Cardinal Copia Gains a New Toy || C3

Copia's New Toy

Copia stumbled into mass, giving a lopsided grin before trudging to the front. Nobody was in the pews; the former Papa's and Papa Nihil sent him a glare and watched as he stumbled with the box in front of him. He walked the steps onto the stage that overviewed the pews and placed it down in front of Nihil.

"I apologize for my lateness, Papa," He said, nervously laughing. He rubbed his hand at the back of his neck before looking up expectedly at Papa. Nihil only raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Sister Imperator, seated next to Nihil, let out a breath and looked away. The three brothers sat to the left of Nihil, turning and whispering to each other. Terzo pointed at Copia and did a small laugh, which sent Copia into a deep seated rage. He didn't know why, but that simple small action was going to make the Cardinal tear off Papa III's head and show him what gore really meant.

He kept his facade though, his face blushing slightly as he opened the box up. He fumbled with the object a bit before lifting it up. On top was a rat, scurrying up his arm and onto his shoulder. Copia hushed the rat as it chirped and walked to Nihil. , offering the book to him.

"I called you all here to report back what I had taken from the Vatican on my week-long trip. I got many ancient texts, seemingly lost to the world but not to the Church. I took them all at the dead of night, some hold ancient rituals, others hold demon calling spells," The Cardinal explained, his mind going into a focused setting, "It wasn't hard breaking in, but I took all that I could because I am certain things will be more difficult the next time I go."

Sister Imperator nodded approvingly, "This is...  sufficient, Cardinal. Did you learn anything more?" Papa Nihil took the book from Copia, allowing him to back up to his place on the stage behind the box. A few more rats seem to pop their heads out of the box, before quickly hiding back in at the sight of the former Papa's.

"No, unfortunately my time was preoccupied with talking to many of the church's Cardinals to get access to these books. However with these out of their hands, they cannot cause any more pain or destruction towards us or humanity." He heard Terzo snicker and glared in his direction, "What?"

"Only books, eh Cardinal? You know as well as I that... well... this is not very useful. Like the Vatican would ever summon a demon. We needed insider knowledge, not more areas for dust to gather in the Abbey library." For a brief moment, Copia forgets himself. A whole week of nonstop work and little sleep, sleezing with every official he could find, just to have some royal prince sit on his ass in his makeup tell him he didn't do a good enough job?

He took a step towards him, growling out in warning, "Why don't you try it next time, eh? Maybe then you'll learn-" He stopped himself short, feeling his own demonic energy flair. He stepped back, going down one knee.

"Forgive me, Prince, I forgot myself," He sneered. Terzo leaned back, letting out a laugh. The rat on Copia's shoulder let out a panicked squeak before dropping off his shoulder and going back into the box.

Father Nihil grunted and Sister Imperator let out a sigh.

"You're dismissed, Cardinal. Thank you very much dear for all this, we will let you know when it becomes available to read in the library," The Sister said gently. Cardinal nodded and got up, bowed awkwardly, and walked away. He tripped down the stairs, but ultimately left the room unharmed. His rats followed him closely back to his room.

Once he got there whatever awkward presence he had vanished. He grabbed the closest vase to him and slammed it on the wall, letting out a shout of rage.

Constantly being walked on, forgotten, used, abused, and more by those brats that the Papa called sons. Having to act dumb, clumsy, and less than he actually was to not be perceived as a threat to Terzo. He should've been Papa for all that he's done for the ministry. His vast knowledge made him the right hand man but he was nothing more. He wanted to scream.