Chapter Text
Seriously, how hard was it to realize you were being trailed?
He’d been following the two for a while now under the cover of night on the buildings above them, watching them walk and speak to one another.
How long before they realized they weren’t in neutral territory? Or at least it wasn’t neutral anymore. He made sure of it.
The taller of the two, a rabbit-hybrid of sorts, was speaking about something.
“We just need to get to their territory. If we can establish a link, it’d be better for us all.”
The smaller of the two, a fluffier creature, was looking around.
“Why did they send us again?”
“Luckymaxer was busy, and our best bet at fostering a friendship is another rabbit hybrid because of the Sonnellinos and Luckyshots. So I volunteered.”
So exploiters were attempting to connect with the mafia, hm? He knew there was a smaller faction of them, relying so heavily on GUIs and panels to escape the way the world had gone. He almost had pity for them all.
But yet, he couldn’t allow them to foster any more connections. He knew that he ran one of the biggest factions, and he deserved to. He couldn’t let other groups get any bigger.
“Void below, this isn’t neutral territory anymore–” the rabbit hybrid suddenly gasped upon turning a corner and clearly finding a mark, then began rapidly backing away, “We need to get out of here, before–”
He couldn’t fly with these wings, but he could certainly glide.
He nearly immediately dropped from the building he was on, spreading his main wings to cushion the fall. The two he’d gotten the drop on immediately huddled together.
“We don’t mean any trouble,” the rabbit hybrid huffed at him, clearly trying to keep its voice steady, “We didn’t know this was your territory now, we–”
It was time to put on a show.
At once he moved forwards, pushing between the two and wrapping his wings around them as he put his arms on their shoulders, notably knocking the smaller one’s hand away from a GUI panel.
“Nonsense!” Amarah chirped, “The Spawn welcomes all, no need to be afraid!”
“Please, we didn’t mean any–” the small one tried to get out, only for Amarah to tug them both slightly back.
“Now now, don’t be afraid of me,” he purred, “I’m sure you’ve heard so many things, but I’d like to extend a hand to let you know that so much of it is so, so direly wrong! After all, The Spawn would have never blessed me if I was like that!”
He was lying through his teeth. He knew he was. But as long as he put on a show, he had the power. As long as they believed his every word, he could get away with anything.
“I’m quite sure we can work things out,” Amarah nearly immediately began tugging the smaller of the two away, successfully identifying that the hybrid would follow out of panic, “My lovely community isn’t that far away. I’m sure we can discuss this over tea–the tea Lei makes is lovely, it’ll help smooth this over right away. Perhaps we can even come to a conclusion that can help us both, if Spawn permits it!~”
“Nononono,” the hybrid insisted, rapidly waving its hands, “No need! We’ll go back, and we’ll let everyone know this isn’t neutral anymore, and we won’t bother you! Promise!”
“We didn’t mean trouble!” the smaller one managed to wrench themselves out of Amarah’s grasp, “We didn’t know this place belonged to you!”
Amarah adjusted his head-wings to continue to cover most of his face as he stared at the two, thinking his options over.
“As The Spawn is forgiving, I must be too,” Amarah swung around to cut the two of them off from running away. He couldn’t let them run off and gain an alliance. He couldn’t let two of the smaller factions join together, because then others would start joining, “We can smooth all of this–”
Right before he got the rest of his sentence out, the hybrid flicked up what looked like part of a stolen admin panel, suddenly grabbing onto the smaller one as they disappeared in a frantic fizzle of blue.
“–over.”
Amarah’s wings rustled in annoyance.
He knew those panels, at least the smaller versions, couldn’t teleport long distances. The two had to be somewhere nearby.
“I did truly try to be forgiving!” he loudly hummed, “but The Spawn has no love for heretics!”
He didn’t hear them, but he knew they were somewhere around.
“Though I suppose I will let you go, though I could find you quite easily thanks to the blessings given to me,” another lie couldn’t hurt, “so do run away. Run back to your group. Let them know that this passageway is under protection of The Glorious Spawn and His prophet Amarah, blessed in name and spirit. Those who pass through are either His followers or His enemies, and He shows no love in His heart to those who are His enemies.”
He waited a few long minutes more, waiting to see if the exploiters would reveal themselves by accident, but eventually turned to head back down the path he knew led the way to the village.
So, the little factions were gaining traction. Something Amarah needed to shut down. If they got big, someone would figure out a way to expose him. For everything he built to come tumbling down.
He could not let that happen. He could not let it come even close to happening.
If he lost his traction, lost that power he held, he was done. He was lucky that the remains of The Admins hadn’t come for his head quite yet. Too busy trying to hold together a broken world, he supposed.
He passed through a tunnel, rubbing his hand against the carvings left into the brickwork. Symbols he had picked up and driven towards his movement. Towards his power.
He knew nothing he said was real. He knew there was no second life to be given through devotion. He knew it from the start. He knew those symbols meant something else, some far off god that did exist, just not in the way he taught. Perhaps some day it would all catch up with him, but for now, he was quite content to continue on this path.
He pushed through the gates to the village after the long walk, seeing smiling faces greeting him, calling his name like they worshipped the very dirt beneath his boot. Like they would kill or die for him just upon his word. Like he could tell them anything in his saccharine voice and they’d lap it up like starving animals, like he wasn’t the very one who’d turned them into the loyal animals they were.
It’d catch up with him someday, but that day was not today.