"Where did they find one?" Auguste breathed, leaning forward to look at Jonathon on the other side of me.
"Perhaps one came to—"
"Shh," I hissed, swatting at them both.
One of the girls had run off stage, returning with a ladder which she hooked onto the ledge of the tank. She climbed up quickly, pausing every few steps to pose and shed a stocking or her slip until she straddled the ledge of the tank entirely naked. Along the bottom, unseen by the girls, the blue mass shifted again, something twisting revealing a paler underbelly, little round suction cups pulsing against the glass. The girl slid into the water bobbing and splashing down at her friends, and another made the trek up.
"What is it?" I breathed.
"Esther, are you all right?" Jonathon murmured, stroking my arms. I was stiff as I stared at the stage, my ankle throbbing in the memory of a grip tugging and dragging me.
"The grotto," Auguste said abruptly, sitting up and twisting me to face him. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of it. Do you want to step outside?"
But I was already turning to stare back. Two girls were already bobbing along the surface of the tank, another about to slide in and a fourth climbing the ladder.
"Esther."
"I think I'm fine," I said, although it was hard to catch my breath. But it wasn't only panic rushing through me. Maybe if I'd been in the water, it would've been too much, but I knew I was safe with Auguste and Jonathon, and I was too curious to turn away.
The fifth girl was standing outside of the tank, both of us watching the creature inside begin to wake, more suckers appearing, and a long tendril of blue climbing up along the glass.
"Too curious for her own good," Auguste said over my head, reading my own thoughts.
"We can step out at any time," Jonathon told me softly.
I nodded and repeated my question from before. "What is it?"
"An akkorokamui," Jonathon said. "Well, a descendant of. A Japanese sea god. They're uncommon in these parts, but a favorite at the houses in Japan. You'll see why."
The blue mass at the bottom was expanding, rising up the sides, more tendrils curling through the water, closer and closer to the bare toes treading water. The first one connected with a sudden snap, and I jumped in my seat, releasing a panicked giggle, as the girl screamed and was dragged underwater.
"The tentacles can expand and contract, and the suckers are said to be an improvement on a mouth," Auguste explained. "An octopus has eight. The akkorokamui has dozens."
Sure enough, the girl in the akkorokamui's grip was suddenly wrapped, blue tentacle twisting around her leg and her hips, over her breasts and up around her throat. She was thrust back up out of the water, shedding sparkling droplets, just as two more were ensnared.
The fourth girl made a sudden attempt to swim for the edge, climbing up, when a brilliant blue tendril of muscle and sucker leapt up from under the water, thrusting itself inside of her. Another appeared and squirmed its way inside of the wrapped-up captive, the pair of them crying out at once.
Within less than a minute, all four girls who'd been swimming were tangled up in the tentacles of the monster. The akkorokamui took turns lifting them out of the water, dragging the next one under, and every time, they were bound a little tighter. Around their legs, their wrists, their torsos, even sometimes their throats. One girl had a tentacle plunging gently into her mouth, ass, and cunt, held bent above the water, being slowly twisted and turned so we could see every intrusion.
The screams were quickly turning into moans and groans and occasional chants of praise or pleas for more. I was panting in sympathy, watching the muscles of the tentacles contract and relax.
Another girl was plastered to the glass, the tentacles banding in a fascinating crisscross pattern over her thighs and stomach, one draped over her sex, sucker no doubt caressing her clit, given her lusty cries of ecstasy.
"Jonathon."
"Mm?"
"I think we should take Esther to Japan."
"We'd never see her again."
I laughed a little at that. My doctor was probably not wrong. Of all the creatures I'd seen, this one terrified me the most and was by far the most exciting to me.
Outside of the tank, on the floor, the fifth girl had laid down, knees bent and spread wide. She was squeezing her own breasts, fucking herself with her fingers, and I wondered if the akkorokamui could see her tribute or if it was for her own enjoyment. I hoped he—or it, did it really matter?—was watching. I hoped it could see me too, panting and watching, my body calling to join the girls in the tank but my mind too terrified to dare move.
The akkorokamui was almost to the surface now, water churning in a spiral as it showed off its prizes of women, all writhing and singing in its grip. One screamed and stiffened, and was slowly lowered out of the tank and onto the stage floor, soggy and limp, the tentacles retreating slowly, revealing the red marks of binding and the white rounds of the sucker kisses.
Another was deposited at her climax, whimpering and reaching for the retreating tentacles. The third. The fourth.
But what about—
Five tentacles struck like lightning, snatching up the masturbating girl in their grip, her arms and legs spread in welcoming. She was tossed into the air, and when she came down into the water, she landed at the open heart of the akkorokamui, body spread like a gaping maw. The tentacles descended, body contracting, and her blissful cries rose into the air as the monster sank back to the bottom of the tank with her in its grip.
As if it were the final notes of a prima donna’s aria at the opera, the crowd jumped to its feet, hands clapping together, cries rejoicing the scene.
I fucking loved this theater.
* * *