The harpy fiddled with her clothing, preening herself somewhat to look presentable. Wearing all white in dirty alleys wasn’t exactly ideal but she’d found her grift worked all the best when she stood out. Giving herself one last look-over, she nodded. Eyes proper blue, no bits of brown hair visible this time… and after a bit of refining, the illusory halo looked proper holy.

Now, then, all that there was left to do was wait for a drunkard… Ever since that third rate casino (Coin Cathedral or whatever) had opened its doors, they’d been in no short supply. Then it’d only be a matter of floating in all angel-like and giving the addled fool a proper “Thou art damned” speech and presto!~ A generous donation for their redemption.

Not that she knew anything about the subject.

Ah- there came someone now! With a hop and some magic effort, she let herself hover a foot or so off the ground, accosting the passerby.

“BE NOT AFRAID!” She exclaimed in a purposefully startling way.

With a yelp, her interlocutor jumped (good, they were afraid), clutching something to their chest.

Not giving them time to recover their footing, Ammie pushed on “THOU CARRYETH A SIN MOST PROFOUND!”

“I-I do?-” asked the… well, it was hard to really assign any real description to the plain individual, beyond their vaguely long, wavy hair.

“VERILY! IF THOU ART-”

“Are you an angel?”

“Eh?”

Ammie blinked, pausing. Was her mark onto her or just plain stupid? Perhaps just awestruck…

“I BE-ETH A MESSENGER, VERILY”

The mark’s face lit up. Ah, enthusiasm. Tinged with… nervousness? Okay. Lucky her, a faithful.

“Wow! Cool!”

They were fidgeting with whatever they had clutched to their chest. It looked golden…

The reaction felt really… off, though. Had they not heard the whole sin part?

“...” she took a deep breath, if they were that faithful, there was a chance for a jackpot. “COOL INDEED, YET HELL’S FLAMES ARE HOT! AND THY SOUL BE BOUND TO THEIR HOLD LEST YOU MAKE AN OFFERING OF COIN!”

Or paper. But that didn’t sound as angelic.

“Oh! Wow! Huh- they didn’t tell me idols would accept it so easily during orientation. O-okay then!”

Ammie blinked, squinting “What’re- WHAT DOTH THOU MEANNETH?”

As though to answer her question, the mark raised their hand, moving on their tippy toes, gaining just enough height for…

Something…

Shiny.

To fall before Ammie’s eyes with a satisfying bounce.

“Here’s your offering pretty lady!”

Ammie blinked as her harpy instincts momentarily made her appreciate the golden sheen of the… coin that had fallen in front of her.

It didn’t seem like any sort of currency she knew, though… what was it? It felt… curious. As though she recognized it, somewhere deep in her head… but couldn’t quite place it.

This was not helped by the slight sway that the unsteady hold of the mark’s hand…

“...that’s?...a coin?...” she muttered, confused, forgetting momentarily about the role she’d previously given herself

“Mhm! I just got it today, too!”

…something was wrong, Ammie felt it, distantly. A coin, no matter how shiny, should not be that attention-grabbing. There was something about the simplicity of it and the earnestness of the long-haired fellow that held it that made it hard to consider not looking at it.

As it swayed.

Shone.

Left and right.

Ammie’s eyes fluttered a moment, before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing, her pupils following the slight motions still, clearing her throat “T-THOU ART KIND but…”

It was so distracting, shoved right in her face, so-

The mark cut her off “Tut-tut! No but! I can see you’re interested, right? I mean, I spent so much time making it shine just to show it off!”

“R-right I-”

They chuckled, taking a step forward “I mean, plus, I know it won’t take long! You really look like you have a knack for it!”

Ammie’s focus moved away from maintaining her hover, her floating growing shaky before she landed somewhat roughly, caught by the waist by her former mark as they steadied her.

All the while the coin still swung, as though it was second nature, so smoothly, so undeniably, pulling at her attention…

The smoothness of its arc felt unnatural, yet so compelling.

Now she knew something was wrong, but her eyes refused to err from the golden disc, her already distant awareness of all else dimming as the coin-wielder kept talking.

“There we go, you’re doing great miss! The coin looks pretty doesn’t it?”

Ammie nodded, her lips slowly parting as words failed to form in her head.

“All Glorious and Perfect, it makes sense to trust it to guide you!”

Ammie didn’t reply, her eyes drooping, bit by bit. She didn’t even feel as the hypnotist’s hand gently kneaded her tummy.

It made sense…

“And do you know where it’s guiding you?~ As each swing tugs your mind along?~” asked a voice. Ammie didn’t even recall who it was. Where she was.

Not giving her a chance to even try to answer, the enthusiastic, peppy voice suddenly shifted to an assertive tone.

“It guides you down.”

The hand let go of the coin as it fell past her face, the place her mind had been so invested, down-

And so her mind

Went

Down.

Down into gilded dreams. Floating along its Glorious shine…

Distantly, she heard voices.

“...-fft look so stup-...”

She didn’t really pay attention though, it was so peaceful…

“...-ake off these cl-...”

She felt a chill, so pleasant, so cool. She was safe, alone in this perfect golden dream…

“...-llow me.”

Were her legs moving?... she hoped they were, that voice felt as pleasant as the morning sun… It’d be rude to refuse it…

…what had she been doing again?...

“...glorious idol-...”

What was the voice saying?... Oh, praising her. That felt nice… such a golden voice adorning her with the most beautiful compliments… like “radiant”... “glorious:...”agreeable”... “buxom”...

It spoke very fast, though, it was hard to keep up, when it felt just… so far, so hazy.

The air felt different now. Warmer… oh, so comforting against her bare skin… oh, right, her skin was bare now, was it not?... Why had she…?

SNAP

The noise cut through the air as Ammie blinked back to reality suddenly.

“What.”

Her mark standing next to her, hand firmly on her butt.

“What?”

A robed figure with a strange golden mask in front of her.

“What?!”

In what seemed to be an office.

“WHAT?!”

Entirely naked.

“WH-”

SNAP went the cloaked figure’s fingers again as they spoke firmly. “Shut up for a moment.”

Ammie blinked as she tried to reply… before noticing she simply… could not muster the ability to talk. Her tongue felt leaden, refusing to move, her lips similarly uncooperative in the production of words…

The masked figure looked her up and down as they spoke to the long-haired hypnotist that had caught her “So you subdued her in the alley?”

Her former mark nodded eagerly “Of course boss! Just like you said, there was someone important there! An angel, can you believe it?”

The “boss” as they’d been dubbed clicked their tongue “Well, an angel I don’t know, but an idol that is certain…”

Idol… That word felt oddly right to Ammie, a tiny smile working its way on her face, as she forgot how strange the situation as a whole was.

The boss clapped their hands as they exclaimed “Well! I think I’m satisfied by what I’ve seen. You’re hired!”

The false angel tilted her head, trying to keep up with the situation “...hired for?...”

“For our coin doll position of course. After all…” the mask glinted with evil intent as they leant forward “We can’t have a thief scamming our clients the moment they walk out of the casino, can we?”

Ammie’s smile wavered as she took a step back. Somewhere in the back of her head, a sudden sense of fear had taken hold, but it spread through her so sluggishly…

“That’s- so you knew?-”

“Now, no need to frown.” A snap echoed through the air again. “Smile. Rejoice, it’s an honor to be an idol.”

Obedient to the stimuli, her mouth curved up, her mind flooded once again with the pleasantness of that word.

Idol…

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind…”

The boss raised something, slowly, a coin. Golden, just like the one that had caught her previously…

Her smile grew more genuine, more melty as the Glory of the gold sunk into her mind again, already feeling herself slipping…

“...my, she really is a natural.”

“Told you boss!”

The coin swung, slightly, with her focus so firmly set upon its sway she followed even the tiniest motion of the marvelous disc.

“Now, then, if you wouldn’t mind… why don’t you sleep for me?”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Barely needed to be told once, really, as she fell down.

Down.

Down into dreams of glory and gold, down into perfect natural worship.

She heard the voice, so distant.

It told her she was an idol. She was to be admired. Attention was worship. It was glorious to be seen, glorious to capture it.

There was no need to worry. No need to think. Just that endless ditzy desire for attention…

What little fear had remained was getting thoroughly trapped so far that her conscience could barely fathom it, her mind gilded so prettily…

…

…

Ammie blinked awake, a radiant smile frozen on her face as she came to, her body frozen in a showy pose, clad in a bikini that barely registered as an outfit, its small gold coins and tight straps hugging her body.

Her boss stood by, looking her over, before nodding to a cultist, the same one she’d met earlier. “Mh, I think that’ll do, yes.”

With a snap, she was free to move again, her smile not leaving her face as she took the initiative to hug Sheku, snugly.

“So I’m hired, boss? I am, right? Pleaaase say I am!”

The masked figure (which Ammie somehow knew was called Sheku) pat her magnanimously. “I suppose we may accept it if you apologize and confess to your previous crimes.”

Ammie’s eyes widened as, quickly, she fell to a prostrate crouch, her chest squishing against the warm floor.

“Ah! Yes! I scammed some of your clients and took their cash! I’m really sorry, please please let me make it up to you all!”

Sheku approached, seemingly mulling it over, gently resting a be-slippered foot over her head “Mh… I suppose I can find it in me to have mercy upon a penitent…”

She remained still as she could, even if the attention They gave her was like a godly ambrosia, the contact of their body a blessing. Any attention was good attention, especially Sheku’s…

“Very well.”

The foot drew back into the recesses of their robe as they exclaimed, theatrically. “If truly you mean what you speak, rise!”

Quickly jumping to her feet with plentiful bouncing, Ammie looked at Sheku, expectantly, with bated breath…

The mask hid their face, but their smile was audible. “Very good… welcome to the family~”

…

“Come one come all! Buxom Bouncing! Delicious Drinks! Exciting Entertainment! The Coin Cathedral Casino!”

Ammie stood by that alley she knew so well, clad in her work uniform (she barely spent any time out of it these days), her form bouncing and sashaying as she swayed her chest, calling out at everyone and no one, her glittering showy outfit there to demand attention…

Every eye on her, be it an enticed, confused or disgusted one was a blessing. Every client tempted was a reward from the Cult and…

“...Ammie? The fuck?...”

A familiar voice came by, as a towering biker woman came up to the dancing bird.

“Oh! Squire hi! Want a fun time?~”

Most important of all…

“...the hell’s that getup?”

Interrupting her bouncing, Ammie clung to the arm of the biker, pointedly pressing herself into her, much to the latter’s confusion at the seeming lack of fear the cowardly harpy showed.

The reward above all rewards…

“I mean, I can explain it allll to you in the VIP lounge if you want~ I think I can convince my boss to get you a drink~”

“...huh… thanks?”

It wasn’t that Ammie was strong, quite the opposite in fact. The very weakness that Squire knew her to have mixed with that lewd confidence made the amazonian woman follow the tugging harpy as confusion and curiosity mixed…

Ammie giggled as she pulled Squire through the golden doors. She’d have a new coworker soon, she thought as the gates closed behind them.

After all…

Every new idol got her praise from Sheku~