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Jimmy sobbed as he flopped on his flimsy bed and curled into himself. How could he be so stupid? The cod council has only given him one more chance to prove that he can be a good leader, and he understands why. He snapped at his advisors today even though they were trying to ask about trade deals, what they were going to do about the tentacles growing from the ground and how they were going to deal with the food shortage.
The cod hybrid already wasn’t in the best mood, Scott, Lizzie and Joel had been really busy recently. So Jimmy had been left alone for the past week, wallowing in loneliness and having to deal with Fwhip’s taunts all by himself. He couldn’t mentally handle the meeting today but being the ruler of the empire made him have to be there.
At the multitude of questions he was being bombarded with, he just snapped. He screamed at his advisors, saying all sorts of horrible things that he regrets. The cod council called him in to talk not long, he cried and begged for forgiveness. I’ll be better, he promised them, on his knees with tears running down his face. They let him off with a warning. He has one chance to make it up, to fix all the problems in the empire. But he can’t.
He’s too weak, he can’t do anything, he’s useless. He’s never done anything right for his empire, he keeps messing everything up, he keeps ruining everything. The fact that his friends don’t want to be around him is proof enough. Sure, they’re probably genuinely busy but Jimmy’s mind races with thoughts that they’re ignoring him on purpose and that they hate him. His mind just won’t stop with these thoughts, they keep telling him that everyone he knows hates him and they just put up with them because they feel pity. They keep telling him that he should just die, just leave, just make himself disappear, maybe then it would be better for everyone.
Jimmy sobs more, “Ugh! Maybe I should just leave!” He screams into his pillow, “I’m not fit to rule, all my friends hate me. If I leave everything will be better for them.” He cries, he doesn’t want to leave but his brain is telling him that it is the best option. “I just want Scott to talk to me. Lizzie, Joel, anyone. I just feel so alone.” He weeps, nuzzling his face into his pillow, wiping the tears from his face onto it, “I miss my friends.” Suddenly he hears a crash from somewhere in the small shack.
Jimmy shot up from his cocoon of blankets, tensing up. He looks around his room, nothing was out of the ordinary, so why does he feel so unsafe, why does it feel like someone’s watching him- “Hello Codfather” A demonic voice greets from behind him. He slowly turns to see the intruder to see a tall demon, with pure black skin, red vines digging into their skin, black robes with purple and red accents; shoulder-length black and purple hair and large black horns. This had to be Xornoth, right? That demon everyone has been freaking out about recently.
Jimmy gulps, looking up at the demon, “H- hi?” He stutters, Cod, what was he going to do? “Um, w- what are you doing here?” He decides to ask. The demon stands there silent for a minute, “Well dear, I heard you crying in here so I wanted to check on you,” They say almost sincerely, are they being serious? Why would they care about him of all people? He has no worth to them - or anyone for that matter.
“Thanks but you have no need to care about me, you can leave.” He says flatly, lying back down and pulling a blanket over his body. He could hear Xornoth mumble something under their breath before the bed dipped by his legs. Jimmy moves the blanket from over his head to look down the bed, Xornoth was now sitting on the mattress, still staring at him with their reddish-purple, creepily blank eyes.
“Well Codfather, you seem to not be in the best place at the moment.” The demon states, “Tell me, are you going to do anything to keep your status as the Codfather or are you going to just let it fade?” Jimmy stares at them, how did they know? That was a private meeting, no one would have broken the privacy of the meeting. As far as he’s aware, the cod council don't even talk to anyone except him.
Xornoth chuckled darkly at his confusion, “I have eyes everywhere little fish,” They smirk, “Now, I have a deal for you.” Jimmy sits up and looks at them, what could Xornoth possibly offer him? Other than wanting to make it up to his people and have his friends talk to him again, there’s nothing he wants. He doesn’t want to be corrupted. He doesn’t want to end up like Sausage or Joey, he’s seen how they’ve been acting; he doesn't want to hurt the ones he cares about. “A… deal?” He questions.
“Yes, a deal. You see dear, I want you to join me.” So Jimmy was right, they… they want to turn him into some puppet. “Now, before you get so upset, hear me out.” They say, grinning wickedly “I heard you crying about how no one’s paying attention to you and how you just want to run away and no longer want to rule-" "I never said that." He interrupts. He never said anything about wanting to not be an emperor, he just said he thought he was too useless to rule. Besides, he didn’t mean anything he said, he was just saying things because he was upset.
"Hush, dear.” Xornoth shushes. Jimmy was too focused on the demon in front of him that he didn’t realise the red tentacles invading his shack through the open windows. “Listen Jimmy, I have a proposition for you: if you join me, you help to get Scott on my side and you won’t have to rule and you’ll never be alone again.” A sweet smell invades his senses, covering his mind in fog, but he shakes his head, trying to dispel the fuzzy headspace the smell was dragging him into.
“I- um… that sounds nice and all but I don’t want to hurt people.” He refuses, he’s not going to give in, “And, just for the record, I never said I didn’t want to be an emperor anymore. I was only saying stuff out of how upset I was, I didn’t mean any of it.” He huffs, why can’t Xornoth just leave? Jimmy’s said no and so they don’t have to be here anymore. Xornoth just stares at him like they’re studying a book or something.
They smile darkly, more of the sweet smell filling the room, “Of course you said that silly, I heard it with my own two ears.” They say in an obvious tone, like Jimmy’s just imagining things. Jimmy knows that they’re lying… but why does he want to believe them? “I know that all you want in life is to be with my darling little brother, forever.” They are now a lot closer to him than they were before. It’s intimidating, having someone who could kill you easily so close to you, sure, Jimmy’s strong but not like Xornoth. Xornoth has control over those weird tentacle things and has some kind of teleporting powers.
Wait- he just realised something Xornoth said, “Brother?” He asks weakly, damn he’s so tired. With the context they said it in, they said that Jimmy wanted to be with their brother forev- he knows who their brother is. He must have had some kind of ‘I got it!’ expression on his face because Xornoth laughs, “That’s it darling, you’ve got it! Your sweet petal’s siblings with the big ol’ scary demon.” Jimmy stares blankly at them, Scott would’ve… he would’ve told him about this, right?
“I’m not surprised he never told you. I mean, he didn’t even know until he read that stupid prophecy book.” They growl, “He forgot all his memories not long after I got corrupted. I suspect Aeor didn’t want his perfect little champion to have memories of his ‘evil’ sibling” They rolled their eyes. Xornoth, they look upset, surely they care about Scott with how they’re talking about him.
“Enough of dwelling on the past. Do you want to join me or not?” They asked firmly and Jimmy… wasn’t sure. He doesn’t want to get corrupted and hurt his friends but Xornoth made such compelling points. He wants to be with Scott, he wants to never be alone again… but he doesn’t know Xornoth’s full plans, he doesn’t know if they’re just lying. “I- if I were to join you” He starts, “What would be your plan? After I help you get Scott I mean.”
“Well, I want to take over the server, be an emperor of all emperors kind of thing.” They smile, excited at the idea, “And me, you and Scott can all live in Rivendell, your sister could even take over this empire so you don’t have to worry about it anymore” They explain, and Cod , it sounds amazing. Not having to worry about ruling an empire, just being with his husband and sibling in law. It would be amazing.
His mind becomes more foggy as he starts to agree with Xornoth. He starts to feel more tired too, Xornoth must have noticed it because they dragged the younger onto their lap, holding him close. Jimmy contently sighs and lets his head rest on Xornoth’s chest, the demon starts to card their fingers through his hair. He could get used to this.
“What will you do when you take over the server?” He asks, straining his neck to look up at the demon while trying to keep his head where it was in their chest. Xornoth chuckles at him before talking, “Well, I think we could build a nice palace for me to live in, probably near Rivendell so I’d still be close to you and Scott.” Jimmy smiles at that idea. “And well, I personally don’t have any grudges against anyone on the server, however, you do darling.” They say, tilting the cod hybrid’s head up.
Jimmy hums, confused. He doesn’t have a grudge against anyone, no matter how someone treats him, he tries to be as kind as possible. “Fwhip, the one that constantly torments you and riles you up, don’t you hate him?” They whisper the last part in his ear. The blonde desperately shakes his head, he doesn’t hate Fwhip, no matter how he’s treated him in the past. “N- no! I would never!” He stutters.
“Oh but why not dear? He’s hurt you emotionally, he’s tormented you,” They deviously smile, “I mean he even tried to kill Scott a bit ago.” They say dismissively. Jimmy sits up, fury blooming in his chest “ What.” He seethes, how could Fwhip do that to his husband, his petal. Stuck in the anger growing in his chest, he didn’t see Xornoth’s malicious smile. “Oh I know darling, apparently it was because Scott hurt Gem. He didn’t mean to, obviously, he can’t control his powers yet.” And if that doesn’t make Jimmy more angry.
“How could he! I- I-'' He breaks down into sobs, how could Fwhip do that? Scott messes up sometimes but he always tries his best. “I want to hurt him,” He growls, “Not a lot, just a bit to make him pay for hurting Scott.” The cod hybrid clarifies, looking at Xornoth through watery eyelashes. The other smiles at him, “Of course dear, I’m sure we can think of a punishment that fits what he did,” They smile, cupping Jimmy’s cheek softly.
Jimmy nods and wipes his eyes. “When are we going to get Scott?” He asks timidly, leaning into the clawed hand on his cheek. “Well, I was thinking in about a month.” They shrug. That made Jimmy confused, a month, that would be so long, why would they wait so long? They wanted Jimmy with them to get Scott, why would they recruit Jimmy so early if they were going to wait a month to retrieve him. “A month?”
Xornoth stares at him, “Well yes. I mean Scott probably won’t realise you’re gone for a bit and we need him to be desperate to have you back to make sure he joins us.” The demon explains, “Plus it gives you more time to settle in.” And that makes sense, Jimmy tends to get anxious in new situations. Jimmy nods, thinking about how kind Xornoth was for giving him time to settle in before throwing him into things.
More of the sweet smell emits from the vines, making him more tired. He yawns, trying to push his face more into Xornoth’s hand. “Go to sleep dear, we’ll talk more when you wake up” Xornoth mutters sweetly. Jimmy nods again and falls into Xornoth’s chest, completely passed out.
The demon laughs, patting the back of Jimmy's head a couple times before picking the blonde up. “I have plans for you little fish and I can’t wait to have them get set into motion.” And with that, Xornoth disappears with the Codfather, leaving the Cod Empire abandoned by its ruler.