Catherine is called by the Archbishop.

The ancient passages beneath Garreg Mach were the targets of rumors and ghost stories for both students and staff alike. There were many who assumed Lady Rhea herself was the only one who could freely travel to those secret areas. Indeed, only the head of the church and her close confidants were allowed to visit there, and possession of a map would be a punishable offense.

Catherine, one of the Knights of Seiros who'd left her past behind her along with the rest of her name, destroyed the letter she'd received as soon as she'd memorized the map it contained. Even more than the map, what she'd burned into her brain was the words in the missive: her Lady Rhea, who had been unseen at the Academy for a full day now, had told her to secretly visit her in one of these hidden rooms, to make sure she came alone, and was followed by no one, not even a servant of the church. She'd described the place they'd be meeting as a dungeon.

... If there was someone imprisoning Rhea in her own monastery, it had to be some abrupt coup within the Church itself. Catherine had never had a problem with the religious leaders in the Academy, but her loyalty was to Rhea, who'd made her a knight and rescued her from false accusations in the past. If she found out someone in the Church had been involved in Rhea's peril, even one of her fellow Knights, she wouldn't hesitate to show them why she was called Thunder Catherine.

Right now, the legendary sword she carried for her Lady's defense, Thunderbrand, was being used as a makeshift torch, held in front of her in both hands and emitting sparks for light as she maneuvered through cramped, little-used catacombs. Her mind didn't wander for even an instant to any of the ancient secrets around her, and she spared no mind for how the ancient dust began to sully the white cloth of her knightly cape and skirt.

Finally, she reached a metal door. There was an indistinguishable noise behind it, like a voice... It sounded like a man's, not Rhea's. "Good," Catherine thought to herself, clenching her teeth in a grin and readying her grip on Thunderbrand. "I get to slay the bastard responsible for this crime right here and now!" She took a deep breath, threw the door open, and charged in, her own battlecry drowning out the world of noise she'd just revealed.

Her sword, held forward in a charging thrust, found no enemy to skewer. The woman looking back at her was tan, with blonde hair in a ponytail, bangs swept from her forehead, and intense blue eyes. She was dressed in a combination of metal armor and the Church's white that identified her as a Knight of Seiros. In other words, it was herself. She was so eager for a kill that she pierced one of the multiple mirrors set up in this supposed dungeon with her blade, causing a web of cracks that distorted her reflected image.

For the moment, the presence of mirrors, comfortable furniture, and loudy, bawdy music coming from a gold-plated box meant nothing to Catherine. All she knew was she'd walked into a trap. She clenched her sword and whirled around to find herself too late: the heavy metal door had been shut, and she found herself at the mercy of... "Lady... Rhea...?" The loyal knight lost her grip on her heroic relic and let it clatter to the floor.

It wasn't because Rhea was in danger, or even the fact that she'd trapped her there. Catherine was having a hard time recognizing the woman in front of her as the Archbishop of the Church. It was clearly her: the woman had gorgeous, shoulder-length green hair, decorated with an ornate headdress and flower adornments, shoulders covered in a deep blue shawl, and a saintly smile. Other than that, however, she was unrecognizable. This icon of the church wore not a full-body cloak but a similarly-decorated cape that barely fell to the lower back. She did not wear a silhouette-flattering, ankle-length white gown but a short, airy garment that didn't reach the knees. And she didn't have the restrained grace of the head of the Church of Seiros but the energy, figure, and allure of an expert tavern dancer. Her makeup was slightly more pronounced, a detail that might be subtle to some but shone like a beacon for Rhea's most loyal knight.

Catherine hadn't lived a recent day without reaffirming devotion to her Lady, but this might have been the first time she looked at her with what she clearly recognized as lust. The Archbishop was shaking her ass Catherine's way in time with the music, an ass so incredible Catherine felt it impossible to imagine Rhea had succeeded in hiding it under that form-fitting robe until now. And rather than hide it, she was now flaunting it, not even seeming to care that her breezy gown occasionally flipped so high as to offer a glimpse of gold-colored panties and flawless cheeks.

The Knight was now sure she was, to her shame, having a dirty dream about the head of the church. There was no other explanation for the woman's erotic movements, or the way she seemed to have noticed where Catherine's eyes were locked, but simply smiled and let her enjoy the show, wordlessly. Finally, with tension of expected combat not quite having left her, Catherine spoke aloud. "Shamir and Manuela were right. I've gotta get laid, pronto."

The slip had barely been loud enough to hear, but Rhea seemed to hear it. A flush and a small, disapproving frown rose to her cheeks. "Catherine, you are in the presence of the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros."

Catherine gasped, intending to bow in apology but finding herself falling all the way to her hands and knees instead. "L-Lady Rhea! I wasn't... That was, uh-"

Rhea giggled like she'd told a joke. "My apologies. I was a bit taken aback, but I can hardly blame you for speaking freely. In fact, here in the presence of the voice of the Goddess of Fodlan, I would enjoy it if you could, like me, speak your mind and express yourself without hesitation." The way Rhea chose to express herself freely, it seemed, was to frame her incredible ass with her hands at either side, moving it closer to the prostrated Catherine's face and rocking it from side to side with the beat. "This is, after all, a time of meditation and worship. You can feel it yourself, can't you? The Goddess's will, flowing through you?"

The Knight still wasn't able to speak, but she began hearing a strange, metallic clanking noise fill the chamber, reminiscent of armored bodies clashing against each other on the field of combat. She soon realized that what she was hearing was the movement of her own lower body, the plates of her armor rattling noisily as her own muscles began wagging the seat of her pants in time with Rhea. "Lady Rhea! W-what's happening to you and me? We must leave this place-"

"Is that what the voice of the Goddess is telling you? Or is She telling you to stay?" Rhea asked her, peering back over her shoulder at the helpless knight.

Even as Rhea made an effort to face her, Catherine's blue eyes remained transfixed on the white fabric stretched taut across the hypnotic, swaying ass in front of her. "Lady Rhea... My apologies, but with respect to you and your ways... you know I don't worship the Goddess of the Church of Seiros! This magic, then, is clearly something else! Whoever did this to you... I have to...! Gah! I can't move!" Her devotion to and desire to help Lady Rhea seemed to be momentarily winning out over her newly awakened lust, and a vein popped on her forehead as she desperately tried to make her arm reach for her sword. She'd pinpointed that the booming voices were coming from a box in the corner of the room. If she could attack that device...!

Rhea looked displeased, but not angry. Catherine recognized the expression from one of the many times she'd seen Rhea patiently formulating a way to explain the teachings of the Church to a non-believer, usually a child. Finally, a strange smile crossed Rhea's face... almost like the kind she'd wear when talking to a child, but different, in a way the knight didn't immediately understand. "Catherine. There's no need to be upset. The voice of the Goddess speaks, even to those who do not believe in Her. Please, try to relax and accept Her gift."

"With respect, my Lady... I don't know anyone who's ever gotten a gift like this without paying for it at a tavern," Catherine muttered. Before she could stop herself, barely able to shout out a warning to her Lady, Catherine shifted her weight to one gloved hand and used her other to give Rhea's teasing bottom a smack. "Shit!! Son of a... L-Lady Rhea, I swear, the music commanded me to strike you! I would never-!"

"Relax, please, Catherine," Rhea again commanded. Her face was a mixture of emotions, flushed, but neither openly aroused nor outwardly indignant. "It is true that striking the Archbishop of the Church is a most egregious offense for her sworn knight. Shall I see you stripped of your cloak for it?" Even though she must understand how terrible the threat of banishment from her second home must be for Catherine, the Archbishop gave her a small smile.

Indeed, even as Catherine's mind reeled with horror at the implications, her body seemed to catch a different meaning from Rhea's words. With speed, practice, and a bit of unusual sashay, the loyal knight rose to her feet and began undoing the buckle on her belt, the latches on her cloak and pauldrons, and every other fastening needed to let her armor clang noisily to the ground. Once even her breastplate and skirt had fallen to the floor, the handsome Catherine was left in her high-collared white shirt, tight breeches, brown corset, and high riding boots.

When she turned around from an involuntary shimmy she'd been showing off for Rhea, Catherine's face was red and frowning. While she no longer believed she was being stripped of her rank, she still seemed utterly confused. "This voice you're talking about... Even though I don't worship her, Fodlan's Goddess can make me do a little spin-and-show for you, my Lady? She can make you, um... b-benevolent and generous towards a knight who would turn her hand against you?"

"Very benevolent and generous, in fact," Rhea agreed, looking happy at the direction of the questions. She'd taken a seat, which seemed odd considering Catherine had assumed the music was controlling her movements. Even seated, Rhea still seemed full of electric energy, her fingers tapping the armrest in perfect time. "Please, present yourself to me. I shall show you how generous your lady can be."

"... What..." was all Catherine could manage, a dumb utterance not even phrased as a question. Still, her legs carried her over to Rhea, turning her body in place so that her ass was towards the head of the Church. She crossed her arms behind her head, leaving herself defenseless. She didn't take them down, even as the Archbishop reached forward with two surprisingly powerful hands, gripped the sides of Catherine's pants, and tore them down, revealing her knight's plain but small and formfitting gray panties and her fantastically tan, toned behind. "What?!" Catherine shouted this time, clenching her teeth in surprise. "My Lady! You can't mean to... discipline me?"

"Oh, no, of course not!" Rhea replied in fake-seeming shock. "You will come to understand, but our teachings do not tell us to return **** with ****, or disrespect with disrespect."

"Lady Rhea... I assure you, my strike was the opposite of disrespect!" Now that she was in this mess with both feet, Catherine felt herself speaking her mind more easily.

"I believe you," Rhea spoke with a nod. "And yet, your lack of faith and worship is a concern, when the Goddess speaks to you so directly. When presented with the gifts of the Goddess, we must offer our thanks readily. Dear Catherine... please allow your body to demonstrate your thankfulness."

As if Rhea had asked for a show of loyalty and discipline instead, Catherine made one last effort to move her muscles in the way she thought was appropriate. It was no use: her hand remained behind her head like they were chained there, and her exposed ass only seemed to flex for all her urgency. "I don't understand."

"No, I suppose not," Rhea replied, easily reaching out her left hand and easily placing it on the offered left cheek in front of her. In her right, she'd produced a small bottle of some sort. She'd already uncorked it, and a dizzying smell had begun to fill the room, though not as powerful as the music. Rhea removed her left hand from Catherine's ass and shook a bit of the oil that was inside her bottle into her left palm. She set down the bottle and rubbed her slender palms together, and then...

With a peaceful expression, the Archbishop Rhea reached forward and began spreading the oil across her knight's loyally presented ass. She was not merely brushing it: Rhea's fingers kneaded into the knight's tan and increasingly shiny flesh, copping shameless squeezes as the Archbishop's tongue worked across her painted lips. "This is worship, my knight, Catherine."

Catherine bit her lower lip to avoid making a disgraceful moan of pleasure, keeping her shameful face from the Archbishop. To her dismay, she saw her blue eyes reflected in the mirror in front of her, met by Rhea's striking, smiling green ones.

"For me to worship your body is the worship of the Goddess itself, Catherine. It is what I know she demands. How does her love feel, Catherine?" Rhea spoke the knight's name with slow enunciation, then punctuated her statement by planting her lips on the oiled, sweet-smelling skin in front of her.

Catherine... couldn't hold out any longer. The knight, known as one of the most skilled swordswomen in Fodlan, the star of the Knights of Seiros and a hard-ass instructor when she wasn't on the battlefield, let a rough moan escape her lips, her ordinarily fierce eyebrows reversing tilt at the caress of the lady she'd pledged her loyalty to. "P-please, Lady Rhea... I get it, I get it! If this is worship, ah... please, at least let me worship you instead!"

Rhea giggled. "Oh? You understand this worship would mean placing your lips upon the posterior of the Archbishop of the faith, yes?" She painted the knight's ass with another slow, gentle, yet deliberate kiss. "This is what you are prepared to do?"

Catherine nodded immediately and vigorously, feeling heat not just in her face but across her entire body.

"Perhaps, in time. For now, Catherine, swear your loyalty to me anew. I need your aid investigating the secrets of the Goddess's tool. Furthermore, I need you to protect its secrets until the time comes to reveal Her will to the people of Fodlan. Do you pledge it?"

"Yes, my Lady!" Catherine shouted in a never-before-felt mix of pride and shame. She still had no idea what was going on, but... Rhea had chosen her, before anyone else, to protect her secrets, and to receive such an incredible incentive. If Rhea wasn't in danger, maybe it was fine to feel pride in that selection, and to enjoy the special treatment? Even still, the fact was that she was shaking her lotion-covered half-naked butt in front of the woman she'd sworn to serve, and she burned like a lantern as she did.

"Very good. Now, prove to me you have no shame in your duty. To speak plainly, I would like for you to embrace the spirit of the Goddess flowing through you and make your..." Even Rhea seemed to become momentarily flustered, but only for less than a second. She continued with the poise befitting an Archbishop. "Make your booty clap for me, my knight!"

Catherine seemed as though she'd be resisting it for a moment, gritting her teeth, but this was quickly revealed to be a grin of excitement. "I'll do my finest for you, Lady Rhea!" As commanded, Catherine easily set her previously still ass, now covered in hickies from her charge, into a powerful, clapping twerk, slinging remaining loose drops of oil onto the face of the Archbishop who hadn't yet backed off. Her body motored in place with none of her previous hesitation, clapping loudly and furiously enough for Rhea to hear it. Obviously, Catherine had the sculpted musculature of a woman who practiced the sword day-in and day-out: only now, however, was it clear just how possessed of womanly charms she was, charms ordinarily hidden by her armor and rough demeanor. Still, the motion she achieved surprised even her... Had she always had so much ass to throw back?

Rhea favored her with an inappropriately serene smile. "You understand that our actions here are guided by the Goddess, and that there can be no ill intent among her wishes for those of us devoted in her service?"

Catherine didn't really understand, but she nodded her head, still clenching her teeth as sweat began to roll down her body from her high-energy movement.

"Good," Rhea nodded in confirmation. With a new, excited smile, she reached out and gave a healthy smack to Catherine's butt, demonstrating the power that Catherine had long suspected she had but had (obviously) never had a reason to feel, branding her knight with a new bit of color besides her lipstick marks. "Then, I believe a new title befits your efforts as a dirty dancer in my service! From here-on, you shall be known not as Thunder Catherine, but as Thunderclap Catherine! Is this pleasing to you?"

The knight's original title came from both her wielding of a legendary Heroic Relic, Thunderbrand, and her distinguished service against the enemies of the church... no less than the taking of lives. Now, the woman she'd protected and admired seemed to be using it as leverage in dirty talk between the two of them...! With a moment's hesitation, Catherine gave another nod. "But, um... J-just between the two of us in private, correct, Lady Rhea?"

"Ah, you need not call me Lady." While that ought to have been an offer, another swat from the Archbishop to her knight seemed to frame it as a command. "We are quite familiar with each other now, are we not? Simply Rhea will suffice between us."

Noticing Rhea didn't answer her question, Catherine gulped and kept her booty moving, trying to imagine what her service to the Church and as a Knight of Seiros was going to look like going forward...