Like Rabbits

"Want to get back at him?" The Rabbit God asked me those words. Latching onto my rising anger at having receiving such blatant mistreatment.

"But... how?" I asked. Even if I wanted to, the man was a legend. The entire Ashton family was a legend. And I was just... a rabbit.

My surroundings, a small portion of the Ashton Academy gardens were just another reminder of how rich and powerful the Ashton family truly was.

"Stop looking down on yourself, you're a rabbit. That's the greatest compliment anyone could ever give you. Now let's get down to business. Do you trust me?" The Rabbit God, stared me in the eyes, like he was peering into my very soul.

"No." I said flatly.

"Oof. So quickly even. I'm your God, you know? Well let me start you out, I actually gave you a really good blessing. Undeniably, the best one I could give. I said I wanted you to conquer, and I gave you everything you'd ever need to do so."

The blessing he had given me, "Harem", came to mind.

"With a harem?" I asked, my voice steeped in skepticism.

He stared back at me, seemingly trying to read my mind, before he suddenly made a face like he had come to some kind of unexpected enlightenment.

"Okay, okay. I see what the problem is. I may have been a little vague with the name, and a little more lewd with the description than it needed to be, trying to be discrete and all. But to think he didn't even tell you any of it, that incompetent priest..." The Rabbit God muttered before sighing. "Maybe it's better that I explain it all myself."

He cleared his voice, straightening up his back like he was about to launch into a long lecture.

"Basically magic is the basic component of life. The more you have, the longer you live. You know that much, right?" He looked at me for reassurance, trying to get a gauge for how basic an explanation he needed to give me.

"Uh, right." I'd had a basic education already, even if I couldn't use magic, I at least knew what it was.

"That's why you always see those old geezer mages walking around, they have really long lifespans. Anyways, all living beings need a little bit of magic, sometimes you can get a little more than usual, which would make you more powerful and live a lot longer. But did you know there's a limit to that? Your body can only hold so much magic before it goes kaboom. Get it? You explode."

"Specific magic capacity, you mean." I added, pulling from the things I had learned during primary education.

"You can call it what you want, but basically everybody has a maximum limit for how much magic they can hold. So how does a little weak rabbit like me, with a tiny body ever get to be a God?"

"Weren't you always a God?"

"No, you idiot. Course not, use your common sense."

It seemed what he thought of as common sense was a bit different than what I knew.

"Let me tell you how. We share. One little rabbit has a tiny pool of magic, but what if that little rabbit got together with another little rabbit? Now what if he got together with a million other little rabbits? That little rabbit can kick everyone's ass now. That's what."

Something clicked in my mind. I was starting to understand just how truly overpowered the Rabbit God really was.

"Wait, slow down a second. You're saying you can share magic power? You can pool together magic power?" It was quite frankly an unbelievable revelation.

"Yeah, well, I'm kind of awesome like that. So anyway, that's the blessing I gave you. It's why you gotta sleep with women." The rabbit god said while coughing uncomfortably.

This all seemed a little too powerful for a standard blessing, otherwise why wouldn't every God give their children overpowered abilities like this? Better yet, why hadn't he given anyone else this power yet?

"You're overthinking things." The Rabbit God said, drops of sweat forming on his furry snow-white brow.

"So is this how I get my revenge? I get more powerful than him over-time?"

"Well, uh, yes that's one part of it, but I am a god you know. My plan is a bit better than just that. You want something that will personally devastate William Ashton, and the Ashton family for that matter. I happen to have exactly the thing for that. It will ruin him."

"I'm all ears", I said, wiggling each of them independently to show I was listening.

He floated closer to me, leaning in.

"You've been pretty flakey, so I need you to agree beforehand. Trust me for once on this one."

I hesitated, why couldn't he just tell me straight forward?

"I gave you the best blessing out there and you thought it was trash, if you hear it you'll refuse. But I swear on my billion wives it's a good plan. Just trust me and go for it."

Billion? The number of women involved seemed to be growing larger.

"Why would you think I'd refuse?"

"I'll tell you the basics for now, but I can't tell you too much. You have to sleep with a specific woman for it to work. William Ashton's daughter. I can set the two of you up, but I can't say any more or you'll refuse. You're too nice for your own good."

I hesitated, none of that set off any red flags for me, but I still was suspicious of the amount of secrets that the Rabbit God seemed to be hiding from me.

"You're not going to have me force her or anything right?" Even if I hated William Ashton, I wasn't going to do something evil like that, especially not to someone completely innocent like his daughter.

"Your blessing only works if it's consensual, just trust me. Please?"

I sighed. His blessing did sound a lot better than I had initially thought, and it did seem like he was genuinely interested in helping me. Deciding that I would trust him just this once.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it. So what's your plan."

"Okay, good. You're a good kid, you know that? Now here's the plan. William Ashton has a daughter. You're going to sleep with her."

You already said that. I thought with some annoyance.

"What do you think William Ashton is the most proud of in this world?"

"His daughter?" I asked, seeing that she was part of the revenge plot.

"Nope, dead wrong. He doesn't know he has a daughter. It's his family's bloodline magic."

My eyebrows shot up, this was definitely going in a direction I hadn't foreseen.

"Let me guess, this blessing of yours can steal bloodline magic too?" Seeing the grin on his face, I knew I was starting to catch on.

"What are you doing?" The Rabbit God asked me.

It was now after one O'clock and most of the students had already begun leaving for the day, well after the teacher-guided tours had concluded, while I was still in the academy gardens. Having found myself a secluded area, I began to dig next to an old oak tree. Deep enough the I could bury my sword at least. Throwing it in, scabbard and all, before covering it back up with dirt. Looking around to make sure I hadn't been seen. The spot looked good as new, good enough to avoid raising any suspicion anyways.

"Saving some money." I finally replied. I couldn't well afford paying the guards bribes every single day, could I?

Clapping my hands together to clear the dirt off them, it was time to head home.

Skipping back through the human district with a spring in my step, just like this morning, I must have looked like one happy rabbit.

Waving to the same guards who had shaken me down for money just this morning with a refreshing smile.

"So how will I recognize this Ashton girl?" I asked the Rabbit God, who had been watching my skipping form from behind.

"You'll know, all the Ashton's have a distinct birthmark, a four-pointed star, somewhere on their bodies. All of them. This girl included."

Four pointed star? Starting to recall what I knew about their family, their crest was something that was remarkably similar to what he was describing. Could it be the crest was actually based on the birthmark?

"So do I just go around stripping every girl I come across to find her? Doesn't seem very practical."

"Don't worry about it. I said I'd set you up, and I will. All you need to do is be a good little rabbit when the time comes and swallow the meal laid before you."

I just nodded as passed back through the maze of alleyways making up the heart of the beastkin district, winding through back-alley brothels and flea-market traders, all the while keeping my ears open for any hint of danger, Fenrus' gang was still probably looking for me after all, soon emerging back out into the comfortable and familiar habitat of the bunny-borough with a sigh of relief. Tree shaped homes were laid out into neatly arranged rows, each of them built on top of a soft grass foundation, looking like a miniature forest cul-de-sac. I walked down the street, plodding my way back to a familiar picket fence. A sign posted on it which read, "The Fuzzear Family."

Smiling to myself, I was home.