Chapter 3

Zoe woke up in her bed. it was strange, she was certain she wasn’t supposed to be here. She had to work today, right? She had something that day, surely. She blinked and got up, but froze when her left hand came to rest on something soft, squishy and hot. A soft moan escaped someone else's lips and turning her head slowly, Zoe was greeted by the sight of a small - compared to her usual stature - Godling in her bed.

She screamed. 

How did she know she was a Godling? What was happening!? No for starters, why was there a woman - someone, anyone ! - in her little apartment? She ́ever let anyone in. It was supposed to be her refuge, the one place where, no matter what happened, nobody would enter and she’d be safe and not bothered, the one place that was even better than her cubicle. She couldn’t be in danger here, it was so unfair.

“Zoe, you’re adorable, but panicking really doesn’t fit you,” said the stranger in her bed, putting her arms around Zoe’s torso and dragging her back to the mattress, in spite of the vehement - and terrified struggling of Zoe. “I guess it wasn’t such a good idea to erase today, well, the version of today you experienced and insert myself in your night… A shame, I really couldn't help myself when I heard you say my name, finally. Here, an instant and… you recognize me, now.”

“Miss Beckworth!” gasped Zoe as a rush of memories threatened to overcome her - memories she hadn’t lived, as the events they covered were of today, in her a future, a future that couldn't exist now. “My head hurts…”

“I told you to call me Laurene,” sighed the Godling as she continued to press her insane body against the back of Zoe’s, her large breasts engulfing her head until it was entirely encased between them, with room to spare. “Or even something riskier, but I don’t think you’re ready for that yet, darling. As for your head, it's normal, you aren't meant to have memories of things which can't happen. But you’re fine, aren't you? I just willed the pain away.”

“Hum… Miss Beckworth? I’m not sure it’s… uh, appropriate for you to do that or… or be here…” tried Zoe, who was indeed feeling better but also shivering, terrified to back talk to a being that was, for all intent and purpose, a divinity in her bed. “It’s… you’re my boss, right? So, it’s a sort of misconduct prohibited by the company rules and…”

She stopped when she felt fingers caressing her on her ass, her hips, her breast - and one on her mouth. She looked down, ready to be terrified by something otherworldly. Instead, she was simply greeted by too many arms from the woman - Godling she corrected herself - that was holding her and was now exploring her body, without her being able to do anything. Like in college with Ron.

“I’m not a human, darling. Not anymore. The three years since I have… changed. They are only for you and your kind. For me and mine, between a heartbeat and the next… I saw the beginning of the Universe, its end and what came after and what is Around it for all Time, as inconsequential as Time is, anyway. Being here, with your kind and not Beyond anything you can even conceive… Zoe, it takes some effort. A lot of us refused and left this place and time behind, their primate bodies discarded to die. I didn’t.”

“Why…” mumbled the young woman, who was shivering still, as the fingers seemed intent to explore her further, their caress tracing pathways of carnal pleasure on her body, driving her half mad with lust and terror.

“Thanks to you, of course. When I Ascended, I realized that I had been what I am today for all eternity, but simply had to wait for this event to… manifest, in a sense. And I realized that I needed to be alive for that. And the person who saved me was you, Zoe. Without your tenderness, I wouldn’t have been able to survive until this event… So… when I realized it, when I knew it. I knew you were the rarest of things. A Soulmate. In a way that the human expression fails to express. You exist for me to love you, Zoe. It is your purpose in life, now that we Godlings can exist with your kind, in a sense. I willed it when I became what I am now and it overwrote your previous timeline. It's way better that way, trust me. But I’m sorry I failed to act earlier to help you, but we all agreed that we needed… time to prepare our Soulmates for their encounter back with us. We did fail to account for many important things in our first millions attempts at fixing this tiny Universe, you see?”

It was all too much for Zoe to comprehend. Her brain seemed simply to freeze. She stopped struggling and let the Godling do as she wanted with her, becoming utterly despondent. It seemed however that it wasn’t what Miss Beckworth had in mind, as she felt the fingers dissipate on her skin, until only a pair of hands remained, which pushed her out of her titty prison, made her turn and she was met with the worried face of the god-like being looking at hers.

“I’m sorry Zoe. It’s clearly too much for you yet. I love you darling, so we’ll meet again. See you soon!”

Zoe blinked. She was here, the woman of the subway, her large breasts already approaching her face, ready to engulf it. Strangely enough, she didn’t feel as worried about it, as if it was something mundane, almost reassuring.  Something she was used to and she could understand. The ridiculously tiny woman couldn’t even comprehend why she felt like that. She didn’t know either what made her talk to her as she approached, one step away from toying with her again.

“What’s your name?”

The bigger woman stopped and blinked, as if she was stunned that the tiny morsel in front of her, who had never dared even squeak when she used her dared to talk to her. For a moment, Zoe saw anger flash on that beautiful face, as if she had been insulted by the simple act of talking to her. But she deflated and suddenly seemed sad, and even a tad worried. Zoe felt that the woman expected her to know that, somehow.

“I'm Laurene Beckworth  “ she said gently, sadly, and Zoe felt something, as if that name had to mean something but it didn’t, not really. And yet.

“I knew a Miss Beckworth,” the small woman blurted. “She was a gentle old lady, back in my childhood neighbourhood… But I never knew her name…”

“It's Laurene…” said the towering woman, only she had changed now and yet was the same. 

“What the…” started Zoe, but a finger was pressed on her face, even as the rest of the world was frozen in place, only her and Laurene Beckworth were moving. 

“I love you, Zoe Zafiakis” saif the impossible being in front of her, who looked like a ten meter tall woman, the tall woman from the subway, and the old Miss Beckworth all at the same time, and none of that should have been remotely possible. “I tried to… for years I kept trying. Billions of times. It never works but I decided that I would be okay with that. That my presence in the subway would only be that. A strange woman holding you close and letting you know how cared for you were. And then I acquired your business and in a today you haven’t really lived, I revealed myself to you, leaving a hint of it in you, so you'd know me when you meet me here before going to work… but it didn’t work. It should work, it should be perfect, but it hasn't been yet. It doesn’t matter. I'll try again and again, until it is perfect and we'll be happy. Don't worry you won't -”

“Wait!” Zoe cried out and the thing that had been an old woman and was now so much more stopped, looking at her puzzled. “Please, Miss Beckworth, don't… don't kill me!”

“Kill…” gasped the Entity - the Godling - in front of her, seemingly utterly stunned. “Zoe! I never even hurt a hair from your head. I swear! Zoe… oh poor thing, why would you even think I could… I need to do it again! It's the worst attempt ever, I'm so sorry. I… I'll start again, just let me console you first!” she added, moving i. To give a tender embrace to the tiny woman.

“If you erase me, I'll die!” squeaked the young woman, even as she was pressed into the same tits that had already often engulfed her - only she also felt as if two orbs the size of the Moon were pressing against her; and she knew that for a fact, that they were moon-sized, even if it made no sense.

“Oh! Of course! Silly me, I should have realized it was that. But it's not that at all, Zoe. Here, let me give you an example you can understand. Take a page of paper. From a central point, draw a series of lines branching out. Take one of those branches, and erase it to redraw it. The other branches are unaffected. That’s what I do, Zoe. I erase, well, the you of today, and start over at an earlier point in time. Meanwhile, I continue to be everywhere I need to be, at any point of this microscopic Universe - and also Outside and Beyond, but that's a topic best left untouched. So I'm not killing you, just… rewinding you a little.”

“Uuuuuh…” Zoe whimpered, unconvinced and even more terrified now.

“Oh Zoe, darling. I am making you uncomfortable. We will start again, just let me give you a real kiss first, okay?”

“M-m-miss Beckworth… have we. Have we ever talked as much since you, since it… uh…”

“Since I became a Godling? No, of course not darling. But so what?”

“Perhaps… perhaps all is well, then?” Zoe tried, as she truly wanted to avoid to be erased - no matter what the divine being said. “Plu…plus, you must, uh, you must know what to say and do to get what you want if you can see the future, your, uh, your Gloriness?”

“Laurene, please. You of all people need not give me titles. Endearing nicknames because you're a hopeless romantic in love with me is fine however, darling. But to continue this discussion - and note that I don’t agree that all is well, but it is certainly interesting and will be enlightening to build up toward our perfect first encounter later - just because I can see all of Time at the same, well, time in this Universe and act on it doesn’t mean I should. We Godlings have all realized that our Soulmates are too precious to act like that.”

“I… I don't understand, Ma'am.”

“I know and it's perfectly normal, Zoe. No need to be afraid. To explain it in simple terms that even a human could understand, you and the other Soulmates act as a tether for us Godlings. If you cease to be a Soulmate, that tether breaks off, and we fully ascend, unable to interact with this Universe. We are then fully outside and trying to even look too long at your Universe would destroy it.”

“Oh God…” whimpered Zoe, horrified beyond words now.

“Really darling, Laurene is fine” absent-mindedly corrected the being in front of her. “And to fully answer your question, depriving you of your agency in any way, shape or form would remove your nature as a Soulmate. If I did it, at least. Another Godling could, but we are… protective of you little things we love so much. So we agreed on a strict non-interference rule.”

“And uh… are you sure… I mean, I wouldn’t want to make you angry but… are you sure you wouldn’t be happier… asc…ascending fully? Instead of… of wasting 60 or so years with me before doing so anyway?”

Miss Beckworth looked at Zoe with such a stunned and confused expression that the young woman was afraid she had said something particularly stupid. She tried to look away to defuse her worries. Instead she was reminded that she was inside a subway crammed with people frozen in time. It didn’t help her feel better at all sadly, so she returned to the Godling's face. She was still seemingly processing what she had just heard, and it made Zoe very uncomfortable.

“Uh… your Divinity ? Is everything okay?”

“No!” Miss Beckworth boomed. “You think I'd let you age! Why? Why of all the Godlings, only I can’t seem to connect properly with her Soulmate? Why can't I make your first talk with me perfect!?”

Zoe discovered that there was something beyond terror, something even more horrifying and paralyzing as she looked at the frustrated face of the Godling in front of her. Miss Beckworth was genuinely angry now, and Zoe was sure she was angry at her and she’d pay the price. She let out a terrified whimper and felt her bladder cease to function properly as it released its content. She fell on her knees, looking up at the thing that was Miss Beckworth and that she couldn’t even describe anymore. And then she was looking at a horror stricken woman, the one from the subway clutching her face and looking at her, caressing her tenderly.

“Zoe, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to… I… I don't know what to do anymore. I have tried… well, not everything but close to it. And it's not working as I want. And everything does as I want. What I will IS and the rest ISN'T, you see… But you're a Soulmate, the exception to the rule… no matter” she continued, letting go of the ridiculously tiny woman and taking a step back. “I'll start again. Even constantly relieving our first time is time spent with you, properly, and I love it.”

She stopped when Zoe’s hand clutched at her t-shirt. The young woman hadn’t realized she had done that until the eyes of the Godling fell on her hand. She didn't know why she did that. She didn’t want to die, but she believed the Godling at least believed it didn't kill her when it rewinded her time a little. But there had been something else in those eyes when she had clutched her face and looked at her. Something that moved her and hurt her and made her afraid and yet ignited a craving she couldn’t really understand. Something Ron had assured couldn’t happen, that no one could do, because she was so pathetic to begin with.

“Do you see me?” 

“Of course I see you, Zoe. From now until the end of Eternity Itself, I see you, in every second of your life… I… want to give you what you deserve. But… your timeline keeps shifting between what I want, what it was before Ascension and… something else. Another way that is unbefitting of you, as it isn't perfection…”

“I…I’d like not perfection. I think?” Zoe stated, her affirmation turning into a question as the Godling’s eyes bulged for a split second. “If it's okay with you?”

And then, Miss Beckworth made use of her unlimited powers again.