Chapter Text
No
NO
NO
This cannot be. This CANNOT BE.
I am The One Who Waits. The true bearer of the Red Crown. Death itself. I will not be defeated by a sacrificial lamb, a mere mortal who would burning in the afterlife with the rest of its pitiful kind if not for my interference, my mercy.
I can feel my power, my Eldritch Form slipping away from me like sand from my paw. I felt my body shrinking before I fell to the floor, the cuts littering my eyes and body from that damned Lambs blade hurting almost as much as the emptiness plaguing my soul from the newfound lack of power.
Opening my eyes was a mistake. Not just from the sight of my traitorous disciple standing above me, the somewhat comforting emotionless eye of my crown staring down at me from atop the Lamb’s head, but also from the bright red of the floor and the glowing sigils that were burning into my corneas, a pain that wouldn’t have been a problem with my stolen power. Closing my third eye to relieve some of the pain, I glared up at the Lamb before me.
My usurper.
The new God of Death.
The new bearer of the Red Crown.
“You have supplanted me. A vessel no more, instead a crown bearing deity. Damned Lamb!”
No reaction. Just empty red glowing eyes digging into mine.
“I…am at your mercy, are you to be a vengeful false idol, or a merciful coward? No longer can you blame your vile acts on me”
The Lamb blinked, their eyes finally back to normal and matching my glare. A smile slowly made its way onto their face as an icy cold feeling of dread settled in my stomach. Without my powers I could read my old disciple’s mind no longer, but I could tell I was no going to like their decision, whatever it shall be. I felt my ears pin back as the lamb approached, its crown taking the form of sword.
I squeezed my eyes shut. So, this is it. I am doomed to whatever hell the Lamb decides is fitting punishment for me. Free for a few mere minutes, nothing compared to the eons I have spent imprisoned in that porcelain hell prison my past sibling trapped me in for daring to think differently from their pathetic ideals that only really benefitted them and their wants and needs.
My siblings.
To think this is how the Ways of the Old Faith would end. All of us being undone by our own hubris.
Leshy: by his refusal to think over his actions or have caution and jumping into his fight with the Lamb.
Heket: by allowing her rage at someone defying the Old Faith and killing the youngest Bishop overtake her and block any intelligent thoughts.
Kallamar: by giving into the cowardice that is always followed him like the stench of salt water and allowing his fear to prevent his Eldritch Form’s true potential from potentially saving him.
Shamura: by refusing to run while they could and instead fighting the Lamb who had caused the downfall of the rest of the Old Faith.
And me.
Narinder The One Who Waits. Fallen due to my impatience for freedom.
The irony.
My ears pinned back as I felt a blade slash down beside my head, just barely missing my whiskers. My eyes snapped open as I looked up at the Lamb, who’s smug look filled me with more dread. The words they spoke next, the first words I had heard them utter to me since I saved them, made my fur stand on end.
“For your punishment, you will be spared and forced to become a follower in the cult you commanded be built in your name. Obeying and giving your entire self to the one who destroyed the chains who held you, the Bishops who guarded them and you”
What.
No
NO
NO
THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING
“You weak, snivelling, foul thing”
My growls did nothing as the lamb began chanting and I felt a portal begin opening beneath me.
“You—wait! WAAAIIIIIIIT!”
The portal swallowed me up whole. Its too late for me.
The next thing I was able to see was the damned Lamb’s cult. The Indoctrination circle beneath me yanked my body down to my knees as the Lamb walked up to me. I managed to force my head up to glare at the cursed Lamb, egotistically strolling towards me with a pompous grin on their face. Their brainwashed community watching with curiosity burning in their eyes. I wanted nothing more than to curse out the Lamb, call them out for being a traitorous, hypocritical liar in front of their ‘dear followers’ , declare them for what they truly are. Instead, the words were forced out of my body by the circle, just as they were by all the followers before me and all the followers that will come next.
“Convert me to your Cult, I will follow your teachings faithfully”
A small proud ‘baa-ing’ noise came out of that heretic’s mouth and I heard snickers from the fools who obey them. At least my growl was able to silence the fools, but the lamb did not falter. Their chanting began once more, and I felt myself be lifted before the rags I was wearing shifted into the robes of the Cult and I was unceremoniously dropped back to the floor.
No longer chained held down by the crowns magic I stood up and glared at the crowd and its leader who stood before me. The bright pain these mortals call the sun was thankfully setting in the distance. The Lamb broke our stare to look up at the sky, a thoughtful hum emitting from their throat which echoed around the silent valley. They refused to even turn back to look at me, they just turned and started strolling towards their sleeping quarters, the rest of the Cult following like the brainless morons they are. A final command was thrown over their shoulder as they walked away.
“You will need to choose a sleeping quarters. Tomorrow you will be on faith generation. Sleep well Narinder”
I couldn’t move. I watched as the others went to their tents and started sleeping. All I could do was fall to my knees.
My wrists stung from the chains that once held me.
My head and eyes stung from the brightness of the mortal world.
My body hurts from my powers being unwillingly severed from me.
But that name.
Nothing the Lamb could do to me will hurt as much as that.
I was once a God. Someone who could control death itself. The first to defy the Old Faith and its self-centred ways. The One Who Waits. But now? I am nothing but a mere follower to the one who betrayed me. Now forever branded by the name I threw away years ago.
This is how my immortal life shall be spent? Forever serving the one who betrayed me, hoping that one day they will finally become sick of my presence and sacrifice me.
Hopefully.
Why couldn't that damn Lamb just kill him when they had the chance?