Chapter Text
Wemmbu hated this.
The caves, the wars, his inability to get Egg back, and so on.
It all piled together into one endless frustration.
What was even worse was that, as Arachnid’s so-called “second-in-command,” he had to be dragged along to every fancy meeting the King of the Caves held with political allies or enemies. He stood there with little choice but to endure hours of yapping that bored him to death, which thankfully wasn’t often but still.
He fiddled with the tie of his suit, designed by one of the royal tailors to go along with the whole “spider kingdom vibes.” With intricate web-like embroidery woven into the fabric, it practically screamed royalty, giving him unwanted reminders of his times with Zam and his stupid empire. Sure, Wemmbu wasn’t one to say no to extravagance—the aura never got old. He had always taken great care of his long hair, although it had been forcefully cut short during his times with the Law. In the end, he had always preferred choosing exactly what he wore, when he wore it, and where he wore it. He lazily scanned himself in the mirror once more, shifting slightly in the tailored suit that clasped his frame. In the corner of the reflection of the old-ass mirror, which was also decorated with spiderwebs, he could see Yungy awkwardly peeking his head into the mega mansion. He too was dressed far more formally than usual.
Swallowing a scuff under his breath, Wemmbu turned toward the ex-second-in-command. The doors to his house were not exactly closed, giving easy access to anyone who wished to peek in or wander through. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if this lack of privacy too was Arachnid’s doing, but that was honestly the least of his worries around the chaotic events happening in his life right now. Through the massive windows of the mansion, he could practically overlook the entire civilization stretching out beneath him. The view from above was no better than the view below. As the whole depressing air dwelling within the Caves due to the absolute lack of sunlight and outside air never seemed to stop irking his nose. Well, maybe it was a little better to breathe up here in the open wind than to suffocate in the humid, stagnant air down below; even JadenMAN, the Mr-I-am-keeping-my-mask-on-24/7, had eventually been forced to take the black cloth covering the lower half of his face off to not suffocate to death.
Yungy, probably noticing his total lack of attention towards him, finally stepped fully into the house, causing the old wooden floor planks to creak under his weight.
“What do you want now?” Wemmbu groaned.
“It’s time, so,” Yungy motioned him to come out, prolonging the last syllable for dramatic effect. “Arachnid is waiting.”
Wemmbu didn’t even bother responding, marching straight past the spider hybrid. With the strings of complaints fading behind him, Wemmbu stretched his powerful wings, caught the cavern air, and flew straight up toward the opening of the damned civilization.
He wasn’t all that surprised when he spotted the familiar-looking cod and seraphim hybrids waiting for him near the grand exit. Seeing the pair standing there amidst the gloom, he couldn’t help but feel a sudden, genuine sense of ease wash over him. Tucking away his large wings, a half-smirk slowly spread across his face. Meanwhile, Yungy, who had somehow managed to catch up with him, came jogging up to join the group, heavily out of breath.
“Ahhhh, you guys here to wave us goodbye?” Wemmbu smiled, pretending to wipe an unshed tear from the corner of his eye.
“Nah, bro, you wouldn’t know what to even do without us, so,” Egg joked.
Despite the banter, Eggchan didn’t look well at all. Wemmbu wasn’t entirely bright on the angelic side of his friend, but he was reasonably certain that the severe lack of sunlight and a steady life source in general was actively weakening the seraphim by the day. His brilliant angelic wings seemed to lose a bit of their radiant light every day, their vibrant colors slowly fading into a dull gray. Sensing his friend's quiet decline, another growing urge churned. Leaving an incredibly ugly taste in his mouth. At the very least, he comforted himself with the thought that he could actually talk to him now.
“Where are you guys going this time?” questioned Codmaster, casually dumping a whole stack of raw fish onto Yungy.
“Dunno. Arachnid didn’t bother to explain,” shrugged Wemmbu. “Probably something stupid.”
“Wemmbu, we have to go,” Yungy muttered, trying to clear his inventory of the excessive amount of cod currently showering down on him.
Then, scanning the small group, Wemmbu suddenly noticed a glaring absence. “Yo, where’s Jaden?”
Codmaster shrugged. “He left a few hours ago.”
“What?”
“I mean, right after Arachnid summoned you and Yungy, he just disappeared.”
“Huh.”
It made sense when he really thought about it. Unlike himself, who had Egg taken as hostage — making it impossible for him to leave the caves outside of the Arachnid’s direct orders — Jaden didn’t actually have a compelling reason to stay within these walls. Sometimes Wemmbu genuinely wondered why the guy had decided to stick around for this long in the first place. Didn’t he have an entire civilization of his own to run?
“I’m sure he’ll come around soon, bro. My all seeing eye is telling me,” Egg nudged Wemmbu.
“Yeah, sure thing dude.”
Parrot paced back and forth in the meeting room.
His colorful feathers fluttered wildly with a deep sense of unease. Sure, he was the one who had taken the massive gamble to invite his most mortal enemies to a diplomatic meeting, but truth be told, he hadn’t really expected them to actually agree to show up. The tides of the civil war were already turning in his favor, so he could only guess that Saparata had decided he wanted to negotiate some sort of deal due to the sheer chaos of recent events. Though a peaceful resolution felt highly unlikely given their history, Parrot could only pray that his words would be convincing enough to calm them down and, preferably, end this entire war without any more senseless violence. He was sick of this.
If only –
“Yo, Parrot, calm down. Your feathers are going all over the place.”
Theo, his most trusted friend and closest ally, interrupted his spiraling thoughts.
He was carefully holding a beautifully polished gold crown and a newly mended velvet cape that looked pristine compared to the rags they had been wearing lately. During the war, with all the constant running for his life and the brutal battles they had endured, both his royal attire and his own physical well-being had worn down. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time he had managed to get a decent amount of sleep. Exhaustion was deeply etched into his face.
“Thanks, bro,” Parrot sighed, waiting as his bodyguard expertly placed the heavy cape onto his shoulders and securely fastened the clasps into place.
“Are you sure they won’t try to assassinate you?” his voice was laced with worry, placing the crown softly tucking his king’s head wings.
“Well, I double checked for any traps and stuff. Besides, this is our home ground.”
“I don’t think that really matters.”
“I mean, I would have my most trusted body guard, no?”
That lighthearted remark finally managed to break through the tension and get a genuine smile out of Theo.
“Yeah, cause I am the biggest bird to save your ass every time.”
“What are you even saying, bro. Obviously I’m the biggest bird.”
Parrot smiled, finally feeling his tense feathers actually relaxing. He took a deep breath, knowing that at any moment now the heavy doors would open, and he wanted to be completely prepared for whatever stepped through. Out of sheer habit, his hand drifted up, gently rubbing the Yin-Yang necklace resting against his chest. Peace was finally within reach. He now actually had a genuine shot at saving everyone—both new players and the old players alike. He just needed a little more time to pull the pieces together. The civil war had admittedly done some pretty severe damage to his original plans, but if he could somehow convince some of the old players to join his side today, his chances of fixing this world were definitely not zero.
“But Parrot, are you sure you don’t need, like, more people with you? I mean, I’m pretty sure Saps will bring either Flame or Billy, and the Spiders would certainly bring Wemmbu. Reina isn't as good as me, but still won’t you need extra back up?”
Parrot chewed his bottom lip, the temporary peace vanishing as Theo's words shook him back to reality. Theo did have a point; if this high-stakes meeting suddenly went south, he was certain that Saps and Arachnid were not above instantly turning to brutal violence. Using his former friends against him. If they even were still his friends, that is—assuming they were just being used in the first place. He rubbed his face tiredly. The very people who had once proudly gifted the crown onto his head, the very people who had willingly knelt for someone weak as him to be their king, were now actively after his throat and his entire kingdom. He couldn’t forget the burning hate he had witnessed in Lomedy’s eyes, or the indifferent yet clearly untrusting tone of Flame. And then, of course, there was Wemmbu. The memory brought a wave of pure dread pooling deep in his gut – remembering the terrifying sight of the purple demon pulling up onto the battlefield, raining his wrath of orbital strikes onto innocent soldiers and peaceful farms below.
“Horace and Fymada need to rebuild all the dagames on other cities, and Reina is on a mission. We have to do this. And besides…I have something just in case.”
“Of course you do,” smirked the cockatiel.
Then there was commotion at the door.
“Entering General Saparata with the faction of Cindercrest, and Lord Arachnid with the faction of the Caves!”
Flame gripped his sword tightly.
The worn handle had already molded perfectly into his hands over time, a striking sign that he was a fighter through and through.
A beast born for the battlefield.
He was a true warrior—someone who was all action, no words. To him, a crash of a sword spoke far more words than mere political yapping ever could. It was no wonder he was confused when Saparata suddenly asked for his presence at Parrot's upcoming meeting, an invitation he had no idea why Saps had even agreed to in the first place. Wasn't the goal of the Cindercrest to completely overthrow Parrot's kingdom for the sake of the old players? Something big was happening behind the stages, but he had absolutely no idea what it was. Something that worried him even more was the fact that Lomedy was right there alongside them too. Didn't Saps see the sheer instability of what had happened back on the bridge? Talking wasn’t going to get them anywhere at this point. Still, Lomedy had agreed to go, so Flame did the same; he really didn’t want to be far away from the farmer unless it was absolutely necessary.
As they finally reached the grand gates of the Northern Council, a few of the armed guards stepped forward and requested Saparata to place all of his items securely in a chest, demanding that the rest of the Cindercrest army to fall back. Flame hadn’t expected the General to accept such restrictive terms so easily, but to his utter shock, he did. Watching the rest of the Cindercrest guards turn around and return to their base, Flame grudgingly let go of the sword he was gripping so tightly. Now, he felt immensely more uneasy than before. Walking directly into the heart of the enemy base with absolutely no weapons or armor sounded like something only a madman would do. What on earth was Saparata thinking?
“Lomedy, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Listen Flame, I’m sure Saps knows what he’s doing.”
With that, the conversation—if you can even call it that—ended. Flame didn’t bother to try striking up another one after that dismissive answer. They had a high-stakes war meeting to get to.
When the guard finally announced their arrival, it was him, Lomedy, and Saparata entering alongside Arachnid, Yungy, and Wemmbu. Flame had already guessed that Wemmbu would be coming, but the demon looked completely off today. Swearing on the Nether God, Flame knew he was no people person. He couldn’t read a single shit unless it was a blade cutting toward his neck or a mace falling from several feet above him. However even he could tell something was wrong. In truth, Wemmbu wasn’t an easy individual to get along with or read in the first place. The only reason Flame had a slight upper hand over others in understanding him was thanks to their many brutal clashes they had under the name of rivalry. Today, the demon looked far quieter and incredibly dull, almost as if he were completely disconnected from the rest of them entirely. With the demon’s usual sarcastic remarks and arrogant smirk gone, Flame couldn't help but feel an uncanny sensation brewing. Even the clothes he was wearing made it look like he was attending a funeral or something, with all the dark black and gray colors and the web-like strings dripping down over his shoulders.
Flame wondered for a brief moment if he should actually step out of line and go talk to him. Whether or not the demon would even humor him with an answer had a pretty low chance of happening, given the circumstances. Still, the thought lingered in his mind as the tension in the room grew thicker.
“Saparata, Arachnid,” greeted Parrot, glancing around carefully at the small, tense crowd standing in front of them.
“King Parrot,” Saps answered back, taking a seat nearest to them. “Let’s all take a seat, shall we?”
Parrot, saying nothing, sat down on the opposite side of the general. He was clearly not willing to be baited by such a low insult as being explicitly invited to take a seat in the very base that he owned. The people of the Caves followed suit, taking their places around the massive table. Looking across the room, Flame noticed that someone from Parrot’s usual core team was noticeably missing.
Reina, was it?
“As King of the Unstable, I would like to thank Cindercrest and the Cave civilization for accepting this invitation,” Parrot began, launching into what promised to be a long, boring monologue.
It went on. Parrot spent an agonizing amount of time explaining the events of the war, which everyone in the fricking room already knew because, well, they were there. In the center of the meeting room lay a massive map, displaying the clear failure Parrot had achieved while trying to fight against the forces of Cindercrest. Flame took a sharp glance around the table to gauge the room; Yungy was practically about to fall off his chair from dozing off, Lomedy was glaring at Parrot, and Wemmbu was just staring blankly out into the open air. Even Theo, Parrot’s own loyal royal guard, seemed entirely unamused by the speech. Flame rolled his eyes hidden beneath his blindfold.
“Well, let’s get to the point,” Saps cut in sharply. “Cindercrest is already winning. What can you possibly offer us to stop this war?”
Finally, they were getting to the real stuff.
“Saps, you and I both know the Cindercrest recently took a massive blow. You can’t continue this war,” Parrot shot back, his tone hardening. “What’s the point of this war that you started under the ideology to save old players, when you can’t even properly supply them yourself?”
“And whose fault is that?” Saps sneered.
“Then whose fault is it that Unstable lost its biggest food supply?”
Flame huffed quietly at the intense standoff. Parrot did… have a valid point. He didn’t really get what Cindercrest was trying to achieve long-term anyway. Meanwhile, Arachnid didn’t really seem to be saying anything at all, just sitting there silently. What were those losers of the server even doing here? Although they were technically allied with Cindercrest, the people of the Caves never really seemed all that enthusiastic about liberating old players. In fact, Flame wasn’t even sure if their civilization even had that many old players to begin with!
He quickly lost interest and stopped paying much attention to the two leaders bickering back and forth. Most being just yapping and empty threats — mostly coming from Saps, Flame absentmindedly danced his fingers along the hilt of his sword.
“Saps, you can’t just—”
“Oh my gosh, Parrot, what is wrong with you?”
Then, with a deafening, crack-of-lightning-like sound, the heavy doors literally exploded.
Accompanying the terrifyingly familiar sound that carried the weight of both the raging rain and crashing tides, the sharp, salty scent of the open sea flooded the room.
“Yo, hope we’re not too late.”
“JADEN?”