CHAPTER 4 - A GUIDE IN CHAOS
The heat from his body seeps through his goddess's clothes as he presses against her. His breath tickles her neck before sinking his teeth into her. She lets out a small yelp but simply grabs onto her animal, creating scratch marks on his back through his shirt. Each thrust feels like a surge of energy flows into her body.
"Professor… Atkinson," Isabelle moans from under him.
"Yes, my goddess?"
"Will you be a sweet animal and release me?"
The man lifts himself off of his goddess and stares down at her. "What if I don't want to?" he asks, squinting his eyes.
"There will be problems if you don't," she reasons as she gazes at his exposed chest. "Be a good boy and listen."
With an arrogant scoff, the professor lays his large hand on Isabelle's chest. "It's too bad that I'm not good at listening."
Isabelle begins to reach for what one can only describe as a face only a gifted artist can chisel when a voice rings through her head.
Control your lust and listen to what he says. You must figure out how to subdue him.
That's easier said than done! Isabelle internally screams from the small box in her head. The look of defeat showers her face as she squeezes her knees closer to her chest. "I can't even take control completely when this happens," she cries, burying her face in her knees. "Here I am, currently under my business major professor getting fucked out of my mind, and I can't even do my job properly."
In that instant, time slows down. As if looking from third person, Isabelle watches herself enjoy what's happening to her, almost disgusted.
"You must be very frustrated right about now," a teasing voice chuckles from behind her.
Whipping her head around, she sees an almost god-like being next to her. As her eyes adjust to the bright light, she finds a younger version of her dead great-grandmother that she has only seen in photos next to her.
Followed by a dragon, a rat, a dog, and an ox; the heavenly being approaches Isabelle. "It must be really hard to figure this out on your own," she consoles, bringing her descendant's head closer to her chest.
"Po Po!" Isabelle cries while digging her face in her great-grandmother's chest. "Why is this happening to me?! Why did I get chosen?!"
Caressing her child's head, the woman calmly answers, "We have a destiny that far exceeds the human realm. This has been the role for every third generation first born daughter. We are created to prevent calamities from happening."
"But what can I possibly prevent? I'm just a graduating business major. I don't know anything about preventing calamities."
The heavenly being steps back from Isabelle and lifts up the crying child's face. "The animals we are in charge of controlling have roles in this world that could cause a disruption in the daily lives of whole populations. It happened in my time, and it caused a huge setback in the economic balance of Shanghai."
Glancing over again, Isabelle spots the four animals stationed behind her. "You were only able to control these animals?"
"Unfortunately," she shyly answers, petting the dog's head. "I found all twelve animals, but I couldn't figure out what most of their desires were. I could only solve these four. Even with my acquaintance with the other eight, my influence over them wasn't enough to keep Shanghai from spiraling into the depths of despair. It started with inflation rising, and then the citizens couldn't afford the basic necessities. Then businesses started going bankrupt. It was one after another before we begged for help from our neighboring cities."
"Are you saying something like that is going to happen if I don't get all twelve animals under my control?" Isabelle asks, wiping away her tears. "Are you saying that even if I find all twelve, it won't make a difference even if I give my body to them?"
The great-grandmother shakes her head in disagreement. "You aren't giving your body to them. You're-"
"Then what would you call it then?!" Isabelle bursts in frustration. "I have to have sex with eleven men that I don't know so that they won't fight amongst themselves and disrupt the balance?! What kind of fucked up system is that?!"
"The main purpose isn't the physical action. It's the spiritual action." The great-grandmother waves her hand over the space next to her, revealing the frozen scene of Isabelle's body and her professor having sex. "What do you see?"
Isabelle walks up to the portal exposing her indecency and almost shies away from embarrassment, but her great-grandmother stops her. Finally giving a good look at the scene in front of her, Isabelle can't seem to find what her predecessor is looking at.
Heeding the confusion, the heavenly being waves her hand over it again, but this time, she reveals what seems to be a system of networks inside of the professor and Isabelle's body.
"What's this?" Isabelle finally questions, breaking the silence.
"These are spiritual networks that are inside each zodiac animal and the zodiac goddess. They are what connects them together. However…" The predecessor zooms into the hearts of the pair, showing her the twisted knot of systems inside the professor's heart. "While sex is necessary to connect the animal with the goddess, it's what happens when you connect with their deepest desires while in the act that gains your complete control over them."
"What happens when I connect with their desires?"
The being waves her hand over the portal again and shows Isabelle her best friend who is frozen in his steps on his way to class. "You have connected with this animal both physically and spiritually."
"What do you mean spiritually?"
Revealing Alex's spiritual network, the being points at his heart. "The ties in the heart are undone because the goddess tells the heart that it's okay to trust her. When the ties are undone, a piece of the goddess's network embeds into the animal's straight in the heart. That leads to the control of the animal."
"So how do I untie the network in the professor's heart? How do I know what his animal is?"
The being laughs lightly as she watches Isabelle. "You remind me of your mother when she was your age. She was so hot-blooded and unrelenting. But to answer your questions, the animal's desire is directly related to the animal he is or his personality."
"Alex is the Zodiac Pig. He constantly asks for praises no matter how small when he is entranced by my powers," Isabelle analyzes while staring at her best friend.
"Pigs are simple animals. However, as you can see, I couldn't get mine under my control." The great-grandmother kneels down in order to be on eye level with the woman in front of her. "Figure out why he loves praise, and you'll be able to figure out how to get the other animals under your control. Use the words they say while under your trance. Compare it with their personality. The men also tend to subconsciously lean towards the animal that they are."
After standing up, the being deeply bows to Isabelle. "I'm so sorry that I had your powers sealed before I died. I saw that your best friend was a zodiac animal, and I didn't want to ruin your happiness with this role that's been bestowed upon us."
"I kind of came to terms with it after I calmed down after Alex and I had sex the first time. He's my best friend. I knew you did it for my own good. I just wished that I had a bit more time to mentally prepare."
"This power is a great one. It takes a strong and confident person to wield it properly. I know you feel lost right now, but it's actually pretty easy to control."
"How do I control it?!" Isabelle grills, grabbing onto her great-grandmother's hands. "Po Po, I don't enjoy the random attacks at all."
"You must accept the power and the role it plays," her great-grandmother answers. "You only have partial control over it because you have somewhat accepted it. However, you have to accept it with your whole heart. You have to accept that you will have to give your body to these twelve men so that they will give their soul to you. Once you do that, then you can turn this power on and off.
"The blurry vision will constantly be on because that's your body's way of telling you that there's an animal not in your control nearby. But your power of seduction and persuasion will be fully in your hands to use when you need to."
As the being is about to continue explaining, a bell dings nearby. Fearful, the being opens the portal to see Isabelle's physical body only to find that the time freeze is starting to lift up.
"What… What's going on?" Isabelle questions once she sees her predecessor's worried face. "Is something happening?"
"I've kept you too long," she announces, grabbing the woman in front of her. She pulls her into a big hug as if to apologize for everything that's been happening. "I know that you're going to do amazing things with this new role. Just be confident in who you are and who you will become."
"Wait… but I have so many questions."
"I love you, my Bao Bao," the great-grandmother confesses before disappearing into the light.
"Wait!" Isabelle shouts, before opening her eyes and realizing that she's under her professor.
With a shit-eating grin on his face, the professor grabs Isabelle's outstretched and slams it down onto the desk. "Wait for what?"
Strengthening her steel, Isabelle takes a deep breath and quickly headbutts her professor, knocking him back to his senses.
"Ow! What was that for?!" the professor scolds as he flinches back from the pain. Once he takes a moment to recall what just happened, he immediately gathers his clothes together and then throws his blazer on top of Isabelle. "What just happened? I mean… I know what happened… sort of…."
Isabelle sits up on the desk and buttons her shirt back up. "I'm going to explain this as plainly as I can. I'll try to answer your questions when I finish explaining."
"How can you be so calm right now?!" The professor turns around and fixes his hair while Isabelle gets up from his desk and puts on her underwear and pants. "Did we really just-"
"I am a goddess, Professor Atkinson," Isabelle throws at him as she buckles her belt. " A Zodiac Goddess to be exact."