Nameless Ghoul

Secondo

Shay left to deal with some other ghoul business. Sunshine accompanied him to help him with his errands. Secondo said that he would call the witches in later on when they were available. They wanted detailed descriptions from Itzal about the recent summonings, and about Santos’ capabilities. The more they knew, the better they could gauge what they were up against.

Secondo said that he liked to be prepared for all eventualities and he took his role as head of security and the dark arts very seriously. Since his retirement as Papa, he had thrown himself into his true passions of magic and medicine. He was an expert in sorcery and spent most of his time buried in ancient scrolls. He used his knowledge of spells to create the vast network of protection spells and wards that kept the Abbey safe. His ghouls were the ones sent to deal with threats to the church. They were gifted problem solvers known for their stealth and for their ability to get the messier jobs done.

“You are an alchemist as well as a shadow ghoul, si?” he asked once they were alone.

Itzal frowned. He'd never thought of himself as an alchemist. He hadn't received the training to harness his powers. Since Santos summoned Itzal at a young age, before his powers matured fully, he had been unsure what the full extent of them would be. Afterwards, he hadn’t really thought too much about what they were because he was just trying his best to survive and stay sane. He smirked when he thought about it now though, as it sounded like Santos had wasted his talents by leaving him untrained.

“Shay told me that’s what my powers are, but I wasn’t aware that’s what I was, so I have no training,” Itzal answered.

Secondo held his gaze for a few seconds, and Itzal could see the cogs of his mind working through something.

“Si, he told me this also,” he said as he glanced at Itzal’s collar and nodded towards it. “This collar poses many problems for us. Shay would like to bring someone over who can train you, but we cannot do this until we remove the collar.”

Itzal was confused. As far as he knew, the collar was a part of him until he died. Santos had told him this many times over the years when he had tried to remove it himself. The only way to be rid if it was through death and dying was not something Santos had planned for them to do.

Itzal had been in dark places in his mind plenty of times throughout the years. He'd lost count of the times that he had wanted nothing more than to end the suffering of his own existence. Part of the inscription on the collar prevented him from harming himself or his master, though. He could throw himself against the walls of his room in temper and knock himself out, as he used to do in the beginning, but he could not take his own life on purpose.

“But I was told the only way to remove the collar is to die,” Itzal stated.

Secondo frowned.

“Si, as far as we are aware, this information is correct. But we think we have a way around that,” he said, as his mouth turned up into a sly smile.

Itzal felt his heart rate pick up as he met Secondo’s mismatched gaze with his own.

“What do you mean, a way around it?”