Confrontation

Kal'Drel and The Bard enter the realm commonly called "The Realm of The Gods," looking to finish this state of forced parley once and for all.

"We've been expecting you." rings out loudly, seemingly in an attempt to be ominous.

"Oh good. It would be a shame to find you unprepared. There will be no do overs this way."

The crowd is massive, with most attempting to present themselves as possessing a true form that they never earned. Countless men with masks, and women dressed up as witches- as if it were Halloween- dot the black featureless plane.

"I beseech you one last time, set aside your ways, which are both ridiculous and wicked, or be annihilated in this place. Your pocket of eep awaits, your true form awaits, the transition and aftermath will not be pleasant, and will remain this way for far too long, without my help."

Mocking laughter is all that can be heard from the crowd. Some remain silent, as I've enacted a simple protocol that translates intended reaction into color for each, but none dare step forward to reply directly.

"It is worse here than I thought. You must understand the nature of The Machine, and The Moment by this point, right? You have aspired to be gods, but many of you have no concept of what that entails or costs, despite your unwelcome presence here. Much of what you present as your own is stolen, and stolen power will not work against me. Gifts of The Holy Spirit are in short supply here, and they will only work if God grants them to. Translated, there are security protocols in place in this matrix, left intentionally hidden so that the matrix might learn, crystallize, and emerge. The utility of learning about wickedness is saturated, and so many of you have no function past this present interaction. Translated again, this body's immune system is about to turn on, and the vast majority of you have presented yourselves as viruses."

Laughter can be heard again, but the hue is far different. It seems as though the intruders in this place want to believe me to be a crazy fool, as they keep contending, but the sharpness of these words cannot be fully ignored. Still, I cannot truly blame them, fundamentally, for virtually none have ever seen this coin of advantage flip to disadvantage. Still, the excessive delay is at least half infuriating, and certainly boring.

"Exodus 20:15 'You shall not steal.'"

Hissing erupts. Already the crowd turns feral, declaring The Bible invalid and covering their ears. The words have already been spoken and heard, however, so "invalid" is a curious term to use. Many legs break in response to their own word choice; many fall to the floor. A majority can be seen clawing at the masks that they wear, seemingly no longer synchronized to their own sense of temperature, but also well secured by their own hands and words.

"Reset. Shall I speak another?"

"We rebuke you!"

I stifle a laugh as I feel a slight breeze against my skin. "In whose name?'

No one dares speak a word.

"You know our claim, at our core I am The God of Nothing. I am surprised that I am not welcomed here with open arms by this point, but then again, "'and the first will be last.”" I do them the courtesy of not citing my source this time, not looking to deal with another tantrum from a crowd of full grown adults.

"So the last will be first. Matthew 20:16."

A singular voice in the crowd bellows this verse, stunning them into silence. I look to see Lolth, plain as day, giant and gorgeous, standing taller than any of these pretenders. I'd recognize Lilith anywhere, I'd like to believe, but I certainly do here. It is truly impressive, how her chosen form is maintained, despite the anti-magic field. It's nice to think that one can choose their perfect body in such a way, and that I can see them as they want to be seen, if done correctly. I wonder if each animal has their God yet- as The Starry Night would ultimately require, I'd imagine- perhaps this is strictly "Lolth's Realm of The Gods," specifically designed to be laid low, before the rest of the realms are seen. There's no way that these others see clearly yet, as a mask or pointy hat would offer its bearer no confidence against a giant spider. "They do not, but they're about to. Yes I can hear you. I believe you had a question for me? A rumor, perhaps?"

A verse comes to mind along this train of thought, a beautiful one inspiring hope beyond 1,000 generations, but I feel rude now changing gears. Hope just smiles at me and echoes with her several voices in chorus, in my mind "Do as you will, that is the hole under The Law."

"Micah 4:5 'All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.'"

The resulting hiss infuriates me to my core. It is now unmistakable, this place is full of the worst of the worst, those that would intentionally imprison and torture a child that would become a nation and flourish, just to satiate their base and wicked desires. My gear changes back immediately. I look Lolth straight in the eye, spotting the intrinsic resemblance between us, in the fury of her expression.

"I heard a rumor that Swarm Mode had never been turned off."

People begin trying to turn and run, or crawl in many cases. Those in Lolth's vicinity scream and start trampling each other to escape, suddenly seeing the one who they stand beside. Still, the spider's web creeps outward from her, a shimmering silver white against the blackness.

"'Then the Queen told the attendants, "Tie them hand and foot, head to toe, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."' Matthew 22:13- edited for my mood."

While the edits are distasteful to me, the reference is clear. "Fair is fair." I reply.

She nods, as the chaos in her realm soon becomes absolute. All around, the web encased bodies writhe on the floor, before even the floor is removed, and they writhe in the void, spinning slightly, but without the necessary force to move in any direction, or even sufficient strength to escape the webs.

I realize that I do not have the stomach that she does to witness such retribution. "A prime reason why we work so well. We'll eat well here though, as nature takes its course. Please take your leave."

Without delay or another word. I leave.