deepundergroundpoetry.com
In the Netherworld of Bliss
- In the Netherworld of Bliss -
The day had been long, and the chanting of the acolytes of the inner sanctum had been far from in any way pleasant to the ear after some time of their attempts at piety. Their ceremonies were, as ever, a most intricate affair and well practiced to the point of it being mechanical, a thing the acolytes were so madly long used to doing that they no longer even saw the madness in what they did. Only the devotion, ever, and the zealously blind need to continue the ancient traditions that their masters had imparted upon the lot of them. The little boy who had assisted them, as had been expected of him by those to whom he in his earliest days of life had been given, felt glad for his part that the day's rituals were over. Too long, it seemed, they had become... those rituals... and too boring by far! And what was their purpose, did those who enacted them even know any longer? Blind ritual... performance art for art's sake, and without any purpose to it. In service to gods whose names were spoken but whose reality was uncertain at best. Any society so given to unquestioning piety such as this, is foolish the boy felt. Mad, at the worst! He did oft say, and for this he was always told to be silent. How had it come to this? From a prince living in a high and grand palace in the mountains, to a servant of eldritch gods and an assistant in abominable varieties of practice. They only thing they had not defiled nor molested was his body... all else seemed tainted as if his very innocence was being leeched away to satiate the terrible, alien deities who never showed the slightest interest in their worshipers, nor the slightest evidence of their existence. His parents, the queen and king, had said that service to the gods would do the child good for a few years. The queen had been a priestess of the gods in her youth, and held their acolytes in high regard. The king felt less inclined to kindness towards them, and had not wished for his son to endure servitude to their sort. But long had it been that the queen's demands were honored more than her husband's... and thus was the boy sent off to the acolytes and thus did the present circumstances eventually unfold. How many birthdays had he been forced to spend cheerlessly among these dark acolytes? It had become intolerable. Prior to the nightfall of the current day... the boy knew not even which day of the week it was any longer... the high priestess had presented him with a silver bowl that she lay upon a marble table in the inner tabernacle of the high temple. She bade him look upon it, and to recognize the importance of that relic. The robed and masked guards who stood huddled, spears in hand, to either side of the chamber may as well have been statues, for all they showed any life to them, being immobile and immovable as they were despite their stooped forms due to their great height and heavy armored breastplates that appeared difficult for them to bear... yet bear the weight of them they did regardless. The woman's long explanation of the bowl and the vast whole entirety of its' vastly antiquated history was the dullest sort of history lesson imaginable. If it was decided she should ask him questions about it, he felt certain he would remember nothing of it to speak to hear about in such a report. This was as boring, if not more so, as the previous day... in which he had helped other children like himself to construct ritual dolls, after which they went out to pick apples off the branches of trees in the Blessed Orchards, the fruit of those trees being considered sacred. The fruit was used in rites of communion with one of the many goddesses... the boy could not remember exactly which one any longer... and the children were forbidden to partake of it until they became full acolytes. A fate worse than death for this particular child, who longed only to be free to return to the palace and the life of comfort and joy that he had known there however briefly. Though brief, it had left a certain... impression... upon his memory, and he longed for what that impression had imposed upon him. After it was that the high priestess had finished going on and on, and waxing poetic about that ridiculous bowl for far longer than was even remotely tolerable... she asked the boy a single question, which in and of itself did surprise him: “So, would you consider this to be a treasure worth the temple's time to keep, or should be throw it away and procure one with a history more in line with the far more progressive sorts of practices neighboring kingdoms seem to be favoring these days?” The boy laughed, and it sounded a bit mad that laugh, before replying honestly to the high priestess: “To be honest, your grace, I care not!”
He rubbed his face from where she had slapped him as he looked in the mirror in his chambers, and it was not unexpected that she had dealt with him thus. He could not follow her history lesson, and he did give a rather hotheaded reply to her question. Had a full adult acolyte done such, they may have gotten a lashing for it. But he was still so very young, and far from expected to be wise. Obedience was what it seemed they expected from him the most, and he had precious little of that left to give the temple. It did seem to him as if his childhood was being wasted in its' service, and he wanted no further part in all its' useless, worthless rites, rituals, and ceremonies. He walked over to the window, which overlooked one of the temple's various outdoor shrines, and all he could think about when he watched a hawk fly off in the distance was that the animal was freer than he ever would be. He was eight years of ago, not even a full ten years old yet, and he already felt far older than his years. What would it be like once he reached adulthood? Gods! He did not want to consider such a thing. It was late afternoon, just after suppertime, and not yet nightfall... not yet dusk either, it seemed, which was a couple of hours distant. He wore long black silk robes with billowing sleeves over which was a soft dark purple velvet vest. The vest lent a bit of a shape to otherwise mostly shapeless garments. He looked like a little girl, with his long hair curly, golden blonde, and with prettily curled bangs above his immaculately trimmed and shaped eyebrows. It was evident he took after his mother and not his father! Which oft made his father speculate on whether the child was truly his offspring or not. For the queen was known to take many lovers to her bed. Even his face with its' round shape and those full lips of his and his big, beautiful hazel eyes all were quite in truth the mirror image of his mother's face when she had been the same age. He looked angelic, though no one ever complimented him or told him so. He was slender of body, and strong for his age after all of the work that the temple had put him to since he came into the high priestess's care. If care it could be called! He looked very soft, very much the child of nobles, and he felt that he belonged in a place of more happy disposition than this somber house wherein terrible gods were worshiped. The thought of the hawk was strong in his mind as he laid down for a moment on his bed to collect his thoughts. As he ran his hand over the silky material of his gown-like robes, he realized it felt good when he felt his skin through that fabric, even though he did not understand that the feeling was a sensual one. No one talked to him or educated him about such things, and he knew no words to describe the pleasurable nature of such sensations as these. He forgot about the hawk once he started to caress himself in this way, as he ran his hand over his arms, his legs, and his abdomen. His breath was quickening, and he did not know why that was, and a slight sweat came upon him, a heat inside of him causing it... and he did not at all, in any capacity, understand why his body was doing this, why it always did this, when he ran his hands over it in this way. But it was a ritual he did to relax himself, and excite himself at the same time. Once or twice, he thought about touching himself between his legs through that silky fabric but somehow he always stopped short of doing that. His mind had been thinking about one of the little girls that he had a bit of a fondness for, who was among his peers in the service of the temple... he did not know why, but every time he thought about her and how pretty she was, that made it more pleasing to caress himself in these ways that he did. He longed to caress her in the same way, but knew that such was forbidden to do by the edicts of the high priestess. People said the girl looked a bit like him and he like her, and that did serve as the closest thing to a compliment this boy had ever received regarding his own girlish beauty. At times, as so noted, he wondered what it would be like to touch that girl... but at other times, which did confuse him when they came upon him, he wondered what it would be like to be a girl, and to have a boy touch him. He knew girls were different physically from boys, but he did not know how. Mostly, he was beginning to see himself as a girl, and there were no words to describe the joy that thinking of himself as such filled him with. He fell asleep for a few hours whilst lost in these musings, and when it was that he awoke it was early evening or close thereto. He rushed over to the window and gazed out of it at the world beyond. That was the moment he decided he would attempt to leave this place... forever.
In daylight, any attempt at such an escape would be impossible due to the hectic schedule and all the things he was expected to do and be a part of, not to count the meal times. One hour of play was all that the children were allowed to indulge in together, and only one hour. And even then, they were watched over by guards who stood off to the side to make certain the children would not take off by running well across the playground to the woodlands beyond. It would be an easy thing to do, for no fence or wall so enclosed that outdoor play area... but for the guards. However, at night they did not watch that place at all, their attention being needed elsewhere. If the boy was to get away from the temple, the only way he could think of was by venturing across the playground and sneaking off into the woods. He did gaze to the floor to regard his slippers and then his eyes fell upon his travel sandals. He put those on, at last in a full decision to do this desperate thing he intended to do. In the distance, outside the window, the sound of crickets could be heard... it was summertime, and every night they chirped their song. Some nights, a wolf or an owl could be heard from far off, and they had songs of their own to sing. He did not think of the animals, nor of the night, as he made his way in silence through the cavernous halls of the temple of those impossibly old gods known as the Ancient Ones... the occasional rustling of the skirts of his robes were the only whisper-like sound he made, and that was not enough to alert the night guards. He had in the previous years learned more ways to pass through the temple's halls in silence and oft unseen, and it was time to put that knowledge to the ultimate test. He passed through winding corridors used most by the maidservants, cooks, and other common folk who dwelt in the temple and served its' inhabitants. At this hour, previous few of them would be using those ways... and he descended long flights of steps, of stone and of metal, his feet trying not to make too much noise upon those metal stairs, as he called unto his mind the correct paths needed to be tread in order to reach the playground without being spotted or heard. Eventually, he reached a balcony overlooking the playground and tried to gauge whether it might be safe to jump down or not. High hedges ran all along the edge of the temple walls below the balcony, those hedges bordering the playground directly. This balcony was not far from the ground, thought still it seemed to high to jump down from. However, there was ivy and vines growing from the grass of the ground all the way up the walls of the temple behind the hedges, and to either side of the balcony, and onward up the sides of the grand old structure itself. He tested the vines to decide it they could perhaps be strong enough to climb down... strong enough to bear his weight. The vines were thick, like rope in pretty much every way, and supported by the ivy so that both clung to the walls and could not be easily removed or moved. A grown adult would probably be able to dislodge them and would likely fall and be seriously injured in any attempt to climb them... but an eight year old little boy would be far lighter, and this boy was a nimble and agile sort. He dared this route, clasping his hands about the nearest vine and using it, and also the ivy with it, to climb down unto the grass behind the hedges, descending in this fashion from the wall to the immediate right of the balcony. He crouched low once he was in the grass, and looked about to see if any guards might be about or watching. As expected, no guards were present at this hour in this location, nor could any be seen anywhere around. Satisfied, the boy bounded with a catlike grace across the playground and took off in a mad dash towards the woodlands across the fields beyond. His heart was racing, his mind filled with all manner of imaginings as he realized that for this, the first time in his young life, he was away from the temple. He had never been beyond the temple, nor the palace into which he had been born... and this was his first taste of the outside world. Shrouded as it was, in the dark of nighttime's shadows and the gloom thereof. Illuminated palely by the moon, with the stars of the night sky in their twinkling being almost a sign from the gods that this was of a well omen... the boy breathed the night air, which was cool after the heat of the day. He breathed it in deeply, as swift he did move in his haste to reach the woods... once the trees were towering over him, the tall pines and the thick oaks, and the canopy of the forest was above his head, he finally relaxed in his pace and began to walk at a leisurely pace. It was time to see what was within this forest, and what might lay beyond it!
The sounds of small animals could be heard here and there as the boy strode across the forest floor in the dark of night, and even shapes of things that were not living did to his active mind seem to be things otherworldly and wondrous... but also frightening at times. In the pitch black of certain trails and paths, the origins of which were likely only animals or local huntsmen... the boy sometimes thought he might if he gazed too long into that darkness behold some terrible monster of a demonic sort. The legends told of such terrors by his instructors at the temple had filled his head with a fright over such beings, and so he made it a practice never to gaze for too long into any space that was totally black and without light to reveal what was within it. Thus did he avoid the darkest parts of the forest, even as the winding way he went took him by degrees ever deeper into it. He was careful not to catch his flowing skirts upon any low branches, bushes, or thickets as he proceeded along, and before too much time had passed he did so hear the babbling sound of a small stream. He had read someplace that if you follow such streams it can lead you to the source of them, much as it is with rivers... and so, careful not to step too close to any of the loose rocks or stones by the water's edge, he did begin to follow the stream for as far as it could take him. Ever mindful not to follow it back in the direction that he had come from, for he had no wish to be returning to the temple once more. The stream soon emptied into a larger river, which wound through a large break in the forest and seemed to flow away from the direction the boy had come from. Deciding it was a good thing to discover, he chose to follow the river along the banks of it... for as far as it might take him. Ere long, he reached the lands beyond the forest and those lands were at first flowery fields to which he came, and beyond the fields were vast plains. On the other side of those plains, were barrens, and his mind could not guess what might be beyond the barrens. It was still night, and hours had passed yet still it was night and it was impossible to tell how late into the night it actually was. The expanses of land before the boy were treeless and hilly, and there were rough crags and mountains far off. There had been no chance to learn about the local geography during his limited education at the temple, and so did the boy have no idea where he was going. Only, that he needed to keep going, until he found once more some measure of civilization. Preferably, a friendlier place to live than the home he had just departed in this mad haste of his. The river was long gone behind him by the time he began to trek across the fields and plains... trying to see if there were anything but barren lands beyond them in any direction. But... as it was night after all, it was difficult to tell even with the light of the moon above. He had not a desire to chance the barren lands, but he likewise saw only those in the distance and no sign of any better way to go. Behind him, in the woods that were now fading into the distance, he could hear wolves crying loud and mournfully... and he was happy to be out of that forest and away from the danger of such creatures. He kept going, almost mindlessly, until he was at the threshold of the barren lands beyond the plains. In the tall grass of the plains, he had lost all sense of direction so that by the time the rocky land stretched out before him... he knew that he could not have fled back even if he wished to. And still, it was night! He wondered just how long a single night actually was, for before now he had always slept through the night and lived his life only in daylight's graces. Even as he tried to accept that the land before him had within it only desolation and that within it there seemed nothing living. At least, nothing living in a way that was healthy any longer. These barren lands were a terrible place with dead petrified trees and rocks blackened in color even as the ground appeared ashen in places. The landscape appeared warped in just a few spots here and there, as if some unimaginable catastrophe had taken place in this land long, long ago. Of a sort that had changed this land in ways that nature never intended. Smoking craters could be seen filled with lava, and steam erupted from geysers at certain intervals, the hissing sound a warning to keep away from the scalding heat of the water ejected along the steam from those frightful orifices that seemed all too common a sight for the boy's liking. There was no cacti, no wild brush nor anything that was growing... it was instead a hellish and twisted place in which the boy now walked. It was warmer, less cool, than the forest had been and not because it was summer either. It was as if this was Hell itself.
As the little boy made his way across this barren expanse, he heard from ahead of him the sounds of footsteps crunching upon the rocky terrain, and he did see coming towards his direction the figure of an adult of average height. Whether it was a man or in fact a woman, it could not be determined from this distance... either way, the boy walked towards the stranger whilst in the hopes that the person might be able to help him find his way to somewhere or another. He called out to them as he approached, and the man... for a man it was... answered the boy in a soft-toned voice: “Hello to you there, little one! What is it that brings a child out into this expanse? Have you been exiled, perhaps!” The boy then said unto him in the melodic, sweet voice that the child had: “In a way, good sir! I've run away from the temple that so lies beyond the forest I just left behind, and I cannot go back nor do I want to. I was hoping you may be inclined to show me the way to some better, more civilized place than these wild parts.” To the man that heard the little boy speak, the child's voice had an accent to it that was unusual to his ears. He paid it no mind though, as he said to the boy: “You impose your own exile, then! I like you already... very well, if you would like I could carry you to a better place.” And the boy gazed for a bit at his would be savior to take the man's measure. The man was indeed very average of height, more the height of many women... yet even so he was far, far taller than the little boy was. Also, the man was of average build, and he did indeed look strong as far as an adult goes, though far less so than the guards back at the temple who had bulging muscles beneath their robes and breastplates. This man was more slender than muscular, but of an appearance such that his age could not be easily determined. He looked middle aged, mostly, but not without a certain youthfulness to him despite that. The man wore a scarlet scarf around his head, likely to protect his head from the heat of the sun during the day, and seemed to have no hair beneath it not it seemed any eyebrows either. He was a clean shaven man, and by his scent he wore some kind of floral scented perfume. The man had a certain feminine quality to him both in his body and in his manner but he did not have breasts as women do so the boy reasoned rightly that, judging by the sound of the man's voice which was not unlike that of a lad in his late teens after the first changing of one's voice, it had to in fact be a man the child was speaking with after all. As the child had first guessed. The man wore an attire the little boy had never seen before, consisting of baggy silky looking pantaloons that were both gathered at the waist and at the ankles but which were full and puffy otherwise. Those appeared to be a black color, and tucked into them was a long sleeved blouse with equally puffy looking sleeves that was buttoned in the front but which had a low neckline. The sleeves were gathered with elastic at the wrists and this only increased their apparent bagginess. The blouse was blood red in color, and tried at his side with a big bow, a sash belt was worn about the man's waist, the color of which was a dark gold. He had a light traveling cloak on, and upon his feet the man wore a pair of black shoes tied with black laces. He carried no weapon and seemed to pose no evident threat so the boy wanted to trust him. All the same he said unto the man: “If you promise not to drop me, you can carry me... you look strong enough.” and so did the man pick the boy up, with some measure of help from the child himself, and soon he had him in his arms and the manner in which he carried the boy was like that of a groom carrying his bride as soon as they have been wed. The boy leaned his angelic head upon the man's shoulder and was lulled asleep, peacefully, before much longer as the man carried him through that terrible domain in which they had found each other. The man could not get out of his head how beautiful the child was, and he was not at all sure if the child he carried was a little boy or a little girl. He wondered if the child would not mind if he did some discovering, once he got the little one back to his dwelling place with him. Some children, they were a lot more inclined to allow him to touch them, and fought less when he did. Others, he had a bit of a struggle with at first until they accepted what he offered them. He wondered which it would be, with this lovely one's case. The boy knew nothing of the man's intentions, only accepting that perhaps it was soon to be that he would never have to go back to the temple again. He dreamed of having a happy family that loved him... and which did not send him off to boringly terrible places for harsh educations.
The boy awakened to notice that he was laying upon a comfortable bed with red sheets in a room that was as opulent and splendid as had been the palace of his birth. Yet, there was a certain alien quality to that room, the pillars that supported the high arched ceiling being spine-like in their design and black as midnight were those pillars, and the ceiling as well. The walls were smooth and dark green in color, and trimmed with gold. The ceiling had the quality of being like unto the underside of the rib cage of a great beast of unthinkable size, and yet it was very much as purely artificial as were the pillars, designed only to give that sort of an impression. Shelves lined the walls containing various curios and art objects from many countries and lands, and there were paintings on the walls depicting scenes that the boy had not in any way the slightest knowledge of. Idyllic scenes, mostly, and many of them depicting little girls and a few of which depicted effeminate looking boys just like the child himself who now gazed upon them as he lay in that bed in which he awoke. A wardrobe made from mahogany was on the wall opposite from the bed, and there was a series of plastic containers upon which various stuffed animals were sitting. An assortment of storage chests contained the boy knew not what, and cabinets that held porcelain dolls did decorate further what evidently was intended to be a child's bedroom. The boy was naked, he noticed as he further became acclimated to his new environment. He got up out of the bed and walked over to the wardrobe to choose some clothing to put on. A pair of white silk bloomer shorts he chose to put on for undergarments, and over those a pair of baggy voluminous pantaloons that were tied at the waist with a drawstring and gathered at the ankles with elastic. They were extremely comfortable, and he liked the way they felt upon him. He picked out a bolero style blouse that had long puffy sleeves and which did totally expose the child's midriff. It was low cut, but not indecently so, and was roomy enough to suit the boy's tastes. These were the sort of clothing he always wanted to wear, but which the temple had let him wear only on informal occasions... and it seemed that back at that awful temple the occasions were practically always formal. The pants were gold in color, and the blouse was a rich blue. Next, he put on a pair of slippers that had slightly upturned toes, and those were a darker gold in color than the pants. In a nearby drawer he found some makeup and he put on some lipstick like he had seen the girls doing at the temple... and he was satisfied with how he looked wearing it. He picked a light pink shade that went well with his light complexion. Also in the same drawer was some jewelry, and from it he chose to wear a gold chain necklace that had upon it a circular pendant containing a blood stone. He gazed at himself in a nearby mirror, and at first glace took himself to be a girl and had he not seen his penis before he did put on these clothes he might have had the passing notion that his life as a boy had been only a dream... and as it was, his life back at the temple may as well have been. He walked over to the door, which was set into the wall on the left-hand side of the room, and found that it opened easily enough and was not locked. “It seems I am a guest here after all, and not a prisoner.” he mused aloud, and realized that it did come far to easily to his mind, the possibility that he was a prisoner. His life back at the temple was that which he had to thank for such a fear. As he walked through the halls outside that door, the corridors of wherever this place was had the same green coloration as had the bedroom, and the black rib-like form of the ceiling extended to these hallways as well it seemed. Everything was lit with electric lighting and there were comfortably bright but not too bright lights set into the ceiling at various intervals. He did so recall that the palace had these sorts of lights in it, but the temple preferred the use of old fashioned and highly antiquated things such as candles, lamps and lanterns. It was good to see these conveniences, for it brought to the boy's mind a sense that this place was totally unlike that awful temple in every way. It was good to notice, but a sinister air was about everything and the child had no idea why it felt that off. Music could be heard a distance away, old pop music from the world before, as the scriptures had called the ancient days of legend. Yet, it was beyond the boy's knowing who the woman was that sang in these songs... his parents had sometimes played the old music on portable electronic devices they carried with them and used to communicate with each other sometimes as well. Android phones, those devices were.
The sounds of other children could be heard, and the sounds grew louder as the little boy approached the source of what very much sounded like merriment. He came soon, after following the winding and rather almost maze-like corridors of this place, to a great living room space that held comfortable chairs and couches that had upon them blood red cushions and pillows. Piles of more cushions and pillows did lay heaped about the richly carpeted floor in places, and the entire interior seemed to have some form of air conditioning for it was not hot like some days at the temple had been during the summer season. On the far side of the room was a fireplace not in use this time of the year, and a stereo system of some sort was the source of the music that was playing. There were children of many races and from many lands, it did seem, and they were dressed in soft silken garments... some in attire like that which the boy chose and some dressed in gowns or dresses. All of their attire was of the finest quality, and fit for nobility. A good number of children were engaged in playing board games, some sat before a television to play the old video games that had once been popular during the times of the world before. And all of them had a happy, delighted look upon their faces the like of which no child of the temple had ever been allowed to have. Some of the girls played dress up with dolls, whilst some of the boys played with toy robots and a good number of small figures like unto dolls that could be posed in various ways and made to hold all sorts of accessories. Everyone seemed happy, and this living room space appeared to be a variable play area. One of the girls pointed to the newcomer, and she said to the boy happily: “Oh look! She's awake. At least... I think it's a she.” the girl then pranced over and asked the boy: “You are a girl... aren't you?” And the boy said unto her: “No, not really, but I do like dressing like one and sometimes I do think of myself as one also.” The girl then giggled, smiled brightly, and said unto him: “Then you are one, silly! You just have to learn to accept that side of you and let the whole world see it.” But the boy really had not decided yet if he wanted to fully see himself that way all the time. He mentioned that to the girl, and she delightfully exclaimed: “That's fine too! Gender is a spectrum, you see... it's not set in stone, and if you want to then you can be anything you like. Sky's the limit!” And she took the boy's hands and led him off to dance to the music with her. After some time of this, the man who had carried the boy unto this place walked into the room wearing a long forest green gown with long, wide sleeves. A gold sash belt was tied about the man's waist. Without the head scarf that covered his head previously, it could be seen that indeed he was totally bald, his head cleanly shaven. The man said to the children sweetly and in a kindly manner: “So, how are all my little angels today?” and the children said in unison: “Good!” he then frowned and asked them: “Good is fine... but why aren't you doing great?” and then they all as one giggled, laughed, and said loudly: “We're doing great!” and he said unto them after that: “That is so much better!” he then walked over to the girl who was dancing with the new boy and he picked her up into his arms... she was about ten years of age.. and he kissed her on the mouth very passionately. They whispered something almost conspiratorially together, and he put her back down after which she went off skipping down one of the side hallways. The man then walked over to the boy, and he asked him at the last: “Ever since I fetched you, from the desolation, I have been wondering what your name is. So... will you tell me?” and the feminine looking boy said unto him: “My name is Kory, sir. Prince Kory, of House Zarathoth. I suppose the house name would be my last name, so there you have it.” and with this the prettily feminine boy bowed just as his instructors back at the temple had taught him to. The man so frowned upon seeing Kory bow, and said unto him: “No! We shall have none of that bowing here. Here, we are all equals, and there is no class system in place to speak of. No rich and poor, nor any haves and have-not sort of nonsense going on. Do you understand me, Kory?” and the child replied politely: “Yes, sir! I do. I'll not bow like that again if it displeases you.” the man then hugged the child tightly, and said unto the boy: “Oh, my dear, dear child! What has been done to you? It is not that it displeased me, but it simply is that it is not needed. Alright? You could never displease me, I assure you.” He then seized his chance and forced a passionate kiss upon Kory's lips, which the child responded to by breathing heavily.
The boy's eye widened in shock and surprise, as the man withdrew from the kiss and stood back to his full height, as he had stooped down a bit to hug and kiss Kory in the way that he did. Seeing the look of surprise on the boy's face, the man said unto him: “The first of many pleasantries to come between you, and I... I've kissed all of my little angels in this way, and we've all come to know one another very well. Very well indeed! It's a society of free love we have here, and free expression, where we can do mostly whatever we like, whenever we like, and however we like without anyone to tell us otherwise. We have other adults here, of course, and they keep this place running... workers and the like, all volunteer since we do not call them servants any longer. They cook the meals, manufacture the goods, and keep us well in all we could ever desire from life be it necessities and conveniences, or luxuries. The world before, it was a place of marvelous technology and interesting ideas... but, it fell short in terms of proving the full rights and privileges for all of the people that a free and truly liberated society should have. Here, we do take the best that the world before had to offer, and we improve upon it in every imaginable way.” Kory then asked the man: “And what is your name, sir?” and the man said unto the boy: “Oh, my goodness... oh my, where are my manners! Very well... very well indeed... my name is Mavras. I have had so many, many names over the years, but that is the one I am known by here and now.” Kory then said unto him, in as close to an approximation of cheerfulness as the boy could muster, having had little experience in his life with actually feeling happy: “Well met, Mavras!” and the smile upon the boy's face was genuine and the beginning of true joy. The boy extended his hand in a courtly gesture, and the man took him by the hand and escorted him to a nearby couch where he had Kory sit upon his lap. The boy felt a bit of a bulge between the man's legs that was poking his buttocks, and the man began to grind against Kory in a lewd manner after which he sat the little child next to him. Then, the man quickly pulled up the skirts of the gown that he was wearing and placed the little boy's hand between his legs. Upon his hand being placed there, the child was instructed to caress and stroke the man in a specific way. The bloomer-like shorts the man wore were black and silky, and the boy noticed that as he did what it was that this man told him to... the man's penis grew larger and harder, and this gave the man no end of visible pleasure. In seeing that the boy did not understand what has happening, he began to teach Kory about sex and all those things relating to it that are normally reserved for when a child is much, much older. He told him about oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, and masturbation, and all the things that were good about all those things if they are done well. And after learning all of that, the boy finally understood why it was that he had always felt such pleasure whenever he caressed himself. Mavras took out his now fully erect cock, and had the boy lick it and suck upon it whilst stroking it... and in due course the man did orgasm fully into the little boy's mouth. To his surprise, the boy swallowed his orgasm in its' entirety and although it was a bit salty to taste the boy made not any complaints about doing so. For the man had told him about swallowing or spitting, and so did Kory decide to try swallowing it first... which the child found was to his liking since after all spitting felt to the noble boy to be something that sounded almost low class by the way Mavras had described the act to him. Once he had thus pleasured the man, Kory sat back upon the couch and relaxed himself whilst Mavras kissed him and caressed him for a good while. All of this, did awaken something that felt very good and very right within the boy, and he knew at last that indeed he regarded himself as a girl rather than as a boy. He still did not want to use the term girl, however, for referring to himself, and was happy to come to the realization that in this place no one would press him to do anything he was not ready to. He saw nothing wrong with this sexual activities that he was being instructed in... it was better by far than the boring lessons the temple had forced him to partake in. This was something, Kory realized he could get used to! The man nibbled the boys ear playfully, kissing the child's neck and as he did this he molested the boy between the child's legs and Kory savored all these new, tingling sensations and relished how they made him feel now that he understood their meaning. A true smile of satisfaction played upon the little boy's face, and it was a look children do not often have.
During the weeks to come, the boy became adjusted to life in this underground kingdom, for that did come to be revealed as what this actually was... a place beneath the barren lands, into which the people of that kingdom had been exiled long ago by other kingdoms in other lands when still they lived in the other places as citizens. Some had been branded as deviants, criminals, or lunatics, and yes even some of these children had been so condemned... and, all of them were exiled into the barren lands where it was believed they would perish. But they found an old series of bunkers, tunnels, and factories that had been used by a lost society of the world before... and they created a new kingdom, a new society, from the ashes of the old and thus did they thrive, prosper, and create what they felt would be an ideal utopia far from the judgments and the narrow-minded notions that had condemned them. They cultivated the notion that those in their original homelands believed them to be long dead, and so they called this new place that they established the Netherworld of Bliss. And any who saw them walking in the wastes of the world above believed them to be ghosts or demons of the wastelands... and thus were they assured of their safety and complete anonymity. As Mavras had taught those who became his followers, even as he encouraged them to see themselves as his equals and peers: “It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” For Mavras had always and ever been a fan of the classics, especially the works of Dante, Milton, and Blake among a great many others. All of this, Kory learned over those weeks in which he lived in this kingdom of outcasts, and for the first time in his life he learned the truth about kingdoms such as the one he had been born into... that they are oppressive, at best, and outright tyrannical at the very worst. Had he been entertaining any notions of returning to his parents, he had no such desires to do so after learning of all this. Instead, rather, he had nothing but contempt for the society that had not only made him a prisoner of tradition, but which forced him to spend so many birthdays without cheer or delight of any kind. One day, he told Mavras how he had spent his birthdays during previous years... and the man said unto him tenderly: “Never again will you spend a single birthday without it being truly a cause for celebration! You and your new little brothers and sisters shall know only joy together as well befits a family, not only on your birthdays but every day of your lives. As it already is for them, so shall it be for you from this day forth!” Sometimes Kory was summoned to Mavras' bedchambers along with two or three other children, often two girls aside form Kory himself but sometimes it would be one girl and one other boy... and they would pleasure the man together, and be encouraged to do various acts as well with one another whilst in Mavras' bed. The girls, who were typically between the ages of ten and fourteen, would be forced upon without resistance by Mavras, and sometimes the boys he would deign also to penetrate with his cock... and those he would thrust into the buttocks or mouths thereof. It was on those nights that these children would fall asleep in Mavras' bed, in the man's arms. But upon most nights, it seemed, the man chose as his bed partner that cheerful seeming ten year old girl whom Kory had danced with when first he was brought to the Netherworld of Bliss. She seemed to be the favorite of this man and occasionally she behaved in ways that seemed almost sinister. Kory heard a commotion one night when he was asleep back in his own bedroom, and he did sneak out into the corridors to see what was transpiring. He traced the sound to a storage room in one of the side chambers off a bit from the main living areas, and the more he followed this noise the more he decided it sounded almost like a violent altercation was taking place. When he peered into the storage room from the shadows that did linger and loom outside the hallway that ran past it, he witnessed an adult man being flayed alive. That man had been hung upside down naked by two tall men who were dressed all in black robes and which had black skull shaped masks upon their faces. Mavras was there, also dressed in black robes, and with him was the ten year old girl. Her name, which Kory had learned previously, was Kimberly. She wore a black embroidered gown with short puffy sleeves, and her long wavy flame red hair was tied back in a high ponytail as her bright green eyes glared at he naked prisoner before her. The commotion had been the man being strung up, and the violence of his binding. But the flaying Kory witnessed was the worst!
It began as soon as Kory reached the place from which he was spying on these events, and it was, to the little boy's horror, Kimberly who was the one doing the flaying of the naked prisoner. The man was screaming until his voice was hoarse, and he was castrated as well as flayed, with his eyes removed at the last from their sockets. The little girl had to get up on a step stool to do some the bulk of the grisly work, but do this deed she did... the entirety of it from start to finish. What was left of the man, after it was that the two guards sliced off the man's hands and feet before Kimberly cut his throat to make sure he was indeed dead, was placed in a coffin-shaped container which was loaded into a chute on the other side of the storage room, down which it slid into utter darkness. The roaring of a fire made it clear that the coffin had been sent into a crematorium, of some sort, and suddenly the little boy... horrified... thus crept back to his room and on that night he could not sleep at all. There was a dark side to this paradise after all, and whatever that man had done to earn such a gruesome fate, the child did not want to know. Upon the next day, Kory went to Mavras in private whilst the man was in his study reading... and he did get up the courage to ask of him: “Mavras... tell me what it would take to earn your displeasure. I just... am curious is all... since you seem like such a nice man to me.” And the man stared at the child intently before saying in reply, after putting down the book that he had been reading: “There are rules here, you must know! Whilst we are a free society based on the principles of liberty and understanding, there are at times those who break what laws we do abide by. Stealing, murder and of course any sort of crime as may imperil the people of this place... also the act of revealing the way to this place to outsiders... those are things which warrant the harshest of punishments. Kimberly aids me in ferreting out the bad apples in our merry bunch, and at times she helps me to administer the punishments when they are necessary. Last night, for instance, we had to deal with a troublesome fellow who thankfully we'll not see again.” Then, the little boy asked of this man whom he had come to love and yet fear at the same time: “That's good, but why have I never seen Kimberly eating or drinking anything? She is often absent from meals and snack times, and when she does sit down with us at those times she never touches anything.” That was when Mavras told him Kimberly's secret. He said unto Kory: “Kimberly is not like the rest of you, she is... artificial. A machine in the shape of a little girl, but one with a soul. In the old world ere what befall it happened, they had many machines like Kimberly, and oft they were used as objects to fulfill the sexual desires of lonely men. There was a certain prejudice against artificial life forms, ever since the earliest artificial intelligence was developed and people feared what it might be capable of... and it only grew as people mistrusted the machines that eventually came to walk in bodies of synthetic flesh among them. Kimberly is a relic of the past that I had revived when we found her in a laboratory down below in the lower levels. Ever since she was reactivated, she has been fiercely loyal to me and highly protective of both myself and other children. She has... killed... to keep us safe, and she is in a way my bodyguard as well as what you could call my wife. When I grow old, she will still be as she is today... and she will weep at my grave when my time comes to die. I love her, perhaps more than anyone else in this world, and she loves me equally. Whilst I do truly love all of you darling angels, she has the most... history... with me, and if anyone could be said to be in charge of this place other than myself it would be her. When you get older, and long for a companion of your own, you will understand what Kimberly and I share together as a couple.” He always treated her like a queen, despite the lack of a class system in this underground domain, and now at last Kory understood why. Satisfied with these explanations, it was time for Kory to return to the other children before he might be missed. On this day the little boy so looked quite particularly radiant in a pair of green satin Turkish harem style pants paired with a bit of a tight midriff baring crop top of the identical green color as the pants. And his adult paramour did visibly lick his lips at the sight of the child's buttocks when the boy went to leave the study chamber. He had on so many nights partaken of that buttocks! And yet, it always enticed him whenever he gazed upon Kory. A pervert and a deviant, his homeland had called Mavras. And yet... he was capable of a profound love.
In all the time that the Netherworld of Bliss had grown into the nation it was now, the scientists of it worked diligently to replicate and resurrect the ancient technologies of the old world from before. And, by the end of the first year of Kory's time in that underground domain... those scientists had completed their masterpiece. An army, of android soldiers, deathless men and women who were artificial just like Kimberly was artificial... did march out into the world above, at the firm command of Mavras and his ten top generals. The machine army marched forth, looking like fleshly men and women at first glace but in fact those same were many, many times stronger than any man or woman as born naturally. They were armed with firearms from the world before, and drove tanks and other vehicles that the rest of the world had forgotten the existence of. The chariots of the kings of the current world and their primitive siege engines and weapons of war were no match for the force that emerged from the barren lands upon that fateful day when Mavras rode forth with his army in his command vehicle in order to bring his own particular brand of enlightened society to every corner of creation that he could lay claim to. When that army reached its' first target, the kingdom from which Kory had fled four years previously... Kory sat in the command vehicle, at the left hand side of Mavras, whilst Kimberly sat at the man's right. By then, it came to pass that Kory was twelve years of age and the physicians of the Netherworld of Bliss had been hard at work giving Kory the hormone replacement therapies necessary so that the child could now live fully as the girl that she had always longed in her deepest heart and soul to be. She had abandoned her former male pronouns the year before that, and made her decision at last, and in doing so she never felt better in her life than she did in her twelfth year on Earth. Kory smiled as the army had approached the temple, if truth were to be told, and she laughed giddily when the rockets fired from some of the larger vehicles' canons began the work of beginning to reduce that terrible place to rubble. There was a pause in the rocket bombardment so that the machine army could rush inside. Then, the gruesome slaughter of the temple's adult inhabitants began in earnest... with instructions given before this to bring back alive any children and other youths who were still kept in the temple's slavish service... there was now inside the heart of that once sad little girl who was once in servitude there a feeling of relief. No child would ever be forced to endure the harsh instructions of that temple's teachers ever again! Countless children and youths were so brought back from the darkness of the temple, liberated at last, and those were taken back in safety to the Netherworld of Bliss to be reeducated. Once the temple had no one living within it any longer, the machine soldiers left its' confines so that the rockets could resume their work of totally destroying the ancient and awful structure entirely. Once the temple was no more, the machine army did advance upon the capital city of Kory's home kingdom... which was her home no longer. She laughed in the sight of its' annihilation, which was swift and certain, and batted not even an eyelash when the army stormed the palace and did drag her mother and father... the king and queen of that place... out from that building by their hair. “Since they are your parents, what would you have done with them?” Mavras so asked, and Kory looked over at Kimberly... as the three of them stood before the former king and queen who now ruled over nothing. Kory, had no sympathy for these two people who had been the worst and most neglectful parents imaginable... and so did the little girl who was once their child say to their very faces: “You forced me into cheerless slavery at the temple! You, took the earliest years of my life away from me, and showed me neither love nor respect in so doing. We are going to change this world, rid it of hateful kingdoms and cruel nations like this one... and every successful revolution requires at least a bit of sacrifice for things to change as they must. This, is my sacrifice!” Then, Kory turned to Kimberly who had become like a sister to her, and she said to the artificial girl: “Kill them both... slowly. Just as you would the worst and lowest criminals.” She stayed to watch the flaying of her parents, who as they were held by the soldiers whilst Kimberly executed them in bloody fashion, did beg and scream and in the end curse their former child most bitterly. All until their tongues were silenced forever. That was the beginning of the Blissful Revolution that reshaped the known world... in this one parallel Earth's future.
The day had been long, and the chanting of the acolytes of the inner sanctum had been far from in any way pleasant to the ear after some time of their attempts at piety. Their ceremonies were, as ever, a most intricate affair and well practiced to the point of it being mechanical, a thing the acolytes were so madly long used to doing that they no longer even saw the madness in what they did. Only the devotion, ever, and the zealously blind need to continue the ancient traditions that their masters had imparted upon the lot of them. The little boy who had assisted them, as had been expected of him by those to whom he in his earliest days of life had been given, felt glad for his part that the day's rituals were over. Too long, it seemed, they had become... those rituals... and too boring by far! And what was their purpose, did those who enacted them even know any longer? Blind ritual... performance art for art's sake, and without any purpose to it. In service to gods whose names were spoken but whose reality was uncertain at best. Any society so given to unquestioning piety such as this, is foolish the boy felt. Mad, at the worst! He did oft say, and for this he was always told to be silent. How had it come to this? From a prince living in a high and grand palace in the mountains, to a servant of eldritch gods and an assistant in abominable varieties of practice. They only thing they had not defiled nor molested was his body... all else seemed tainted as if his very innocence was being leeched away to satiate the terrible, alien deities who never showed the slightest interest in their worshipers, nor the slightest evidence of their existence. His parents, the queen and king, had said that service to the gods would do the child good for a few years. The queen had been a priestess of the gods in her youth, and held their acolytes in high regard. The king felt less inclined to kindness towards them, and had not wished for his son to endure servitude to their sort. But long had it been that the queen's demands were honored more than her husband's... and thus was the boy sent off to the acolytes and thus did the present circumstances eventually unfold. How many birthdays had he been forced to spend cheerlessly among these dark acolytes? It had become intolerable. Prior to the nightfall of the current day... the boy knew not even which day of the week it was any longer... the high priestess had presented him with a silver bowl that she lay upon a marble table in the inner tabernacle of the high temple. She bade him look upon it, and to recognize the importance of that relic. The robed and masked guards who stood huddled, spears in hand, to either side of the chamber may as well have been statues, for all they showed any life to them, being immobile and immovable as they were despite their stooped forms due to their great height and heavy armored breastplates that appeared difficult for them to bear... yet bear the weight of them they did regardless. The woman's long explanation of the bowl and the vast whole entirety of its' vastly antiquated history was the dullest sort of history lesson imaginable. If it was decided she should ask him questions about it, he felt certain he would remember nothing of it to speak to hear about in such a report. This was as boring, if not more so, as the previous day... in which he had helped other children like himself to construct ritual dolls, after which they went out to pick apples off the branches of trees in the Blessed Orchards, the fruit of those trees being considered sacred. The fruit was used in rites of communion with one of the many goddesses... the boy could not remember exactly which one any longer... and the children were forbidden to partake of it until they became full acolytes. A fate worse than death for this particular child, who longed only to be free to return to the palace and the life of comfort and joy that he had known there however briefly. Though brief, it had left a certain... impression... upon his memory, and he longed for what that impression had imposed upon him. After it was that the high priestess had finished going on and on, and waxing poetic about that ridiculous bowl for far longer than was even remotely tolerable... she asked the boy a single question, which in and of itself did surprise him: “So, would you consider this to be a treasure worth the temple's time to keep, or should be throw it away and procure one with a history more in line with the far more progressive sorts of practices neighboring kingdoms seem to be favoring these days?” The boy laughed, and it sounded a bit mad that laugh, before replying honestly to the high priestess: “To be honest, your grace, I care not!”
He rubbed his face from where she had slapped him as he looked in the mirror in his chambers, and it was not unexpected that she had dealt with him thus. He could not follow her history lesson, and he did give a rather hotheaded reply to her question. Had a full adult acolyte done such, they may have gotten a lashing for it. But he was still so very young, and far from expected to be wise. Obedience was what it seemed they expected from him the most, and he had precious little of that left to give the temple. It did seem to him as if his childhood was being wasted in its' service, and he wanted no further part in all its' useless, worthless rites, rituals, and ceremonies. He walked over to the window, which overlooked one of the temple's various outdoor shrines, and all he could think about when he watched a hawk fly off in the distance was that the animal was freer than he ever would be. He was eight years of ago, not even a full ten years old yet, and he already felt far older than his years. What would it be like once he reached adulthood? Gods! He did not want to consider such a thing. It was late afternoon, just after suppertime, and not yet nightfall... not yet dusk either, it seemed, which was a couple of hours distant. He wore long black silk robes with billowing sleeves over which was a soft dark purple velvet vest. The vest lent a bit of a shape to otherwise mostly shapeless garments. He looked like a little girl, with his long hair curly, golden blonde, and with prettily curled bangs above his immaculately trimmed and shaped eyebrows. It was evident he took after his mother and not his father! Which oft made his father speculate on whether the child was truly his offspring or not. For the queen was known to take many lovers to her bed. Even his face with its' round shape and those full lips of his and his big, beautiful hazel eyes all were quite in truth the mirror image of his mother's face when she had been the same age. He looked angelic, though no one ever complimented him or told him so. He was slender of body, and strong for his age after all of the work that the temple had put him to since he came into the high priestess's care. If care it could be called! He looked very soft, very much the child of nobles, and he felt that he belonged in a place of more happy disposition than this somber house wherein terrible gods were worshiped. The thought of the hawk was strong in his mind as he laid down for a moment on his bed to collect his thoughts. As he ran his hand over the silky material of his gown-like robes, he realized it felt good when he felt his skin through that fabric, even though he did not understand that the feeling was a sensual one. No one talked to him or educated him about such things, and he knew no words to describe the pleasurable nature of such sensations as these. He forgot about the hawk once he started to caress himself in this way, as he ran his hand over his arms, his legs, and his abdomen. His breath was quickening, and he did not know why that was, and a slight sweat came upon him, a heat inside of him causing it... and he did not at all, in any capacity, understand why his body was doing this, why it always did this, when he ran his hands over it in this way. But it was a ritual he did to relax himself, and excite himself at the same time. Once or twice, he thought about touching himself between his legs through that silky fabric but somehow he always stopped short of doing that. His mind had been thinking about one of the little girls that he had a bit of a fondness for, who was among his peers in the service of the temple... he did not know why, but every time he thought about her and how pretty she was, that made it more pleasing to caress himself in these ways that he did. He longed to caress her in the same way, but knew that such was forbidden to do by the edicts of the high priestess. People said the girl looked a bit like him and he like her, and that did serve as the closest thing to a compliment this boy had ever received regarding his own girlish beauty. At times, as so noted, he wondered what it would be like to touch that girl... but at other times, which did confuse him when they came upon him, he wondered what it would be like to be a girl, and to have a boy touch him. He knew girls were different physically from boys, but he did not know how. Mostly, he was beginning to see himself as a girl, and there were no words to describe the joy that thinking of himself as such filled him with. He fell asleep for a few hours whilst lost in these musings, and when it was that he awoke it was early evening or close thereto. He rushed over to the window and gazed out of it at the world beyond. That was the moment he decided he would attempt to leave this place... forever.
In daylight, any attempt at such an escape would be impossible due to the hectic schedule and all the things he was expected to do and be a part of, not to count the meal times. One hour of play was all that the children were allowed to indulge in together, and only one hour. And even then, they were watched over by guards who stood off to the side to make certain the children would not take off by running well across the playground to the woodlands beyond. It would be an easy thing to do, for no fence or wall so enclosed that outdoor play area... but for the guards. However, at night they did not watch that place at all, their attention being needed elsewhere. If the boy was to get away from the temple, the only way he could think of was by venturing across the playground and sneaking off into the woods. He did gaze to the floor to regard his slippers and then his eyes fell upon his travel sandals. He put those on, at last in a full decision to do this desperate thing he intended to do. In the distance, outside the window, the sound of crickets could be heard... it was summertime, and every night they chirped their song. Some nights, a wolf or an owl could be heard from far off, and they had songs of their own to sing. He did not think of the animals, nor of the night, as he made his way in silence through the cavernous halls of the temple of those impossibly old gods known as the Ancient Ones... the occasional rustling of the skirts of his robes were the only whisper-like sound he made, and that was not enough to alert the night guards. He had in the previous years learned more ways to pass through the temple's halls in silence and oft unseen, and it was time to put that knowledge to the ultimate test. He passed through winding corridors used most by the maidservants, cooks, and other common folk who dwelt in the temple and served its' inhabitants. At this hour, previous few of them would be using those ways... and he descended long flights of steps, of stone and of metal, his feet trying not to make too much noise upon those metal stairs, as he called unto his mind the correct paths needed to be tread in order to reach the playground without being spotted or heard. Eventually, he reached a balcony overlooking the playground and tried to gauge whether it might be safe to jump down or not. High hedges ran all along the edge of the temple walls below the balcony, those hedges bordering the playground directly. This balcony was not far from the ground, thought still it seemed to high to jump down from. However, there was ivy and vines growing from the grass of the ground all the way up the walls of the temple behind the hedges, and to either side of the balcony, and onward up the sides of the grand old structure itself. He tested the vines to decide it they could perhaps be strong enough to climb down... strong enough to bear his weight. The vines were thick, like rope in pretty much every way, and supported by the ivy so that both clung to the walls and could not be easily removed or moved. A grown adult would probably be able to dislodge them and would likely fall and be seriously injured in any attempt to climb them... but an eight year old little boy would be far lighter, and this boy was a nimble and agile sort. He dared this route, clasping his hands about the nearest vine and using it, and also the ivy with it, to climb down unto the grass behind the hedges, descending in this fashion from the wall to the immediate right of the balcony. He crouched low once he was in the grass, and looked about to see if any guards might be about or watching. As expected, no guards were present at this hour in this location, nor could any be seen anywhere around. Satisfied, the boy bounded with a catlike grace across the playground and took off in a mad dash towards the woodlands across the fields beyond. His heart was racing, his mind filled with all manner of imaginings as he realized that for this, the first time in his young life, he was away from the temple. He had never been beyond the temple, nor the palace into which he had been born... and this was his first taste of the outside world. Shrouded as it was, in the dark of nighttime's shadows and the gloom thereof. Illuminated palely by the moon, with the stars of the night sky in their twinkling being almost a sign from the gods that this was of a well omen... the boy breathed the night air, which was cool after the heat of the day. He breathed it in deeply, as swift he did move in his haste to reach the woods... once the trees were towering over him, the tall pines and the thick oaks, and the canopy of the forest was above his head, he finally relaxed in his pace and began to walk at a leisurely pace. It was time to see what was within this forest, and what might lay beyond it!
The sounds of small animals could be heard here and there as the boy strode across the forest floor in the dark of night, and even shapes of things that were not living did to his active mind seem to be things otherworldly and wondrous... but also frightening at times. In the pitch black of certain trails and paths, the origins of which were likely only animals or local huntsmen... the boy sometimes thought he might if he gazed too long into that darkness behold some terrible monster of a demonic sort. The legends told of such terrors by his instructors at the temple had filled his head with a fright over such beings, and so he made it a practice never to gaze for too long into any space that was totally black and without light to reveal what was within it. Thus did he avoid the darkest parts of the forest, even as the winding way he went took him by degrees ever deeper into it. He was careful not to catch his flowing skirts upon any low branches, bushes, or thickets as he proceeded along, and before too much time had passed he did so hear the babbling sound of a small stream. He had read someplace that if you follow such streams it can lead you to the source of them, much as it is with rivers... and so, careful not to step too close to any of the loose rocks or stones by the water's edge, he did begin to follow the stream for as far as it could take him. Ever mindful not to follow it back in the direction that he had come from, for he had no wish to be returning to the temple once more. The stream soon emptied into a larger river, which wound through a large break in the forest and seemed to flow away from the direction the boy had come from. Deciding it was a good thing to discover, he chose to follow the river along the banks of it... for as far as it might take him. Ere long, he reached the lands beyond the forest and those lands were at first flowery fields to which he came, and beyond the fields were vast plains. On the other side of those plains, were barrens, and his mind could not guess what might be beyond the barrens. It was still night, and hours had passed yet still it was night and it was impossible to tell how late into the night it actually was. The expanses of land before the boy were treeless and hilly, and there were rough crags and mountains far off. There had been no chance to learn about the local geography during his limited education at the temple, and so did the boy have no idea where he was going. Only, that he needed to keep going, until he found once more some measure of civilization. Preferably, a friendlier place to live than the home he had just departed in this mad haste of his. The river was long gone behind him by the time he began to trek across the fields and plains... trying to see if there were anything but barren lands beyond them in any direction. But... as it was night after all, it was difficult to tell even with the light of the moon above. He had not a desire to chance the barren lands, but he likewise saw only those in the distance and no sign of any better way to go. Behind him, in the woods that were now fading into the distance, he could hear wolves crying loud and mournfully... and he was happy to be out of that forest and away from the danger of such creatures. He kept going, almost mindlessly, until he was at the threshold of the barren lands beyond the plains. In the tall grass of the plains, he had lost all sense of direction so that by the time the rocky land stretched out before him... he knew that he could not have fled back even if he wished to. And still, it was night! He wondered just how long a single night actually was, for before now he had always slept through the night and lived his life only in daylight's graces. Even as he tried to accept that the land before him had within it only desolation and that within it there seemed nothing living. At least, nothing living in a way that was healthy any longer. These barren lands were a terrible place with dead petrified trees and rocks blackened in color even as the ground appeared ashen in places. The landscape appeared warped in just a few spots here and there, as if some unimaginable catastrophe had taken place in this land long, long ago. Of a sort that had changed this land in ways that nature never intended. Smoking craters could be seen filled with lava, and steam erupted from geysers at certain intervals, the hissing sound a warning to keep away from the scalding heat of the water ejected along the steam from those frightful orifices that seemed all too common a sight for the boy's liking. There was no cacti, no wild brush nor anything that was growing... it was instead a hellish and twisted place in which the boy now walked. It was warmer, less cool, than the forest had been and not because it was summer either. It was as if this was Hell itself.
As the little boy made his way across this barren expanse, he heard from ahead of him the sounds of footsteps crunching upon the rocky terrain, and he did see coming towards his direction the figure of an adult of average height. Whether it was a man or in fact a woman, it could not be determined from this distance... either way, the boy walked towards the stranger whilst in the hopes that the person might be able to help him find his way to somewhere or another. He called out to them as he approached, and the man... for a man it was... answered the boy in a soft-toned voice: “Hello to you there, little one! What is it that brings a child out into this expanse? Have you been exiled, perhaps!” The boy then said unto him in the melodic, sweet voice that the child had: “In a way, good sir! I've run away from the temple that so lies beyond the forest I just left behind, and I cannot go back nor do I want to. I was hoping you may be inclined to show me the way to some better, more civilized place than these wild parts.” To the man that heard the little boy speak, the child's voice had an accent to it that was unusual to his ears. He paid it no mind though, as he said to the boy: “You impose your own exile, then! I like you already... very well, if you would like I could carry you to a better place.” And the boy gazed for a bit at his would be savior to take the man's measure. The man was indeed very average of height, more the height of many women... yet even so he was far, far taller than the little boy was. Also, the man was of average build, and he did indeed look strong as far as an adult goes, though far less so than the guards back at the temple who had bulging muscles beneath their robes and breastplates. This man was more slender than muscular, but of an appearance such that his age could not be easily determined. He looked middle aged, mostly, but not without a certain youthfulness to him despite that. The man wore a scarlet scarf around his head, likely to protect his head from the heat of the sun during the day, and seemed to have no hair beneath it not it seemed any eyebrows either. He was a clean shaven man, and by his scent he wore some kind of floral scented perfume. The man had a certain feminine quality to him both in his body and in his manner but he did not have breasts as women do so the boy reasoned rightly that, judging by the sound of the man's voice which was not unlike that of a lad in his late teens after the first changing of one's voice, it had to in fact be a man the child was speaking with after all. As the child had first guessed. The man wore an attire the little boy had never seen before, consisting of baggy silky looking pantaloons that were both gathered at the waist and at the ankles but which were full and puffy otherwise. Those appeared to be a black color, and tucked into them was a long sleeved blouse with equally puffy looking sleeves that was buttoned in the front but which had a low neckline. The sleeves were gathered with elastic at the wrists and this only increased their apparent bagginess. The blouse was blood red in color, and tried at his side with a big bow, a sash belt was worn about the man's waist, the color of which was a dark gold. He had a light traveling cloak on, and upon his feet the man wore a pair of black shoes tied with black laces. He carried no weapon and seemed to pose no evident threat so the boy wanted to trust him. All the same he said unto the man: “If you promise not to drop me, you can carry me... you look strong enough.” and so did the man pick the boy up, with some measure of help from the child himself, and soon he had him in his arms and the manner in which he carried the boy was like that of a groom carrying his bride as soon as they have been wed. The boy leaned his angelic head upon the man's shoulder and was lulled asleep, peacefully, before much longer as the man carried him through that terrible domain in which they had found each other. The man could not get out of his head how beautiful the child was, and he was not at all sure if the child he carried was a little boy or a little girl. He wondered if the child would not mind if he did some discovering, once he got the little one back to his dwelling place with him. Some children, they were a lot more inclined to allow him to touch them, and fought less when he did. Others, he had a bit of a struggle with at first until they accepted what he offered them. He wondered which it would be, with this lovely one's case. The boy knew nothing of the man's intentions, only accepting that perhaps it was soon to be that he would never have to go back to the temple again. He dreamed of having a happy family that loved him... and which did not send him off to boringly terrible places for harsh educations.
The boy awakened to notice that he was laying upon a comfortable bed with red sheets in a room that was as opulent and splendid as had been the palace of his birth. Yet, there was a certain alien quality to that room, the pillars that supported the high arched ceiling being spine-like in their design and black as midnight were those pillars, and the ceiling as well. The walls were smooth and dark green in color, and trimmed with gold. The ceiling had the quality of being like unto the underside of the rib cage of a great beast of unthinkable size, and yet it was very much as purely artificial as were the pillars, designed only to give that sort of an impression. Shelves lined the walls containing various curios and art objects from many countries and lands, and there were paintings on the walls depicting scenes that the boy had not in any way the slightest knowledge of. Idyllic scenes, mostly, and many of them depicting little girls and a few of which depicted effeminate looking boys just like the child himself who now gazed upon them as he lay in that bed in which he awoke. A wardrobe made from mahogany was on the wall opposite from the bed, and there was a series of plastic containers upon which various stuffed animals were sitting. An assortment of storage chests contained the boy knew not what, and cabinets that held porcelain dolls did decorate further what evidently was intended to be a child's bedroom. The boy was naked, he noticed as he further became acclimated to his new environment. He got up out of the bed and walked over to the wardrobe to choose some clothing to put on. A pair of white silk bloomer shorts he chose to put on for undergarments, and over those a pair of baggy voluminous pantaloons that were tied at the waist with a drawstring and gathered at the ankles with elastic. They were extremely comfortable, and he liked the way they felt upon him. He picked out a bolero style blouse that had long puffy sleeves and which did totally expose the child's midriff. It was low cut, but not indecently so, and was roomy enough to suit the boy's tastes. These were the sort of clothing he always wanted to wear, but which the temple had let him wear only on informal occasions... and it seemed that back at that awful temple the occasions were practically always formal. The pants were gold in color, and the blouse was a rich blue. Next, he put on a pair of slippers that had slightly upturned toes, and those were a darker gold in color than the pants. In a nearby drawer he found some makeup and he put on some lipstick like he had seen the girls doing at the temple... and he was satisfied with how he looked wearing it. He picked a light pink shade that went well with his light complexion. Also in the same drawer was some jewelry, and from it he chose to wear a gold chain necklace that had upon it a circular pendant containing a blood stone. He gazed at himself in a nearby mirror, and at first glace took himself to be a girl and had he not seen his penis before he did put on these clothes he might have had the passing notion that his life as a boy had been only a dream... and as it was, his life back at the temple may as well have been. He walked over to the door, which was set into the wall on the left-hand side of the room, and found that it opened easily enough and was not locked. “It seems I am a guest here after all, and not a prisoner.” he mused aloud, and realized that it did come far to easily to his mind, the possibility that he was a prisoner. His life back at the temple was that which he had to thank for such a fear. As he walked through the halls outside that door, the corridors of wherever this place was had the same green coloration as had the bedroom, and the black rib-like form of the ceiling extended to these hallways as well it seemed. Everything was lit with electric lighting and there were comfortably bright but not too bright lights set into the ceiling at various intervals. He did so recall that the palace had these sorts of lights in it, but the temple preferred the use of old fashioned and highly antiquated things such as candles, lamps and lanterns. It was good to see these conveniences, for it brought to the boy's mind a sense that this place was totally unlike that awful temple in every way. It was good to notice, but a sinister air was about everything and the child had no idea why it felt that off. Music could be heard a distance away, old pop music from the world before, as the scriptures had called the ancient days of legend. Yet, it was beyond the boy's knowing who the woman was that sang in these songs... his parents had sometimes played the old music on portable electronic devices they carried with them and used to communicate with each other sometimes as well. Android phones, those devices were.
The sounds of other children could be heard, and the sounds grew louder as the little boy approached the source of what very much sounded like merriment. He came soon, after following the winding and rather almost maze-like corridors of this place, to a great living room space that held comfortable chairs and couches that had upon them blood red cushions and pillows. Piles of more cushions and pillows did lay heaped about the richly carpeted floor in places, and the entire interior seemed to have some form of air conditioning for it was not hot like some days at the temple had been during the summer season. On the far side of the room was a fireplace not in use this time of the year, and a stereo system of some sort was the source of the music that was playing. There were children of many races and from many lands, it did seem, and they were dressed in soft silken garments... some in attire like that which the boy chose and some dressed in gowns or dresses. All of their attire was of the finest quality, and fit for nobility. A good number of children were engaged in playing board games, some sat before a television to play the old video games that had once been popular during the times of the world before. And all of them had a happy, delighted look upon their faces the like of which no child of the temple had ever been allowed to have. Some of the girls played dress up with dolls, whilst some of the boys played with toy robots and a good number of small figures like unto dolls that could be posed in various ways and made to hold all sorts of accessories. Everyone seemed happy, and this living room space appeared to be a variable play area. One of the girls pointed to the newcomer, and she said to the boy happily: “Oh look! She's awake. At least... I think it's a she.” the girl then pranced over and asked the boy: “You are a girl... aren't you?” And the boy said unto her: “No, not really, but I do like dressing like one and sometimes I do think of myself as one also.” The girl then giggled, smiled brightly, and said unto him: “Then you are one, silly! You just have to learn to accept that side of you and let the whole world see it.” But the boy really had not decided yet if he wanted to fully see himself that way all the time. He mentioned that to the girl, and she delightfully exclaimed: “That's fine too! Gender is a spectrum, you see... it's not set in stone, and if you want to then you can be anything you like. Sky's the limit!” And she took the boy's hands and led him off to dance to the music with her. After some time of this, the man who had carried the boy unto this place walked into the room wearing a long forest green gown with long, wide sleeves. A gold sash belt was tied about the man's waist. Without the head scarf that covered his head previously, it could be seen that indeed he was totally bald, his head cleanly shaven. The man said to the children sweetly and in a kindly manner: “So, how are all my little angels today?” and the children said in unison: “Good!” he then frowned and asked them: “Good is fine... but why aren't you doing great?” and then they all as one giggled, laughed, and said loudly: “We're doing great!” and he said unto them after that: “That is so much better!” he then walked over to the girl who was dancing with the new boy and he picked her up into his arms... she was about ten years of age.. and he kissed her on the mouth very passionately. They whispered something almost conspiratorially together, and he put her back down after which she went off skipping down one of the side hallways. The man then walked over to the boy, and he asked him at the last: “Ever since I fetched you, from the desolation, I have been wondering what your name is. So... will you tell me?” and the feminine looking boy said unto him: “My name is Kory, sir. Prince Kory, of House Zarathoth. I suppose the house name would be my last name, so there you have it.” and with this the prettily feminine boy bowed just as his instructors back at the temple had taught him to. The man so frowned upon seeing Kory bow, and said unto him: “No! We shall have none of that bowing here. Here, we are all equals, and there is no class system in place to speak of. No rich and poor, nor any haves and have-not sort of nonsense going on. Do you understand me, Kory?” and the child replied politely: “Yes, sir! I do. I'll not bow like that again if it displeases you.” the man then hugged the child tightly, and said unto the boy: “Oh, my dear, dear child! What has been done to you? It is not that it displeased me, but it simply is that it is not needed. Alright? You could never displease me, I assure you.” He then seized his chance and forced a passionate kiss upon Kory's lips, which the child responded to by breathing heavily.
The boy's eye widened in shock and surprise, as the man withdrew from the kiss and stood back to his full height, as he had stooped down a bit to hug and kiss Kory in the way that he did. Seeing the look of surprise on the boy's face, the man said unto him: “The first of many pleasantries to come between you, and I... I've kissed all of my little angels in this way, and we've all come to know one another very well. Very well indeed! It's a society of free love we have here, and free expression, where we can do mostly whatever we like, whenever we like, and however we like without anyone to tell us otherwise. We have other adults here, of course, and they keep this place running... workers and the like, all volunteer since we do not call them servants any longer. They cook the meals, manufacture the goods, and keep us well in all we could ever desire from life be it necessities and conveniences, or luxuries. The world before, it was a place of marvelous technology and interesting ideas... but, it fell short in terms of proving the full rights and privileges for all of the people that a free and truly liberated society should have. Here, we do take the best that the world before had to offer, and we improve upon it in every imaginable way.” Kory then asked the man: “And what is your name, sir?” and the man said unto the boy: “Oh, my goodness... oh my, where are my manners! Very well... very well indeed... my name is Mavras. I have had so many, many names over the years, but that is the one I am known by here and now.” Kory then said unto him, in as close to an approximation of cheerfulness as the boy could muster, having had little experience in his life with actually feeling happy: “Well met, Mavras!” and the smile upon the boy's face was genuine and the beginning of true joy. The boy extended his hand in a courtly gesture, and the man took him by the hand and escorted him to a nearby couch where he had Kory sit upon his lap. The boy felt a bit of a bulge between the man's legs that was poking his buttocks, and the man began to grind against Kory in a lewd manner after which he sat the little child next to him. Then, the man quickly pulled up the skirts of the gown that he was wearing and placed the little boy's hand between his legs. Upon his hand being placed there, the child was instructed to caress and stroke the man in a specific way. The bloomer-like shorts the man wore were black and silky, and the boy noticed that as he did what it was that this man told him to... the man's penis grew larger and harder, and this gave the man no end of visible pleasure. In seeing that the boy did not understand what has happening, he began to teach Kory about sex and all those things relating to it that are normally reserved for when a child is much, much older. He told him about oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, and masturbation, and all the things that were good about all those things if they are done well. And after learning all of that, the boy finally understood why it was that he had always felt such pleasure whenever he caressed himself. Mavras took out his now fully erect cock, and had the boy lick it and suck upon it whilst stroking it... and in due course the man did orgasm fully into the little boy's mouth. To his surprise, the boy swallowed his orgasm in its' entirety and although it was a bit salty to taste the boy made not any complaints about doing so. For the man had told him about swallowing or spitting, and so did Kory decide to try swallowing it first... which the child found was to his liking since after all spitting felt to the noble boy to be something that sounded almost low class by the way Mavras had described the act to him. Once he had thus pleasured the man, Kory sat back upon the couch and relaxed himself whilst Mavras kissed him and caressed him for a good while. All of this, did awaken something that felt very good and very right within the boy, and he knew at last that indeed he regarded himself as a girl rather than as a boy. He still did not want to use the term girl, however, for referring to himself, and was happy to come to the realization that in this place no one would press him to do anything he was not ready to. He saw nothing wrong with this sexual activities that he was being instructed in... it was better by far than the boring lessons the temple had forced him to partake in. This was something, Kory realized he could get used to! The man nibbled the boys ear playfully, kissing the child's neck and as he did this he molested the boy between the child's legs and Kory savored all these new, tingling sensations and relished how they made him feel now that he understood their meaning. A true smile of satisfaction played upon the little boy's face, and it was a look children do not often have.
During the weeks to come, the boy became adjusted to life in this underground kingdom, for that did come to be revealed as what this actually was... a place beneath the barren lands, into which the people of that kingdom had been exiled long ago by other kingdoms in other lands when still they lived in the other places as citizens. Some had been branded as deviants, criminals, or lunatics, and yes even some of these children had been so condemned... and, all of them were exiled into the barren lands where it was believed they would perish. But they found an old series of bunkers, tunnels, and factories that had been used by a lost society of the world before... and they created a new kingdom, a new society, from the ashes of the old and thus did they thrive, prosper, and create what they felt would be an ideal utopia far from the judgments and the narrow-minded notions that had condemned them. They cultivated the notion that those in their original homelands believed them to be long dead, and so they called this new place that they established the Netherworld of Bliss. And any who saw them walking in the wastes of the world above believed them to be ghosts or demons of the wastelands... and thus were they assured of their safety and complete anonymity. As Mavras had taught those who became his followers, even as he encouraged them to see themselves as his equals and peers: “It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” For Mavras had always and ever been a fan of the classics, especially the works of Dante, Milton, and Blake among a great many others. All of this, Kory learned over those weeks in which he lived in this kingdom of outcasts, and for the first time in his life he learned the truth about kingdoms such as the one he had been born into... that they are oppressive, at best, and outright tyrannical at the very worst. Had he been entertaining any notions of returning to his parents, he had no such desires to do so after learning of all this. Instead, rather, he had nothing but contempt for the society that had not only made him a prisoner of tradition, but which forced him to spend so many birthdays without cheer or delight of any kind. One day, he told Mavras how he had spent his birthdays during previous years... and the man said unto him tenderly: “Never again will you spend a single birthday without it being truly a cause for celebration! You and your new little brothers and sisters shall know only joy together as well befits a family, not only on your birthdays but every day of your lives. As it already is for them, so shall it be for you from this day forth!” Sometimes Kory was summoned to Mavras' bedchambers along with two or three other children, often two girls aside form Kory himself but sometimes it would be one girl and one other boy... and they would pleasure the man together, and be encouraged to do various acts as well with one another whilst in Mavras' bed. The girls, who were typically between the ages of ten and fourteen, would be forced upon without resistance by Mavras, and sometimes the boys he would deign also to penetrate with his cock... and those he would thrust into the buttocks or mouths thereof. It was on those nights that these children would fall asleep in Mavras' bed, in the man's arms. But upon most nights, it seemed, the man chose as his bed partner that cheerful seeming ten year old girl whom Kory had danced with when first he was brought to the Netherworld of Bliss. She seemed to be the favorite of this man and occasionally she behaved in ways that seemed almost sinister. Kory heard a commotion one night when he was asleep back in his own bedroom, and he did sneak out into the corridors to see what was transpiring. He traced the sound to a storage room in one of the side chambers off a bit from the main living areas, and the more he followed this noise the more he decided it sounded almost like a violent altercation was taking place. When he peered into the storage room from the shadows that did linger and loom outside the hallway that ran past it, he witnessed an adult man being flayed alive. That man had been hung upside down naked by two tall men who were dressed all in black robes and which had black skull shaped masks upon their faces. Mavras was there, also dressed in black robes, and with him was the ten year old girl. Her name, which Kory had learned previously, was Kimberly. She wore a black embroidered gown with short puffy sleeves, and her long wavy flame red hair was tied back in a high ponytail as her bright green eyes glared at he naked prisoner before her. The commotion had been the man being strung up, and the violence of his binding. But the flaying Kory witnessed was the worst!
It began as soon as Kory reached the place from which he was spying on these events, and it was, to the little boy's horror, Kimberly who was the one doing the flaying of the naked prisoner. The man was screaming until his voice was hoarse, and he was castrated as well as flayed, with his eyes removed at the last from their sockets. The little girl had to get up on a step stool to do some the bulk of the grisly work, but do this deed she did... the entirety of it from start to finish. What was left of the man, after it was that the two guards sliced off the man's hands and feet before Kimberly cut his throat to make sure he was indeed dead, was placed in a coffin-shaped container which was loaded into a chute on the other side of the storage room, down which it slid into utter darkness. The roaring of a fire made it clear that the coffin had been sent into a crematorium, of some sort, and suddenly the little boy... horrified... thus crept back to his room and on that night he could not sleep at all. There was a dark side to this paradise after all, and whatever that man had done to earn such a gruesome fate, the child did not want to know. Upon the next day, Kory went to Mavras in private whilst the man was in his study reading... and he did get up the courage to ask of him: “Mavras... tell me what it would take to earn your displeasure. I just... am curious is all... since you seem like such a nice man to me.” And the man stared at the child intently before saying in reply, after putting down the book that he had been reading: “There are rules here, you must know! Whilst we are a free society based on the principles of liberty and understanding, there are at times those who break what laws we do abide by. Stealing, murder and of course any sort of crime as may imperil the people of this place... also the act of revealing the way to this place to outsiders... those are things which warrant the harshest of punishments. Kimberly aids me in ferreting out the bad apples in our merry bunch, and at times she helps me to administer the punishments when they are necessary. Last night, for instance, we had to deal with a troublesome fellow who thankfully we'll not see again.” Then, the little boy asked of this man whom he had come to love and yet fear at the same time: “That's good, but why have I never seen Kimberly eating or drinking anything? She is often absent from meals and snack times, and when she does sit down with us at those times she never touches anything.” That was when Mavras told him Kimberly's secret. He said unto Kory: “Kimberly is not like the rest of you, she is... artificial. A machine in the shape of a little girl, but one with a soul. In the old world ere what befall it happened, they had many machines like Kimberly, and oft they were used as objects to fulfill the sexual desires of lonely men. There was a certain prejudice against artificial life forms, ever since the earliest artificial intelligence was developed and people feared what it might be capable of... and it only grew as people mistrusted the machines that eventually came to walk in bodies of synthetic flesh among them. Kimberly is a relic of the past that I had revived when we found her in a laboratory down below in the lower levels. Ever since she was reactivated, she has been fiercely loyal to me and highly protective of both myself and other children. She has... killed... to keep us safe, and she is in a way my bodyguard as well as what you could call my wife. When I grow old, she will still be as she is today... and she will weep at my grave when my time comes to die. I love her, perhaps more than anyone else in this world, and she loves me equally. Whilst I do truly love all of you darling angels, she has the most... history... with me, and if anyone could be said to be in charge of this place other than myself it would be her. When you get older, and long for a companion of your own, you will understand what Kimberly and I share together as a couple.” He always treated her like a queen, despite the lack of a class system in this underground domain, and now at last Kory understood why. Satisfied with these explanations, it was time for Kory to return to the other children before he might be missed. On this day the little boy so looked quite particularly radiant in a pair of green satin Turkish harem style pants paired with a bit of a tight midriff baring crop top of the identical green color as the pants. And his adult paramour did visibly lick his lips at the sight of the child's buttocks when the boy went to leave the study chamber. He had on so many nights partaken of that buttocks! And yet, it always enticed him whenever he gazed upon Kory. A pervert and a deviant, his homeland had called Mavras. And yet... he was capable of a profound love.
In all the time that the Netherworld of Bliss had grown into the nation it was now, the scientists of it worked diligently to replicate and resurrect the ancient technologies of the old world from before. And, by the end of the first year of Kory's time in that underground domain... those scientists had completed their masterpiece. An army, of android soldiers, deathless men and women who were artificial just like Kimberly was artificial... did march out into the world above, at the firm command of Mavras and his ten top generals. The machine army marched forth, looking like fleshly men and women at first glace but in fact those same were many, many times stronger than any man or woman as born naturally. They were armed with firearms from the world before, and drove tanks and other vehicles that the rest of the world had forgotten the existence of. The chariots of the kings of the current world and their primitive siege engines and weapons of war were no match for the force that emerged from the barren lands upon that fateful day when Mavras rode forth with his army in his command vehicle in order to bring his own particular brand of enlightened society to every corner of creation that he could lay claim to. When that army reached its' first target, the kingdom from which Kory had fled four years previously... Kory sat in the command vehicle, at the left hand side of Mavras, whilst Kimberly sat at the man's right. By then, it came to pass that Kory was twelve years of age and the physicians of the Netherworld of Bliss had been hard at work giving Kory the hormone replacement therapies necessary so that the child could now live fully as the girl that she had always longed in her deepest heart and soul to be. She had abandoned her former male pronouns the year before that, and made her decision at last, and in doing so she never felt better in her life than she did in her twelfth year on Earth. Kory smiled as the army had approached the temple, if truth were to be told, and she laughed giddily when the rockets fired from some of the larger vehicles' canons began the work of beginning to reduce that terrible place to rubble. There was a pause in the rocket bombardment so that the machine army could rush inside. Then, the gruesome slaughter of the temple's adult inhabitants began in earnest... with instructions given before this to bring back alive any children and other youths who were still kept in the temple's slavish service... there was now inside the heart of that once sad little girl who was once in servitude there a feeling of relief. No child would ever be forced to endure the harsh instructions of that temple's teachers ever again! Countless children and youths were so brought back from the darkness of the temple, liberated at last, and those were taken back in safety to the Netherworld of Bliss to be reeducated. Once the temple had no one living within it any longer, the machine soldiers left its' confines so that the rockets could resume their work of totally destroying the ancient and awful structure entirely. Once the temple was no more, the machine army did advance upon the capital city of Kory's home kingdom... which was her home no longer. She laughed in the sight of its' annihilation, which was swift and certain, and batted not even an eyelash when the army stormed the palace and did drag her mother and father... the king and queen of that place... out from that building by their hair. “Since they are your parents, what would you have done with them?” Mavras so asked, and Kory looked over at Kimberly... as the three of them stood before the former king and queen who now ruled over nothing. Kory, had no sympathy for these two people who had been the worst and most neglectful parents imaginable... and so did the little girl who was once their child say to their very faces: “You forced me into cheerless slavery at the temple! You, took the earliest years of my life away from me, and showed me neither love nor respect in so doing. We are going to change this world, rid it of hateful kingdoms and cruel nations like this one... and every successful revolution requires at least a bit of sacrifice for things to change as they must. This, is my sacrifice!” Then, Kory turned to Kimberly who had become like a sister to her, and she said to the artificial girl: “Kill them both... slowly. Just as you would the worst and lowest criminals.” She stayed to watch the flaying of her parents, who as they were held by the soldiers whilst Kimberly executed them in bloody fashion, did beg and scream and in the end curse their former child most bitterly. All until their tongues were silenced forever. That was the beginning of the Blissful Revolution that reshaped the known world... in this one parallel Earth's future.
Published 7th Feb 2024
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
likes 2
reading list entries 0
comments 5
reads 104
Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
20th Feb 2024 9:25pm
Long read but the more I read the more it "grabbed me." WOW! Only if it was real world true. Will this become a novel? Hugs and love. Oral
20th Feb 2024 9:56pm
I am happy to read that you enjoyed this writing of mine! And your thoughts about it very much mirror my own; very, very much indeed. In fact, the secondary main character of Mavras in it is actually an author insertion of myself so in effect Mavras is a heavily fictionalized variant of me. A lot of my views on a great number of topics quite near and dear to my heart found their way into the story itself, which added a great deal to its' depth and the rawness of its' realism for sure. I always like to connect with a story when I write a work of fiction and doing so enables me to work within the world of the story as an active participant in its' events. Which in turn provides me with a stronger emotional connection to the story overall. Thus, writing for me is quite the emotional process, as well as an intellectual process. I will not be turning this into a novel, since for me it was a perfectly self-contained work that felt definitively complete in a most ideal manner once the ending came around. I typically only go further with certain works, which end up becoming multi-part almost novel-length epics, if it is a subject pertaining to a past life of mine that I want to relate in its' entirety (such as with my Mordred epic work and my Ancient Memories series, or my Otherworldly Memories series, and other similar such works of mine). But it is quite the compliment hearing that this story is of a quality good enough to become a novel if I wished to make it into one! I appreciate the compliment very much. Hugs and love to you as well! *Smiles* :)
20th Feb 2024 10:19pm
Thanks for taking the time to make such a gracious reply. You are amazing...talented and more. Hug and love, XOOX Oral
I read this one this morning, so I decided to comment on this one as soon as I got on here tonight. So here's my comment, comin' at ya! This, Kara my babe, is how the world should be... got to agree with all the sentiments about that going around. But, you know I stand by where you're at on all the issues covered in this writing of yours. Good thing I'm a speed reader, cuz you posted lots of awesome new stuff I need to catch up on! I'll be sure to comment on each one that I read tonight, and on each one that I've read all throughout the day today, and I've read quite a few in that time, too. Love ya, Kara my honey!
27th Feb 2024 2:18am
I often write about subjects near and dear to my heart, and ideas that no matter how unusual they may seem sometimes are full of quite profound and meaningful things just beneath the surface. My other partner, Zoey, is a speed reader also, and they always plow through my works in record time when I let them know I've posted new stuff, though they don't really come on the site anymore ever since they lost their old password. Doesn't stop Zoey from checking it out though! Once a fan of Deep Underground Poetry, always a fan, after all. Sounds like you've been quite the busy reader today, sweetie pie! Never a bad thing. I love you, Chloe, now and forever and beyond. :)
