightly, like he was fighting back a smile.

"I have asked Sleep for guidance on how to end this before the damage is unrepairable. He has graciously given us an answer. A means to an end." Vessel paused, and tilted his head slightly. You were surprised to feel familiar hands on your waist, and were even more so when IV lifted you to sit on the slab of granite. IV moved to stand behind you as Vessel caged you in, arms on either side of your body as he leaned over you. "You are the answer. You were brought here to rid us of this foul disease."

"Me? but how? I am no one of importance. I do not have the power to change th-" You were interrupted by Vessel's long finger pressed against your lips shushing you. His lips were pressed in to a thin line, what little of his face you could see seemed to be twisted in disapproval. He moved to grab your chin, his thumb pressed against it, gently tilting your face up.

"If you were no one of importance Sleep would not have chosen you. I will not hear you speak of yourself that way again. Understood?" His voice was soft but stern. You nodded, your eyes drawn to the slits in his mask where his eyes lay. You had never seen behind his mask. You assumed you never would. This was all part of the devotion to Sleep, who you used to be matters little once you don the mask. Vessels expression relaxed and he spoke again, his voice greatly comforting to you. "Good. As for your question of how, you will see in good time. For now, IV will escort you to your chambers. If you need anything please do not hesitate to call upon any of us."

~

You sat on the end of the bed in the room you had been staying in for a few days. You hadn't been told exactly what you were there for, and of course any question you asked was answered with cryptic sayings and promises for eventual answers. This should have been incredibly frustrating but for some reason you couldn't bring yourself to feel any ill will to the men who kept you locked away.

You looked around the room for what felt like the thousandth time. It was well decorated. A large bed with the softest sheet you had ever slept in, a bow window that looked over the temple gardens, a wardrobe filled with more clothes then you could ever need. In addition some of your personal things from home had shown up in the room over the days you had been there. It seemed you were there to stay.

"Settling in alright?" IV's voice brought you out of your thoughts. You looked up to see your friend, dressed more casually than before, a black long sleeved shirt and loose pants. He still wore a mask, black fabric with the sigil of Sleep painted in white.

"As much as I can be given the situation." You smiled at him, patting the bed beside you to offer him a seat. He obliged, sitting down next to you so that your thighs touched.

"That's fair, it took me a while to find my place here at first too." IV said sympathetically, his hand coming to rest on your leg, his thumb tracing circles on into your thigh. "I…I missed you. There wasn't a day I didn't think of you. When Vessel said you were the one that Sleep had chosen for…" His voice trails off, the reason you're here still a forbidden topic it seemed.

"I missed you too Ivy. The last couple years have just been…Nothing was the same without you," you rested your shoulder against his, laying your head there as you whispered your confession. IV hummed, wrapping an arm around you, pulling you closer. You sat like that for a moment, you almost felt like no time had passed, you were back home in his arms.

Maybe that's why it was so easy to lay back in the bed as he caressed your body. You never felt safer than you did with his mask pulled up to his nose, exposing his mouth and throat to you. You noticed the yellowing bruises on along the column of his throat, more evidence of the relationship that you had witnessed between the vessels. However right then his mouth was busy sucking marks of his own on your collarbone as he unbuttoned you blouse, eager to feel your skin against his. Your hands clutched the sheets, a whine escaped your lips as his teeth grazed your pulse point.

"You're so perfect for me, Love. For the others too." He mumbled against your skin as his hands caressed your sides, sliding upward to hold your breasts in his hands. Once his hands slid under your bra he let out a moan. "And these tits? Fucking amazing."

"Ivy…" You whimpered as you felt heat in you cheeks at his praise. His hands moved to take off your bra, pushing the blouse off your shoulders at the same time. When he saw your naked torso beneath him he growled.

"Fuck, Darling. Nearly forgot how pretty you are beneath me, can't believe I went this long without you." His voice was rough with desire, his hands continued to caress your chest, running his thumbs over your hardened nipples. You looked up at him, his ocean eyes dark with a storm of lust and need. He leaned in, taking one of your tits in his hand before placing his lips over your nipple, swirling his tongue around the hardened bud. You gasped at the contact, you hadn't laid with anyone but him, and it had been so long. Maybe you had also forgotten what it was like to be worshiped by his hands.

With a soft pop he removed his mouth from your nipple, moving to kiss the flesh of your breast, leaving a trail of soft kisses before he bit down. Hard. You yelped, unprepared for the feeling of his teeth digging into the swell of your chest. He had marked his territory. Your hands moved from the sheets to grab at his shirt. You wanted to see more of him. He noticed you pulling at the fabric fruitlessly and he chuckled, sitting up slightly, pulling you up with him.

"No, no, my Darling. You can't have me like that yet. Not yet." He whispered. You could hear the disappointment in his voice. He wanted this as badly as you did and yet he was unable to. You huffed, releasing your grasp on him and falling back on the bed. IV looked at you with an affectionate smile, the mask still pulled up around his nose. "Hush now, all in good time. For now…" he canted his hips forward and you could feel the rock hard bulge in his trousers against your stomach.

"Please…Ivy…need you, need you… somehow, please." You pleaded. IV groaned softly, grinding his hips against you again as he pondered what he wanted to do you. You saw the look of realization cross his face, his hands drifted back up to your breasts, grinning devilishly.

"Well…I think I know just the thing." He chuckled, pulling down his bottoms to reveal his hardened cock. He licked his hand before wrapping his fingers around it, stroking it a couple times as he gazed down at you. He moved forward slightly to straddle your chest. You watched in awe as he leans over you, putting his hand in front of your mouth. You knew what he wanted. You gathered spit in your mouth, letting it pool in his palm. He took the same hand, tilting it over your breasts, drizzling the space between your tits with saliva.

"Press your tits together. Love, that's it. Good girl. Lemme fuck those perfect breasts of yours." He muttered breathlessly as you did as you were told. He lined the head of his cock with the valley of your breasts, pausing for a moment before he thrusted his hips forward, his cock sliding against your skin. You pushed on your tits, watching the head of his cock peak out the other side. He grunted, falling forward to place his hands above your head for better leverage, his hips moved faster, the sound of the bed creaking filled the air. You enjoyed the sight of his torso above you, watching through the tight shirt as his muscles contracted with each movement. You lifted your head slightly, extending your tongue to leave little kitten licks on the tip of his dick every time. You tasted the sweetness of his pre-cum leaking from him and onto your chest.

"Fuck, Love, keep doing that, feels so…mgh." IV moaned at the sensation, the pattern of his thrusts becoming more erratic. He was getting close. You followed his direction, circling the head of his cock with your tongue, drawing all sorts of beautiful sounds from his mouth as he gets closer and closer until he sat up, a dark gleam in his eyes.

"Keep it open, be a good little slut for me now." He growled as he pulled his dick away from your tits and began to stroke it purposefully over your face. You obeyed, mouth open tongue out, eagerly waiting for his climax. You didn't have to wait long, ropes of white spend landing on your face and in your mouth: A hot and sticky mess all over your face and tits. His eyes locked with yours and he let out a low moan. "Gods above, you're too good. So perfect."

He leaned over and captured you lips with his, pouring every bit of affection he held for you into the kiss. The taste of him was still there as he licked into your mouth. He held your face, not caring if he made more of a mess than you already were. You held onto him, kissing him back, all the while you could swear someone was watching you.

~

Over time you got more and more used to your new home. The temple was rather large, with more rooms than you could count. You also got to know the other inhabitants of the temple better. It didn't take long to figure out the four of them were romantically and physically involved. You had walked in on some combination of them in compromising positions several times. Every time they seemed to enjoy the fact that you were watching them, and sometimes you would even get involved.

One day you had walked into the kitchen intending to make yourself something to eat. However as you turned the corner you were met with Vessel bent over the kitchen table. II stood behind him, thrusting into him, muttering sweet praises as he held Vessel's hips tightly. You stood frozen as you watched in fascination. You couldn't help it, the two of them together was one of the most beautiful sights you'd ever seen.

"They sure are somethin' eh?" III's voice startled you out of your trance. You felt your mouth go dry as you nodded. III chuckled and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you against him. His hand traveled down your lower abdomen to rest over your center. He pressed through your clothes to feel your heat. "Yer already so worked up? That's so cute. Yer such a good little slut. Can't wait till we can fill yer womb up for the Ritual."

"Wh-what?" You whispered. Everything came to a stop. Distantly you heard II groan as he spilled his seed into Vessel, who in turn cried out in pleasure. You felt like the world had stopped turning. Time slowed down as III's hot breath fanned over your neck, his strong arms lifting you up and carrying you to the kitchen. He placed you down on the counter his eyes gazing at you through the mask made of gold and black.

"That's righ', Dove. Yer gonna carry our child. Don't tell the others, but I really hope its mine." III muttered before pulling off his shirt. He gazed at you like a predator does his prey, his eyes dark and full of desire. He slid his hands up your thighs stopping at the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head with ease. He hummed at the sight of your shirtless torso. He leaned in closer, trapping you there between his arms. You still felt like you weren't in your body, you weren't really there. A child? That's what you had been brought to do? The ritual you were meant to preform to bring the end of the ravaging plague that had cursed your home, was to conceive a child.

"III…When were you going to tell me?" You asked. Even your own voice echoes in the distance, you hardly notice that he'd stripped your pants off, you had only just noticed the feeling of his fingers pressed against your underwear. A soft moan pulled from your lips as he begins to stroke the folds of your cunt through the fabric.

"Well, I don't think I was supposed to tell ya at all, but its a bit late for that now eh? Why do you think Vessel banned us from cummin' in yer cunt? Can't have you gettin' knocked up before the night of the Ritual." III said in his typical tone of nonchalance. He looked down at his hand as he curled his fingers up into your clothed pussy. You were trying to wrap your head around the information you just received, but you couldn't focus with the way he was touching you. You started to melt against his touch leaning back, you hands behind you. Your back arched up, goosebumps cover your exposed skin.

"III…please…" You weren't even really sure what you were pleading for really, you were torn between seeking answers and losing yourself in the pleasure he offered. III made up your mind for you quite easily. He pulled your panties to the side and slid two of his long fingers into your weeping hole, stroking your inner walls as his thumb pressed up onto you clit. His gaze flickered between his work and your face, seeming to enjoy watching how you react to his movements.

"Mhm…There's a good girl, you don't need to think about anythin' cept cummin' on my fingers a'right?" He crooned darkly as he moved his face closer to yours. He was nearly panting behind the mask, his fingers started to pump in and out of you with practiced ease, this thumb still gently rubbing your clit. You let out a soft whine. You wanted to listen to everything he suggested, you didn't want to think anymore. You just wanted to turn off your thoughts and just…

"Fuck…III! I wanna cum, please please please I just wanna cum." You cried out, your hips buck up off the counter against his hand in desperation.

"Oh do ya now?" III chuckled. He curled his finger up into just the right spot, causing you to inhale sharply. His forehead was presses against yours as he continues his ministrations, his hips pressed against the edge of the counter. "You wanna cum? Yer such a good little slut. I can see why our IV couldn't get over you now. He was so excited when Vessel told us it'd be you. He just couldn't get over this sweet sweet cunt of yers, no matter how good any of us fucked him. And now I know why."

"Wh-fuck, Holy shit…Gods above I- Oh Fuck Fuck Fuck!" You let out a string of babbled curses as you clenched your walls around his digits, your climax hitting you hard. Your vision went fuzzy and you felt the pinprick of tears in your eyes. III's fingers moved slowly, guiding you through the aftershocks of your orgasm, all while muttering soft praises. Once you were mostly limp under his touch he pulled his fingers from you, standing up as he turned his face from you slightly. He lifted his mask from his face partially, just enough to slide his fingers into his mouth to clean your slick from his skin. An ungodly moan left his throat as he did so.

"Fuck, Darlin'. Taste like you came from the Garden of Eden. Nothin' quite like you." He groaned pulling his mask back down before he turned to look at you. You could almost picture the smirk on his face as he handed you your clothes before he walked off, disappearing as easily as he had appeared before. You pulled yourself together, trying to process what III had told you and remember why you came to the kitchen in the first place. You were so distracted you hardly noticed the feeling of eyes on you.

~

"III is an idiot, but he is not wrong." IV tried to comfort you. You had gone looking for him in the aftermath of your interaction with III the day before. You were wondering if he had been telling the truth about your duties to carry a child in order to stop the disease. IV was unable to lie to you any longer. He told you everything, even though he knew he would face the consequences for it.

This is how you found out what the Ritual entailed. On the night of the new moon, you would be brought to the worship room. You would be tied down to the granite altar and they would each take a turn breeding you in the name of Sleep. Once it was confirmed that you had conceived you would go though the Joining Ritual, making you one of them. You would stay with them for the rest of eternity.

You had never desired immortality. You hadn't ever thought about having a normal family much less giving birth to cleanse the land of a curse. It was all very overwhelming. IV had tried his best to explain it all delicately and with promises that you would be treated kindly, that the Joining wasn't as bad as the old wives tales had forewarned. You wanted to believe him, you really did. But it was all just too much.

So you hid away in your room for a while, sat in your bed with your legs drawn up to your chest as you stared at the wall. You just needed sometime to wrap your head around the task ahead, at least you thought that's all you needed. You would stay there for a day and a half. You didn't even realize that it had been that long until II and IV came that afternoon.

"Okay. I'm sick of IV moping around and you hiding away. We're gonna fix this." II announced as he barged into your bedroom without knocking. You looked up to see II in his casual clothes, loose black pants and a hooded shirt with the soft black fabric mask. You couldn't hide the confusion on your face as you looked over at IV. He was wearing a mask made of gold and black, almost identical to the one she had seen III in the other day. It seemed to you they had several masks each, but they each had preferences. However you didn't have much time to analyze what that could mean as II pushed the chair in the corner of the room behind IV. He moved back around and glared at IV. "Sit."

IV obeyed without question and sat on the chair positioned at the end of the bed. II nodded, putting his hands on his hips and turned back towards you.

"You. You've been in here for a day and a half. Now I understand this is a lot to take in. I understand this is not the way you envisioned your life, maybe this isn't even what you want. However you have to understand this is what we must do. If we want to help rid our home of this cursed plague, you must make a sacrifice. We have all had to make sacrifices over the centuries to keep disaster at bay." II's voice was stern, but it still had a gentle quality about it. He approached the bed, grabbing you by the ankles and pulled you to the end of the bed, your chest against his, your eyes gazing into his ice blue ones. You felt your breath hitch in your chest, your hands reaching up instinctively trying to stop yourself, only to land squarely in the middle of II's chest.

"Easy there, Sweetheart. You've got me, no need to get grabby." II muttered with a smile, he reached for you, holding the back of your head. His other hand came up to cup your face. Tilting your head back as he held your gaze, his eyes filled with untold affection. "Y'know when Vessel first told me I reacted a lot like you did. Hid away in my room, I didn't want to talk to anyone. Didn't want to accept that we would have to get used to another person around the temple, much less a child. But then I got to know you a little…" He pressed his lips against your forehead. "Got to taste you…," he muttered against your skin. Then he moved his hands down to your waist and pulled your hips flush with his. "I got to feel you and I knew that this is a blessing. Thank Sleep it was you who were chosen, because you are divine."

His words were both reassuring and arousing. The way he touched you with a sense of reverence, like you were his treasure. You leaned in closer to him, your hands moved from his chest to his waist, you wanted to pull him even closer. A whine left your lips, your fingers tightening their grip on his sides. II smiled softly, looking over his shoulder to see IV sitting up straight with his hands folded in his lap.

"Good boy, you wanna watch me fuck her don't you, Pup?" II cooed at IV. IV looked up eyes wide behind the mask and nodded eagerly. II tutted disapprovingly, "Use your words."

"Yes, please, Sir. I want to watch you fuck her." He replied quickly as to not get in any further trouble. II smirked, turning his attention back to you.

"You heard him pretty girl. He wants to watch while I fuck you. How does that sound to you?" He asked as he griped your chin gently tilting your head up to look him in the eye again.

"Yes…please. I want you to fuck me, Sir" The honorific was new to you, but you could tell by the way his ice blue eyes sparkled he liked it a lot. He wasted no time directing you where he wanted you, in the middle of the bed, face down on the mattress, facing IV, as you presented your ass to him. You heard the shuffling of clothes being removed, felt him settling onto the bed behind you. He discarded your pants and pushed your shirt down as his knees slid between your legs pushing them further apart. His hips pressed against yours, you felt his cock slide between your ass cheeks. He paused to look up at IV who had placed his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his hands, watching intently.

"He's so eager to watch me take you apart, Sweet Thing." II muttered as he moved his hips against you. His hands trailed along your thighs. You felt the tip of his cock running along the folds of your soaking wet cunt. The entire time you had been here none of them had dared to penetrate you themselves, only using fingers or their mouths. You had felt yourself aching for something more every time, but now you knew why they were avoiding it. The Ritual. Your train of thought was interrupted by the feeling of II's dick pressing up into your cunt. You felt your walls clench instantly, a cry left your lips before you could stop it. He stilled inside of you, the feeling of his cock's head pressed against your cervix, buried deep inside you.

"Oh, fuck. You feel so good, so tight around me, Pretty Girl." He groaned, his hands moving to your hips, pulling you back on his shaft. His fingers were digging into your ass. You didn't want to wait any longer.

"Sir, please fuck me. Please. I need it, need it now." you whined as you wiggled your hips slightly, seeking the friction you so desired. II chuckled softly, gently patting one side of your behind as he started to move, ever so slowly, in and out.

"Needy little thing, huh, Ives? She like this when you two were out there too?" II asked as he increased his pace incrementally. Bit by bit as you whimpered and whined. IV turned a bright shade of red and nodded.

"She was always clingy. Always needed more, always begging on my cock like she didn't have it already." IV responded. You looked up at him with a pout to see him palming the bludge in his pants. He smirked at the look on your face. "What? Don't act like it isn't true, Love."

"Ivy…," you whined. Something about him teasing you about that while another guy's dick was fucking you open made you feel like you lost your mind. Before you could think of something else to say II pulled out of you, causing you to whine at the loss. You didn't have long to miss it as he pushed you onto your side, lifting your leg to his shoulder, and sliding back inside you. These actions were done in quick succession, leaving you unprepared for the feeling of his fingers on your clit. He circled the sensitive nub in quick and tight circles as he tried to push you to the edge. The combination of his deep and frantic thrusts, along with his skillful fingers made it near impossible to hold anything back, You felt yourself reach the peak, the heat of the moment coming off of you in waves. You were barely aware of the moment that II pulled out for a final time but when your mind started to process reality again you were greeted with the sight of IV's lips around II's cock. The smaller man's moans filled the air, his hand on the back of IV's head, guiding his movements as he chased his own release. None of you paid any attention to the figure looming in the door way.

~

You had been counting down the days until the new moon. The Ritual. You managed to keep busy most days, spending time with the four men who you were going to live with for all eternity, Something that seemed less daunting with every passing day. The Ritual was two days away and everyone was quite busy preparing for it. III and IV had left to go get supplies in town, II was seeing local worshipers who had come for guidance, and Vessel was…doing whatever Vessel did. So it seemed, you were left to your own devises. You were curled up in a corner of the massive library, surrounded by soft blankets and plush pillows with a book in hand. You were lost in the pages of the story, so when Vessel sat next to you, you flinched with surprise.

"Oh! Um, hello!" You stuttered out with a smile on your face as you turned to look at him. He was wearing a hooded shirt, the sleeves so long that they nearly covered his fingers, and some soft fleece pants. You hadn't seen him dressed like this before. His hood was pulled low enough that you didn't even see what mask he wore, until he leaned his head back against the wall and you saw the tips of red filagree. After a moment of silence he turned his head to look at you.

"I'm glad you find joy here." He muttered. Vessel always talked differently compared to the others. His statements flowed more like poetry than speech. You wondered if it was because he had spent the most time with Sleep, or if he was just a bit odd. Or both. Both was entirely possible.

"I've always enjoyed reading, and it seems you have endless amounts of books here." You replied. He shook his head, reaching to cup your face in the palm of his hand.

"Not the library. Here. At the temple. With us." He explained in short clipped sentences as if he spoke too much he would run out of words he's allowed to say. When he was not preforming acts of worship or giving offerings to Sleep he was a rather soft spoken man. You found that quite endearing. You leaned into his touch, your eyes meeting the slits in his mask.

"Ah, yes. That too." You chuckled. After a short moment he moved slowly, placing an arm around your shoulders, pulling you back against his chest. You happily obliged, snuggling close to his chest as you pulled your knees up to your chest. After finding a comfortable position you resumed reading your book. The two of you stayed that way for a while, simply enjoying the company, basking in the quiet of the library.

Vessel slowly started to pull you closer, until you were nearly sat in his lap. His hands started to drift down to your sides. His touch was featherlight, his large hands slid under the fabric of your top, tracing circles along your hip. You felt his breath on your neck in the brief second before his lips were pressed against your skin. You inhaled sharply, your focus entirely irretrievable as he started to kiss, lick and nip at the skin on your neck. You placed the book down beside you, and cursed yourself mentally for not marking the page you were on.

Vessel however didn't give a damn. The moment your focus was undivided he had pulled your shirt off and his teeth were grazing your shoulder, trying to find the the perfect place to leave his mark. You leaned back against his chest, tilting your head to give him access to the entirety of your neck. He growled when he found the ideal spot and sunk his teeth in where your neck met your shoulder. There was something unusual about his bite, his canines just a touch longer and sharper than a normal humans. You had seen his marks on the others' necks, beautiful bruises that blossomed in bright scarlet and violet shades and fade into a dusty chartreuse, the punctures of his fangs lingering long after. However you were unprepared for the intensity of the bite, your hands grasping at his thighs beneath you, trying to find something solid to hold onto as your mind struggled to stay grounded. He finally released his hold on your neck.

"Ves-…Vessel, I…ngh." You tried to form a thought, but his tongue swiped over the wound he left behind, a burning sensation beginning to spread through your body. You were left wanting- no, needing more. "Wh-whats happening to-"

"Shhh…just relax darling. It's just something to help you through it. I'm less…human than the others." He murmured into your ear. You didn't quite understand what he meant until he pulled your hips entirely flush with his, and you felt it. His erection pressed against you and his length was certainly impressive, but the shape of him? You could barely figure out how to describe it. You let out a soft groan when his cock twitched beneath your weight. The warmth of his venom flowed through you, your cunt flooding with slick. The waves of heat rushed over your body and you felt dizzy with need.

"That's it. You're so good for me, My Love." Vessel whispered as his hands moved to pull off the fabrics that lay between you. Your skin against his skin was divine, his lips continued to press kisses along your shoulder blades as he positioned your limp body where he wanted you. He lay you on your side, curling up behind you. His hands explored your body, the pads of his fingertips tracing every flaw, every scar, every part of you that made you second guess yourself. His touch was reverent like he wanted to know every part of you. His shaft moved against your cunt, coating himself in your wetness. You felt the ridges of his length sliding against your clit, you mouth going dry with desire. You could feel the ridges along the underside of him rub against your skin of your thighs, the point of the head poking through the flesh of your legs. You thought about looking down to see him for yourself but his arms were holding you close to his chest. One arm was pined across your chest, his large hand held your neck, his thumb caressing your pulse point. His other arm was wrapped around your middle, fingers splayed across your stomach.

"Vessel…" His name left your lips, quiet like a prayer. You leaned your head back and sighed, your mind was fuzzy, the burning had faded into a warm sensation all over your body, your cunt was tingling with desire. You clenched down around nothing and you felt an ache inside you. His mouth was occupied with leaving little bites and bruises wherever he could reach as he thrusted his hips against the apex of your thighs. His hands were holding you tenderly, fingers caressing the shape of your body. However when a needy whine slipped from your throat, he froze for just a second. His face buried in the crook of your neck, the edges of the mask scraping against your skin, a low growl started in his chest, a rumbling sound that started soft and quiet and continued to grow. His hips started to rut against you, his movements were quick and uncoordinated. His grip tightened the pressure on your throat, cutting off the flow of blood to your head, making you feel even more lightheaded. He pulled you against him as if it was a matter of survival. His low growl persisted as his movements started to stutter, you could feel his cock throbbing between your legs. He was getting closer to his climax.

"Gods be dammed, I should be able to empty myself inside you. Claim your cunt as my own. I wanna have you to myself for once." He growled, pulling himself away from you for long enough to push you flat on your back, his hand releasing your throat to hold his body above you. His hips pressed against your core, his torso propped up on his elbows on either side of your body, his face nearly touching yours. You could just make out the shape of his eyes behind the mask. Six golden eyes looked back at you and your heart skipped a beat. He slid his cock back between your thighs as he continued to seek the peak of his pleasure. You couldn't bring yourself to look away from his eyes. You knew these eyes. These eyes had been watching you closely, after every intimate moment these eyes were there, watching you. Your hands seemed to move of their own accord, as you placed one hand on either side of his face.

"You've…you've been watching me, haven't you? In my room with Ivy and II, in the kitchen with III…" You asked softly, brushing your thumbs beneath the edges of the mask, caressing his cheeks. His golden eyes glowed brighter, like candle light. A few tears fell down his face, leaving trails of gold over his cheeks. He nodded, a soft whimper leaving his lips as he rolled his hips into the crease of your thighs again.

"I love the way the others take you apart. My Beloveds… you're all too beautiful not to watch." He muttered softly as his hands traced circles on your sides, his thumbs rubbing over the ridges of your ribs. You felt like you were about to start crying too. You had become a part of their lives in a way you hadn't expected when you were summoned. They had become to mean more to you than anyone back in the village.

"Kiss me? Please. Kiss me." You heard yourself pleading with him. He smiled, tears still tracking down his face as a huff of laughter fell from his lips. When his lips met yours they were soft and gentle and they moved with practiced ease. He tasted surprisingly sweet, his tongue slid into your mouth bringing the flavor of absolute sin. You groaned into the kiss, your body reacting to his touch. Your hips bucked up against his groin. He wrapped his arms around you, keeping your hips pressed firmly against yours, his cock slid back and forth against your folds, simultaneously too close and not close enough. He bit at your lips, like he was trying to devour you whole. You felt like the room was spinning, not a single thought crossed your mind as you moved against each other until finally you felt pleasure flood your entire being. Your legs shook and your cries were swallowed by him, satiating his hunger. His own release wasn't far behind yours, he snarled as he pulled his hips up, pressing his cock against your stomach. His hot spend spread between the two of you. He didn't move from this spot, he held you tightly as you both came down from your high.

You tried to catch your breath as you slowly became more aware of your surroundings again. Vessel's body lay limp on top of you, his grip on you was still tight. He had no intention of leaving the spot you were in. As you looked down at his resting form you felt no desire to move either. This was where you belonged.

~

The day of the Ritual was finally here. The others were busy preparing, but that didn't stop them from stopping in to checking in on you throughout the day. IV had brought you breakfast, sat with you while you ate, pressed kisses to your skin before being called off to complete some task to get ready for that night. You were told you had to stay in your room until nightfall. Luckily you had snatched some books from the library to keep you occupied. Around mid day III came by with some food and good conversation. You took a bite of the bread he brought and looked at him. He was wearing a white mask with a red sigil across his face, the white fabric stained with black fingerprints. You had only ever seen III wear this mask, II said he threw his away centuries ago and IV never had one. You found it rather interesting how they each had a preference, but that wasn't the topic of conversation.

"How bad is it out there now? I've been here for weeks, and none of the others will tell me." You were desperate for any information. III sighed and his posture slumped.

"It's…not good, Darlin'. The sickness is spreadin' faster than we expected. This Ritual is the only hope any of us got. 'er else lots more people are gonna die." III spoke plainly. That was something you appreciated about him. He didn't try to sugarcoat the truth. You paused and bit down on your lip slightly.

"It's gonna work right? It has to. It has to…" You muttered, staring at your hands. You were about to change your life, bare a child, lose your mortality to Sleep, all to save the place you called home. III sighed, He put an arm around you and pulled you against his chest. His large hand wrapped around your shoulder, his thumb moved back and forth in a slow comforting motion.

"Yeah, it's gonna work. Don't worry yer pretty lil head about it a'right?" He whispered in your ear. He nuzzled his face against the side of your head. You knew he was just trying to comfort you but you couldn't get rid of the dread in the pit of your stomach. III's grip tightened and you felt his covered mouth press against the shell of your ear. "I said: Don't worry about it. Yer still worryin'."

"Alright, alright. I'll stop worrying," you chuckled, returning your focus to the plate of food next to you. You just needed to make it to the Ritual that night.

The sun had begun to set. The atmosphere in the temple was charged with energy. You had dressed in the outfit that Vessel and II had brought you for the Ritual after III had left. It was a simple black dress, sleeveless, low cut and with slits cut up the side. You wore nothing beneath it as instructed. You walked the now familiar halls to the Ritual Room. You entered the large space as you had weeks before. The room was lit with more black candles than you could count. The granite altar was covered in a dark green sheet, all sorts of items surrounding it. You stood back to look over all the offerings to Sleep set at the base of the altar, bundles of pink flowers from the garden, an apple with sewing needles stuck in it, a deer's skull covered in red, and several golden coins. You examined the altar a little closer and noticed the ropes and leather restraints that hung from the sides. You heard familiar footsteps behind you and when you turned II stood there, dressed in his green and golden ceremonial outfit.

"Vessel thought you might want to offer Sleep something as well." He explained, offering you what looked like a trilobite fossil about the size of the palm of your hand. You smiled nervously and accepted the stone from his outstretched hand. You turned to the other offerings, kneeling on the ground as you placed it next to the deer skull. You felt goosebumps starting to form once your skin was no longer in contact with the stone, your fingertips tingling. II helped you to your feet again. "Are you ready for this?"

"I…I think no matter how I answer it will be incorrect. I think I'm ready, but I also feel like I'm so far out of my depth." You replied honestly. He chuckled, his hand lingering on your arm.

"That sounds about right. Don't worry about it too much. We'll be here the whole time, we're going to do our best not to let anything bad happen to you." II tried to reassure you but it really only brought back all the worst case scenarios you had floating around in your mind. Before you could ask anything or try to wrap your head further around the concept however, III and IV walked in. They both wore the same green and gold outfits, each slightly different to suit the man underneath.

"It's time." IV said softly. II nodded and tightened his grip on your arm. You took a deep breath and prepared for whatever was to come next. The three of them helped you onto the altar, laying you flat against the stone. II began to wrap the ropes around your arms and chest, securing the leather cuffs on your wrists- Those cuffs then attached to the altar itself, keeping your arms pinned above you. Meanwhile IV worked on tying down your lower half. Your legs were spread open wide, your calves wrapped in rope that was anchored to the stone beneath you.

You had lost track of III until you heard his distinct voice muttering a few feet away, his voice was shortly joined by Vessel's. You turned your head to see them standing together, forehead touching, III gently caressing Vessel's face. You could just barely see tears dripping from the edges of his golden mask. You turned away, blinking back your own tears as you took another deep breath in an attempt to try to ease your nerves. Your dress was barely covering you at this point, but you supposed that was part of the point.

"Anything uncomfortable before we get started?" II asked, suddenly appearing in your line of sight.

"Well I'm tied to a stone table. They aren't exactly well known for being super comfortable." You laughed nervously. II chuckled reaching down to caress your cheek.

"Yeah, sorry not much I can do about that part." He spoke softly, his eyes scanning the room around them. You wondered for a moment what he could be looking at, but then you felt their hands: One set of hands on your left leg, another on your right hip. II nodded and moved over to you left side. Before you could look around to see what was going on Vessel appeared at above you, his hands resting on either side of your head, holding your gaze in place as the candle lit room seemed to get somewhat darker.

"Worship." The single word slipped through his lips, and the lights go from a low yellow light to a sea of deep blue. Your breath caught in your chest. The others echoed the word and as each of their voices joined more brighter shades of blue joined the glow. You knew when Vessel opened his eyes as their golden glow showed through the slits on the mask. His voice wass strong now, empowered by Sleep themself. "The night belongs to You. You, Keeper of Dreams, Savior of the Waking World, One Who Travels Beyond The Path Of Reason. We have sought Your guidance, to end this cursed disease that spreads across our home. We have promised to be the sacred guardians of this land. We have fought for so long and we have won. However this time… This plague is more than we can fight alone," Vessel paused, looking down at you as he spoke, "As you have instructed, we have brought forth the woman You had chosen, for she was the most dedicated to you, without proof, without vision, without knowing you were there. She was a believer where others were faithless. And now she will bear the child that will bring the night down."

When he finished speaking the lights flashed in a triplet, and you felt the hands at you hip move away, while the others remained. You were unsure of what exactly was happening until you felt the skirt of your dress pushed aside and familiar calloused fingers pressed against your inner thigh. III's breath was hot on your cunt, you had less then a second to process what was happening before his mouth was on you. His tongue skillfully carved open the path between your folds and you felt him hum. Then as he delved deeper he outwardly moaned. One of his hands rested on your pelvic bone as he lapped at you like a man starved, the other touching himself, fisting his cock as he licked at your clit. You let out a soft whine as his lips wrap around your clit and he sucked on it gently, one of his hand moved to splay out over your stomach, grabbing at the flesh as he continued to lap, suck and nip at your heat.

"Yes, My Love. Taste of the divine. Bring her to the edge of desire and push her in." Vessel crooned, his own fingers starting to drift from their original spot. From the sides of your head his hands moved to the back of your head, lifting it slightly so that you could see III crouched between your legs. However it took you a moment to realize it was III. His robe had been discarded along with his shirt and most surprisingly his mask. Long dark hair was pulled back into a tie at the back of his head and looking back at you were bright blue eyes that glowed faintly in the low light. You couldn't see all too well in the light of Sleeps candlelight but you could tell he was less human than he might have once been. That didn't prepare you for the moment his tongue slid inside you however, when you could feel his tongue stroking up into the deepest part of you. It surprised you. He thrusted his tongue in and out of you, pulling sinful noises from your lips as he drove you over the peak. Your body shook beneath them as you felt a rush of pleasure over your entire being.

"That's it, such a good girl fer us, yeah? You taste even better directly from the source." III muttered, his torso moving to hover over you. You felt his hard cock tap against your clit, a yelp leaving your mouth, the sensation like lightning. III huffed in laughter as he pressed himself through your slick and up against your entrance, savoring the moment for just a second before pushing himself into you.

"Oh, shit. Oh, fucking hell. Oh Darlin', you couldn't have a more perfect cunt," III growled as he sunk himself deep into you. You could feel Vessel's grip tighten as he watched. You saw how II pressed his groin against the table, you heard IV whine, all while III savored his moment. He wouldn't wait for long before he started to move, pressing himself as deep as he could, moving with purpose. He was a man on a mission, pushing into you in hopes to fill you fully. His words from before echoed in the back of your mind.

"Don't tell the others, but I really hope its mine"

He wanted to be the one to breed you. He had made that much clear. The moment he felt his finish oncoming, he slid himself in as deep as he could, The tip of his cock was pushed right up against your cervix as he came, filling you with his seed. A low growl came from his chest as the candle light flickered. "A'right! a'right. I'm movin'." III groaned as he pulled out and away from you.

You didn't have a chance to figure out what that was about as the lights began flashing in doubles. II removed his hands from you, working quickly to disrobe himself. He wasn't wasting time, he pulled something from his pants pocket as he tossed them aside. You saw a glint of light of something metal. There was the sound of the ropes at your legs snapping, cut with a knife. II climbed up on the altar, dropping the knife off to the side where no one was standing. He took no time to take the leg that wasn't being held and bent it up against your chest, stopping briefly on the way down to kiss Vessel fondly on the lips. Your head rested back on Vessel's hands as you watched.

"I am yours to the end." Vessel whispered, not expecting anything for himself at that time, but glad that he wasn't forgotten. II shushed him, caressing his cheek gently before turning his attention to you.

"Hello, Sweet Thing. Ready for me?" II muttered as he slid his length against your dripping cunt. His ice blue eyes were familiar at this point, but what was unknown to you was the face that looked back at you. You knew it was him but you hadn't expected the deep scars over his mouth and cheeks, the bright sharp teeth that showed in his grin, the split in his tongue that had gone unnoticed. Your jaw was lax in awe and he laughed. "Like what you see, Pretty Girl? You can get a closer look when we're not on a time limit, alright?"

You didn't have a chance to respond before his lips were moving along your neck and his cock was thrust inside you. His teeth found a good place to sink into you as his hips found the rhythm he wanted. You cried out as he pounded into you, sinking his teeth deep into the meat of your shoulder. His thrusts were steady as if he was following the beat of a song. His teeth held on to you as if he was unable to pull away from you until he had his fill. You felt Vessel's fingers grip on you hair, gently at first. His golden eyes glowed brighter as he watched II rut into you. You let out a high pitched whine as you felt the heat of your desire rising. His pace was relentless, but you could tell by the way he paused on the down beat that he must be close. II finally released you from his bite, Vessel dipping down to lick over the wound as II pressed his forehead against yours.

"Oh Gods, you're such a good little slut. Taking my cock like it was made for you. Wanna fill you up, gonna fill you to the brim with my cum. You'll look so good…your stomach big and round with our child," he started to babble as he got closer and closer. He let out a growl as he went over the edge, pressing his cock as deep into you as he could, his spend painting your insides as you felt yourself lingering on the edge. You just needed a little push but the candle light flickered and the contact you so desperately needed vanished, leaving you on the verge of tears. The candle light flashed four times then a pause before one final flash, brighter than the rest. Vessel's hands left your head, his attention on unlatching the cuffs from the altar.

"We have you, Love, it's all right." IV reappeared by your side. Any of your lingering fear was washed away at the sight of him. His face was mostly unchanged, his ocean blue eyes glowed like moonlight. His smile the same as it always had been. Your childhood lover, the man you thought you had lost forever. He pulled you into his arms as you sobbed. You weren't sure how you were meant to keep going right then. But you knew you had to, the Ritual wasn't complete. IV was gently moving around to lay beneath you, pulling you on top of him. One hand found your breast. He pulled the fabric of your dress to the side so he could touch your skin without a barrier.

"We will bring you beyond the farthest reaches. You need only invite us in," Vessel spoke from the other end of the Altar. His face was still covered by the mask but he had tossed aside his cloak, his bare chest exposed for all to see. Vessel knelt between yours and IV's legs. He licked up the underside of IV's cock, causing the man below you to moan and jerk his hips upwards. IV held you close to his chest, your hands still cuffed as he and Vessel worked together to get IV's thick cock inside you. His length thrusted up against your folds as Vessel gently pressed at the underside, teasing IV.

"Oh fuck this!" IV grunted, adjusting to better slide inside you. Once he was buried inside you he growled in your ear, grabbing your tits, guiding you up and down his cock, starting to set his preferred pace. As soon as IV had found what he was looking for Vessel leaned in, his tongue lapping at your clit. You felt like your mind had entirely left your skull. There wasn't any way to possibly think through what was happening. You were being pulled in so many directions at once. IV was fucking up into your cunt, rolling your nipples between his fingers. Vessel was sucking and licking your clit as his large hands explored your body. On top of all that somewhere in the background you can hear the sounds of II and III pleasuring each other. You couldn't possibly fathom how one human was supposed to endure this much pleasure at once.

"That's my Good Girl, My Darling Girl. You have no idea how much I've missed this body, missed these tits. Fucking hell, Love. I missed you." IV groaned into your ear, his thrusting getting more irregular as he neared his climax. You could feel how full your cunt was, dripping with spend and slick. IV's thrusting came to an abrupt stop as his seed joins the mess between your legs. You expected him to move you, leave you for Vessel to take his turn. So when he simply slid out of you, panting softly, you had no idea what to think would come next. That was until you felt Vessel's slick fingers press against your other hole. You let out a groan as you felt his fingers push into you. His touch was carefully calculated as he curled his fingers expertly, pulling moans and gasps from your lips. IV licked a stripe up the column of your throat, drawing your attention from Vessel adding another finger into your ass. You felt his teeth nipping at your earlobe, the two men working in tandem to pull you over the edge for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Please…Please I can't any more…" You pleaded with them, you were so far gone you couldn't tell if you said the words aloud or just thought them. Vessel's fingers slid out of you, giving you a brief moment of relief.

"I know, Sweetheart, I know, We're almost there, My Darling. You're doing so well for us, just…hang on for me okay?" IV tried his best to soothe you, knowing full well what was to come. Vessel pushed your legs up, angling your body perfectly. He looked up at you. You had been so overwhelmed you hadn't noticed he had removed his mask. Six golden eyes looked at you with concern, tear tracks covering his face, accentuating the slope of his cheeks. He was beautiful. Vessel's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face.

"Wait…did I say that out loud?" you asked, bewildered. The two men chuckled.

"You did, Darling. You see in a different light. You see beauty where many see a monster. This is in part why you were chosen." Vessel spoke softly. He tilted his head as he gazed at you with adoration in his eyes. "Are you able to continue, Beloved?"

"Yes, yes, I want to finish." You heard yourself say. Vessel nodded and returned to the task at hand. You felt the head of IV's cock press against your hole. The push past the threshold is eased by the fact that all of you are soaked with cum but your throat still keened in pain mixed with pleasure as IV pressed into you. Vessel carefully pulled down his pants, his cock stood hard at attention, the slightly pointed head glistening with precum. Vessel looked at you like you hung the stars as he moved to hover over you. His eyes were focused on your face as he slid himself inside your cunt, watching your reaction as you were filled. You believed whatever your facial expression was he must have been pleased as he seemed to purr in pleasure, leaning down to capture your lips in his. He swallowed your moans as he started to move. IV cursed under his breath from behind you as he continued his onslaught on your neck. He could feel the ridges of Vessel's cock through the thin wall that separated them.

"Your flesh and bone welcome me in… you feel…absolutely divine," Vessel muttered against your lips as he started to slowly pick up the pace. You could only whimper in response, words were entirely lost to you. Vessel continued to increase his speed, the two men continuing to dote on you as Vessel chased his release. His hips grinded against you again and again until, at long last, he reached his limit. Another set of loads were emptied into you and your head was spinning. Words were said, voices spoke in hushed tones and gentle hands caressed your overworked body. You understood none of it.

The Ritual was completed.

You and your future child were somewhere soft, warm, and safe. Surrounded on all sides by those who loved you.

How could you dare to ask for more?

~

Event Masterlist

You opened your eyes and the world that greeted you was wrong.

You were in a forest suspended in eerie stillness, draped in odd colours that didn’t belong in the waking world. Ashen greys, dull silvers and that unnatural magenta colours, thick like bruised petals left rotting beneath glass. Every leaf, every petal and every blade of grass was stained some shade between these colours. The trees rose tall and skeletal around you, their limbs twisted upward.

You sat up slowly, trembling fingers sinking into strange grass, which felt more like velvet than anything living. Fog thickened across the ground, swirling white and heavy, curdled in the lungs of the forest. You felt really cold. Not from the weather, but from the inside out.

Cold in your bones. Cold in your mind.

There was a road ahead, if it can be called that. Ivory stone tiles decorated the ground, clean and polished, laid into the dirt with surgical precision, forming a labyrinth of path that led away in every direction, nowhere and everywhere at once. Not a single patch of moss grew between the stones. They looked like silver veins carved from old porcelain.

You shivered.

You looked down at your hands, as if they might explain something. They were your hands, yes, you knew that. But whose? Who were you? Your fingers rose in frantic sequence, to your chest, your throat, your cheeks, as if you could touch your memories. As though familiarity might hide in the dip of your collarbone, in the shape of your jaw, in a mole or a scar you once claimed as home. But there was nothing. Only skin that felt borrowed and a body that no longer spoke your name.

Your name.

You didn’t know your name.

It left a void blooming in your chest, black and bottomless, still as death and just as certain. You didn’t remember your name. The panic arrived before memory did, with a theft of breath and a quiet slaughter of certainty. Your lungs stuttered and your throat narrowed.

“I don’t—” your voice cracked, barely a whisper.

You rose too fast, and the world reeled with you. The skeletal forest buckled sideways, tilting like a ship lost to a storm. Trees loomed above, their limbs twisted into shapes that shouldn’t exist, like ribs cracked open. The sky offered no anchor either. You didn’t see nor the sun, nor the moon. Just a pale expanse without pulse or warmth, as if the gods had forgotten to finish it. The branches creaked softly, whispering warnings you couldn’t quite understand.

“Hello?” you cried out into the quiet.

The fog held the word like breath held in a stranger’s mouth.

You tried again, voice cracking. “Anyone there?”

Your knees gave way, and you collapsed like breath leaving a prayer, burying your face into your hands. You were shaking now, as if your bones were rejecting the cage of your skin and your heart was pounding to be set free, desperate to escape the body it no longer recognised. You crouched there like something newly born, nails dug into the grey grass that didn’t bend like grass should. Tears stung your eyes, but before they could fall you heard it.

Footsteps. Measured. Unhurried.

And close.

Each one fell into the quiet like punctuation, as if they were always meant to be written there. Then, somewhere in the white, something moved. It arrived with precision, with weight, with the patience of something that had never been hunted. It stepped from the fog as if the world itself had been waiting for you to see it.

A silhouette began to form.

And when the fog thinned, you saw it.

You saw him.

A man. Or something like one. He seemed wrong in the details, too deliberate, too silent, too smooth. He wasn’t much taller than you but he didn’t need to be to make you feel cornered.

The silhouette wore black from neck to toe. Velvet shirt tucked into tailored trousers pressed too perfectly, patent leather shoes that gleamed like mirrors and carried no sound, and over it all, a black cloak with a wide hood that swallowed most of him in shadow. And where his face should have been there was a mask, sculpted from gold and black, decorated with weird symbols, like something ceremonial or holy, except it clearly wasn’t. The mask didn’t cover his entire face, his mouth was visible through the vertical slits. His blue eyes and dull jawline were visible too, but that made him look much more scary. Somehow, the mask looked fused to his skull, there were no visible straps or seams. Just polished metal where a face should be. Only the suggestion of death dressed up like a man.

And he was looking right at you.

You gasped, your body pulling backward on instinct, feeling like a specimen pinned open on a silver tray. The uncanny man stopped just a few steps from you, tilting his head curiously. However, something about the angle looked unmistakably predatory to you, reminding you of the way a cat turns its head before it pounces.

“Did you call, darling?”

His voice was soft, surprisingly warm, but that only made things worse. He spoke as though he were reciting something from memory, not really feeling it, mimicking a peculiar accent of the human kind. Like sound made through teeth not meant for language. You blinked, breath caught in your throat, unable to form a word.

He took another step forward.

And now he was looking down at you.

“Who—who are you?” you managed to gasp.

He stepped to the side and began to walk around you in a perfect, measured arc, circling you. His polished shoes whispered against the ivory stone. You turned to follow his movements, your limbs stuck between flight and collapse. 

“You may call me IV,” he said at last.

You stared. That name meant nothing.

“What is this place?” you whispered, barely audible. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

He stopped walking.

“You remember how to speak,” he said. “That’s a good start.” The words came gently, almost kind, but they made you shudder instead. Was he trying to make a joke?

“Don’t come closer, please—”

Your voice broke as he crouched.

The movement was seamless. It was perfectly graceful, in the same way a snake descending a tree is graceful, uninterrupted and fluid. Effortless. Boneless even. His knees bent too evenly. Like his body wasn’t governed by the same physics as yours, as if it remembered the shape of bones, but no longer needed them.

You looked up at him through your tears, and the gold of his mask caught the fractured light of this odd forest. His mask hovered above your face now, and through the thin slits near the mouth, you saw the faintest stretch of movement. A smile, maybe. Or was it a frown? Whatever it was, it never touched his eyes.

His gaze held something else. He watched you the same way a child might inspect a wingless butterfly in a jar, like he pitied you. You couldn’t tell, not with the mask hiding most of him, not with those blue eyes so terribly distant, like someone watching you from underwater.

But there was something undeniably melancholic in the way IV watched you, as if observing something that was already doomed to die before his very eyes.

“Please,” a pitiful sniff followed your plea. “Can you help me?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, IV studied you, his blue eyes guarded yet openly curious, as if weighing something important. You could almost hear your pulse, and the way the forest watched it throb behind your ears.

It was unbearable. 

Finally, IV spoke.

“Perhaps I can. Follow me.”

You blinked. “Where are you taking me?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he tilted his head again, this time with a subtle shift of his posture that seemed amused. Still, his gaze remained fixed on you.

Every instinct screamed at you to run and to tear through the lifeless trees, to disappear into the endless fog and hope that somehow you would find something familiar, something safe. But your feet wouldn’t move because deep down, you already knew that there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

So you stood, slowly and reluctantly. Your legs trembled beneath you, weak with fear that burrowed down to your bones, however, you forced yourself upright, swiping the back of your hand across your damp cheeks.

IV wasn’t much taller than you, but his presence loomed large in its intensity. Like a shadow cast by something monstrous and ancient, something that didn’t live in this world. His mouth still curved gently, as if he found your hesitation strangely endearing.

Without another word, he turned and began walking ahead.

His cloak trailed behind him, floating just slightly above the fog, kissing the tiles, leaving you to follow in awkward silence. You stumbled slightly at first, your limbs still numb with dread. Your breath hitched as your bare feet met the cold stone tiles beneath you, each step feeling like a judgment from the ground itself. You sniffed and quickened your steps, falling into a clumsy stride beside him, trying to match his pace.

As you walked, you glanced around desperately, trying to memorize your odd surroundings. But the forest remained stubbornly unfamiliar. There was nothing here, only fog, decay, and that haunting bloom of magenta that stained everything like a parasite. Ancient ruins lined the path, as well as dry fountains and broken remnants of statues. Their marble bodies leaned in uncanny angles, some frozen mid-prayer, others mid-scream.

“Where are we going?” you finally dared to ask, voice trembling.

IV hummed quietly. “Somewhere safe.”

He offered no further explanation.

You tried to ignore the creeping sensation that something watched you from the fog, eyes you couldn’t see yet felt acutely. Shadows flickered at the edge of your vision, shapes danced and dissolved in the mist, making you flinch more often than you would admit. It was impossible to shake the feeling that this forest observed you with hungry curiosity.

Eventually, the trees began to fall away and the forest opened into a clearing so large the fog couldn’t even hold it all. It spilled into it like milk into a bowl, veiling the edges of the world until distance itself became meaningless.

At its heart stood an massive cathedral, so immense and surreal that your breath caught sharply in your throat. Ancient stones rose high and stark, entwined with thick vines of grey and vivid magenta. It rose out of the earth like the skeleton of a god. Towering spires reached upward, sharp and ambitious, piercing the ashen sky as if attempting to breach the heavens themselves. Its glass windows were stained, shimmering faintly despite the oppressive gloom. On the walls, banners of deep green and faded beige, embroidered with intricate symbols in tarnished gold thread, hung still.

You halted, awe and terror mixing uncomfortably in your chest. You couldn’t even see the top of the building, they stretched so impossibly high that the spires got swallowed whole by the pale sky. It felt less like an actual building and more like a monument to something the world had chosen to forget, something ancient, sacred, and wrong.

IV had stopped walking.

“What is this place?” you whispered.

“This is where you’ll live. If my brothers agree, of course.”

You repeated the word under your breath, frowning faintly.

“Your… brothers?”

With those words, he resumed walking, leaving you with no choice but to follow, your heart aching with uncertainty, like slipping beneath water and not knowing how deep it goes.

Each step toward those towering doors felt like descending into an unknown abyss from which you feared you might never emerge. IV moved ahead like this place answered to him, as if the stones beneath his feet knew his weight, like he had walked these tiles a thousand times, and you were just another shadow behind him.

The entrance loomed higher the closer you came, massive slabs of carved black wood, etched with runes you couldn’t read.

They opened before IV could touch them.

It was worse inside. The cathedral was impossibly vast. Cold and hollow, as though built by something that had only ever imagined humanity, but had never loved it. The air inside was heavy and thick with the scent of wax, old wood, and something coppery beneath, a metallic tang, like blood held too long in a chalice. The walls were tall, constructed of dark stone and from them hung rows of banners in emerald greens, stitched with more of those strange symbols.

Candles burned in impossible quantities. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Pools of melted wax stained the floors in ribbons of ivory. Their flames danced in patterns that felt intentional, like they were reacting to your heartbeat. Enormous staircases curved in directions that defied logic, vanishing into alcoves and narrow corridors you hadn’t noticed a moment before. Marble columns lined the nave like the ribs of some old beast. Wilted petals littered the floor, exhausted silvers and dull lilacs, and their smell was overpowering.

Your head turned and turned and turned but nothing stuck. You couldn’t even recall where the entrance had been.

The halls branched endlessly, spiralling staircases and empty alcoves and yawning arches that led to nowhere. You saw statues, some with missing limbs, others with bleeding eyes. Most had no faces, as if their expressions had been worn away by time, leaving only smooth blank stone where their mouths and noses should have been. You passed a hallway where a black fountain stood still in the dark, its surface smooth as glass. 

You followed blindly, each step sounding like it didn’t belong here.

Finally, IV brought you to a chamber that made your breath catch. A great hall opened before you, its vaulted ceiling stretching into a haze of candle smoke and silence. At its center stood an enormous table carved from obsidian, long and glistening like the surface of a still lake. It was wide enough to seat thirty on either side, and every chair stood empty. Except one.

At the far end of the table, seated with his back turned, was a man. He wore a long emerald coat, embroidered with golden symbols you didn’t recognise. White and gold shoulder plates rose above the collar, resting on his slender body, and there were black feathers, not wings but maybe something once divine, catching the candlelight like water catches the moonlight. His elegant fingers rested on the arms of a chair carved from the same dark stone as the table.

IV stopped as if halted by some unseen line.

“Vessel,” he said. “Look what I found.”

The figure turned deliberately, the chair’s legs sliding against stone with the whisper of altar doors opening in a forgotten church.

When Vessel stood, your throat closed.

Your heart stuttered painfully behind your ribs, because he was beautiful. But not in any way you had words for. He was beautiful in the most terrifying sense of the word. He looked like something sculpted by gods who had never seen a human up close. Like something made in worship of a shape they had only dreamed of. The kind of beauty that made you ache just to witness, like a god pretending to be flesh.

His skin was painted entirely black, just like IV’s, a dark sheen that caught the candlelight and shimmered as he moved, like charred obsidian. His chest was bare beneath the overcoat. Gold chains and rings draped across him delicately, all over his collarbones and fingers, like ceremonial jewelry placed on the dead.

Vessel also wore a mask like IV did, but his was entirely different. It was white, with lines of green and gold that swirled in precise patterns, so pristine it looked unreal, like it had never been touched by dust.

And then you saw them. Those six vertical slits. Eyes. Six black eyes with no whites in them, not even irises, just glossy pools of darkness, watching you. Each one was darker than black, as if they opened into some endless depth where stars had gone to die. They moved in eerie unison, blinking once, slowly, then not again.

Tears stung your eyes again, hot and unwelcome. Your lips parted, your throat dry and tight. There was no air in the room. None that you could breathe. 

Vessel stepped forward.

“What a curious thing,” he muttered, and his voice—

Good gods.

His voice was the most alluring sound you had ever heard, making your knees weak. It was rich and warm, deep and smooth, like honey poured over something burning. His every word measured, placed exactly where it belonged. His accent curved each vowel like silk stretched too tight. You didn’t realise your heart was racing until it hurt.

IV stood beside you, ink kissed hands folded behind his back as Vessel abandoned the books he had been reading and moved into the centre of the room, his black eyes never once leaving you. His golden chains shifted slightly as he moved. There was something odd in the way he looked at you, the faint curl of his lips, the ghost of a smile that felt almost familiar.

Vessel turned then, addressing IV over his shoulder.

“Why did you bring her here?” he asked. The softness in his voice didn’t blunt the sharpness of his meaning, as if he was angry and sad in equal measure. “We agreed we were done with humans. Or what, you miss II’s lectures that bad?”

IV let out a small huff. “Oh yeah, can’t get enough of those.”

“You’re a glutton for punishment, then.”

“Maybe,” IV shrugged, “or maybe I just fancied a change of scenery. The lot of you’ve been brooding in circles for months. Thought perhaps it was time we tried it again.”

Vessel exhaled, a sound caught between amusement and disbelief. His arms folded across his chest, muscles flexing beneath black paint and gold chains. His six eyes blinked again, not together this time, but two at a time, diagonally. Gods, the motion made your stomach twist. He regarded IV in silence for a long moment, as though weighing whether to laugh at him or to scold him. Then, at last, he laughed, a rich, unsettling sound that rippled through the room and made the chandelier above tremble without moving at all.

“And you’ll be the one to convince the others, then?” Vessel asked, his tone almost mocking.

You blinked, your eyes stinging.

You had no idea what they were talking about, or even what or who they were, you also had no idea who the others were, or why the room suddenly felt smaller when Vessel mentioned them, but you knew they wouldn’t be happy you were here.

IV inclined his head. “If you agree.”

Vessel tilted his own in reply, considering. All six of his eyes turned to you then, his hum low and thoughtful. “I do,” he said finally. “But this time, you bear the consequences.”

“Understood,” IV replied, his voice light. “I’ll fetch the others.”

Then he turned away with the grace of something no longer tethered to human urgency, like a shadow returning to its source.

“Wait,” your voice cracked before you even knew you had spoken. “Please—”

But IV didn’t pause.

He vanished into the corridor you had entered through together. The flickering light behind him danced faintly, then went still. You watched him go until there was nothing but absence and a breath you didn’t know you were holding escaped you. 

Reluctantly, you turned back.

Vessel was still watching you.

That same small, knowing smile curved his lips, too precise to be human. It didn’t warm his face, it wore his face instead, covering it like a veil, a performance he had decided to put on, something donned rather than felt. For a seemingly endless moment, the two of you stared at one another in painful silence. The cold sweat at the nape of your neck bloomed with every ragged breath.

You took a step back and Vessel’s smile grew wider.

“Do you remember anything, love?”

The term made your skin crawl.

It felt theatrical, it was too soft, too intimate and too practiced. As if he had said it a thousand times before and never meant it once. You shook your head, trying to claw your way out of the haze, arms folding tightly around yourself as if your limbs could protect you from him.

“What—what are you?”

His eyes, all six, blinked slowly.

Vessel didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned back against the chair he had sat on before, crossing his ankles like this was nothing more than a conversation with a guest.

“Where am I? What is this place? Why—” Your lips trembled as you pressed further. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

You didn’t mean to sound as desperate as you did. But it was already too late to pretend.

“There may be another time to talk,” Vessel said, almost kindly. “But not now.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat. “Why?”

“My brothers are coming,” he exhaled through his nose. “And they’re not particularly fond of your kind. Especially III. He’s got a temper, you know. So do us both a favour and keep quiet, yeah? He tends to overreact.”

“Overreact? What does that even—”

Vessel raised one elegant hand, index finger pressing to his lips in a gesture of silence. Then he motioned toward one of the many empty chairs.

“Sit.”

You didn’t move. You couldn’t tell if he was teasing or warning you. Instead, you took a step back. Just one. But it made your heel clip the wall behind you and the weight of the cathedral pressed down against your shoulders. Every cell in your body told you not to trust them and not to lower your guard.

Then came the unmistakable sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor outside. Vessel’s head turned slightly toward the door.

“Ah,” he murmured. “Right on cue.”

That was when you saw them.

The others, walking beside IV.

One stood about your height, built with the cold precision of a statue. His mask was red and black, carved into the eternal frown of a weeping figure, a frozen grimace covering the weary eyes behind it. Through the narrow slits, his gaze burned icy blue, equal parts frost and fury. Unlike the others, his mask covered everything, even his lips, leaving only those glacial eyes exposed. And the rest of his stocky build was all black fabric. A dark sweatshirt was pulled halfway up beneath a vest and a strange silver necklace, while every movement he made was deliberate and efficient. He felt like judgment given form.

The second figure moved like something animated by string, too tall and too angular, his frame unnaturally thin, all sharp elbows and spiderlike knees as though his body had been stretched by cruel hands. The air shifted with him and turned heavier, as if his wrath had a gravity of its own. The scarecrow figure wore a long coat, deep blood red, which swayed behind him like a second spine. His white hair hung in wild tufts, falling over the edges of his mask. His mouth, visible through a jagged tear in the metal, curled in a feral snarl.

And the moment he saw you he exploded.

“What the fuck is that?” he spat, finger stabbing the air toward you with such vehemence it felt like a blade aimed at your throat.

He didn’t move like a human.

He paced like a pendulum swung too wide.

“No!” he growled, hands slicing through the air as he turned to Vessel with an accusing glare. “No, no, no. I’m not doing this again. You piece of—no, I’m not —” he choked on his own fury. “I won’t do this shit! Not after last time.”

“Calm down, III,” Vessel said smoothly. “You’ll frighten her.”

“Calm down?” III bellowed. “It’s a human. I can smell it.”

His mask turned sharply to IV.

“Why is this fucking thing still breathing, brother?” III’s accent was harsh, rough around the edges, making you flinch. “We agreed, we fucking agreed that every single human that shows up has to die. That was the pact. And you agreed, IV!”

IV let out a long sigh through his nose, posture loose, unbothered. “Alright, first of all, stop calling her it. Second, maybe try listening before you start foaming at the mouth, yeah? She didn’t come here like the others.”

“Oh, piss off with that,” III snapped, circling the obsidian table like a mad dog on a leash. His limbs bent too far and his spine curled too deep. The coat behind him swept the air like a wing torn from something mythic. “Doesn’t fucking matter how it got here. It’s a human. End of discussion. You remember what happened last time you got sentimental, yeah? But you know what? It’s fine. Everything’s fucking fine. We can still fix this, yeah?” he murmured, eyes flashing behind the glint of his mask. “We can always eat it.”

You gasped, hands balling into fists so tightly your nails dug moons into your palms. Instinct pulled you back, back, back—

But the wall was there.

IV rolled his eyes. “You always say that. It’s getting boring.”

“Keep talking, smartarse. And one day I will,” III stopped in front of you, abruptly close. His height towered over you now. His head tilted, hair falling sideways, the wild strands sticking to the edge of his mask. You could almost feel his breath through the slits, smelling strangely of orange peels. “I should fucking tear you open, see what’s inside. Let’s find out what makes you worth breaking the rules. So go on, scream for me. You lot love to scream.”

Tears blurred your vision as you whimpered.

“She’s not yours to dismantle, III,” Vessel said evenly.

“Too fucking bad, Ves, I don’t take orders from you.”

“Enough.”

The voice cut through the rising tension like a blade forged in silence. It belonged to the third arrival, the one who had entered alongside III but not said a word until now.

You never heard II approach, he was just there, suddenly in front of you, and the air seemed to vanish. He looked at you like a mistake already halfway to being corrected, those glacial eyes sweeping over you with the detached calm of a healer studying a wound. His presence chilled you to the bone, and your knees threatened to give as you pressed back against the wall, trying to make yourself small, hopefully invisible.

“Hate to say it, but III’s right. Bringing another human here was foolish,” II sighed, turning to IV. “You should’ve left it where you found it.”

IV shot back. “Cheers. Maybe try sugarcoating next time.”

“Not my specialty,” II reminded him.

“Yeah, no shit,” IV muttered.

II didn’t speak with disdain or cruelty. He didn’t raise his voice like III or lace it with theater like Vessel. He simply named the truth it was, plain and clinical, and in doing so, reduced you to a thing. A misstep. A loose thread to be trimmed. And maybe that was your cue to step in, because this conversation was definitely not swinging in your favour.

“I—” your voice was a splinter in your throat. “I don’t understand, please, I don’t understand what’s happening, I just want to go home and—just don’t hurt me, please—”

You blinked through wet lashes, your gaze landing on the man closest to you. But II wasn’t a man, was he? None of them were. They moved differently, spoke differently, even existed differently, like something above you, like some superior beings discussing your fate the way people might argue over a pig, whether to slaughter it or keep it as a pet. II stood still beside you, his black clothes carrying the faint smell of salt, dust, and something disturbingly close to blood. The scent made your panic spike.

Your heart fluttered wildly in your chest, breath catching, ready to break under the weight of the situation unfolding around you. You didn’t understand what they were saying, who they were, or where you even were. The painful confusion pressed in on you like water, crushing your chest, as if you were suffocating, until you couldn’t hold it in any longer.

The tears came, hot and ugly.

And you began to cry.

III groaned. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

Your sobs earned nothing more than a slight tilt of II’s head, like your breakdown had just proven a point he had already made in his head.

“She’s clearly not ready,” he stated, voice flat, stripped of emotion. “Maybe take her back to the forest. Would be better for all of us, really.”

Vessel, still draped over the chair as if carved there, hummed. He stepped forward slowly, not with urgency, but with the deliberate grace of something that had already seen this play out.

“None of us were ready back then,” he murmured. 

III scoffed violently, as if the words offended the very marrow of his bones.

“Oh no, fuck no, don’t start with that chosen bollocks again,” he threw up a hand in disgust, whirling in a circle like the force of his anger couldn’t be contained. “Let me fucking remind you all that we agreed. We’re done with humans. This thing’s a mistake. That’s all it is. IV’s sentimental arse. I’ll sort it. Permanently. Let me snap its neck and poof, we’re done.”

II didn’t even look at III, like his temper tantrum weren’t worth the energy. Instead, his gaze shifted to Vessel. “So what do we do?”

“Keep her,” Vessel said flatly, like the decision had already been made hours ago.

II’s head shook. “That’s stupid, Ves.”

Vessel’s eyes narrowed, but his voice stayed calm. “We’ve ignored Sleep’s will to grow the family long enough. And now she came through the forest on purpose. You really think that’s coincidence? It’s a message. A warning, maybe. Something’s shifted. I can feel it.”

II scoffed. “Oh, don’t start getting poetic on me.”

“Then stop being a coward,” Vessel shot back. “Some gods inherit children but Sleep creates them. Have you forgotten that, brother? To be chosen is to be consumed. Maybe it’s time to get consumed by Him again and let Sleep reveal our path to forgiveness.”

II’s jaw clenched.

III groaned, hands rising to tangle in his hair as he turned to face the wall, slamming a palm against the cold stone. “Sleep below, no, Ves, this isn’t some fucking omen, it only means IV is a stubborn bastard.”

IV, leaning nonchalantly by the table, gave a dry grin. “Better than being a psycho.”

III’s laugh was savage. “Oh, you wound me.”

The voices swelled like a violent tide, crashing and clashing around you. You shrank further into the space behind you, your head snapping from one creature to the other, trying to keep up with the conversation.

Your tears carved rivers down your cheeks, salt on raw skin, and in your horror you realised you were sobbing like a child, hiccuping uncontrollably, curling in on yourself, your body betraying you in every possible way. The tension in the room was a living thing, a monster stalking its own tail, and every time one of them opened their mouth, it sank another claw into your ribs.

III turned on you again, eyes flaring behind his mask.

“Fuck this. I’ll snap it’s neck. Put it out of its misery.”

Your body seized.

You saw it in your mind. His long fingers, fast and precise. The pop of vertebrae. Your eyes wide, unblinking. Death in a cathedral of gods. But before he could move Vessel stepped into III’s path and said, almost lazily, like he was asking someone not to knock over a glass.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t do that.”

III paused.

“Of course you would,” he growled, shoving past him and pacing furiously down the length of the hall. “You’d rather talk. You’d rather hope. You’d rather pretend this ends differently this time. That she’ll be different. She won’t. None of them are.”

And then they all turned. All four of them.

Their eyes on you.

You sobbed again. The weight of their attention was unbearable. Something primal cracked inside you, and you opened your mouth, voice shaking like a thread caught in wind.

“I just want to go home,” you begged. “Please. I don’t remember anything. I don’t—I don’t even know my name—”

II exhaled sharply as if he was already tired of you.

“That’s because you weren’t given a name.”

You blinked. Your vision swam.

“What—” your voice trembled. “What does that mean?”

It was Vessel who answered, not II. His voice was soft again, too soft. “It means,” he stated, stepping toward you, “that you’re in the right place, love. Don’t worry about it, yeah?”

You shook your head violently, trying to claw your way back into your own body, burying your face in your hands like you could shut the world out by sheer force of will. But there was no god to hear you here.

The room seemed to sway around you. You were suffocating. Drowning even. The air was molasses. The light too sharp.

Everything wrong.

Everything wrong.

Everything wrong.

And somewhere above you, high in the vaulted dark where no candle dared shine, something began to whisper your name. A name you hadn’t yet learned. But the cathedral knew it. And in that moment, a new kind of fear took root.

Not the fear of death.

But the fear of being kept alive.

“There are some who burn down the temple not to punish the gods, but to feel the warmth of something holy just once.”

Did you enjoy the chapter? You can check out the God Of The Gaps masterlist and read the full story on AO3.