Nameless Ghoul

Pep Talk

Itzal walked through the Abbey gardens in a daze, his mind reeling from what Secondo had just told him. The idea needed much more research and planning, and even then, they weren’t sure it would work. Secondo had wanted to keep Itzal in the loop, though. The choice, ultimately, would be his.

The only known way to break his one-on-one bond with Santos was death. If one died, the other would follow. According to the Ghoulish scrolls Shay had provided, once Itzal died, the magic that used his life force to bind the collar would collapse. The collar would then split open, fall from his neck, and be ready for the next unfortunate ghoul to be enslaved by the Santos dynasty. Itzal already knew this. Santos had drilled it into him over and over.

But the Emeritus dynasty, as heads of the Clergy, had skills. Each Emeritus brother had been granted a unique power by Satan himself on the day of his ascension to Papa.

Primo could command the elements, the weather, earth, water. He was so in tune with nature that he could make plants grow with a mere thought.

Secondo had enhanced magical abilities beyond his brothers’, and rumour had it he could read minds. Itzal found that easy to believe.

Terzo? Well, he’d already seen what Terzo could do with Hellfire and electricity.

But it was Papa Emeritus IV who was the key to the plan. His gift was necromancy.

He could raise the dead.

Secondo’s master plan was deceptively simple on paper: Itzal would die. Then he’d be passed to Papa, who, if all went well, would bring him back. A fortunate side effect of this would be that Santos would die too, severing the bond and eliminating the threat to the Emeritus line.

The problem? Nothing like this had ever been attempted before. There were several unknowns they couldn’t account for.

First: would breaking the bond reverse the summoning and send Itzal back to his home dimension? Shay wasn’t sure, but they suspected that was the most likely outcome.

Second: because Santos hadn’t followed the standard ritual for summoning and binding, there was no way of knowing how the spell would behave. He had access to hundreds of years of dark magic from the Santos bloodline. Whatever he’d done could come with unknown protections, hidden conditions.

Third, and most important, Papa had never raised a ghoul before. He’d practiced on small animals, and he and the witches had managed to bring back his brothers after the... incident with Sister Imperator. But ghouls were uncharted territory. They had souls, which was promising. But still, there were no guarantees.

Itzal didn’t know how to feel about it. For so long, he hadn’t cared whether he lived or died. If anything, death had seemed like the easier option. But now, with the reality of it looming, he was scared.

What if they couldn’t bring him back?

What if they could?

He found himself in the herb garden before he even realised he’d walked there. The sharply familiar scent of ritual herbs snapped him out of his downward spiral. His stomach turned. He spun on his heel to get away from the smells that set his nerves on edge.

As he walked, he spotted Omega sitting on one of the stone benches tucked among the greenery, smoking a cigarette. Omega looked up and smiled, motioning for him to join. Itzal nodded and sat at the far end of the bench. The bigger ghoul offered him a cigarette, and he gratefully accepted.

Omega frowned slightly.

“What’s troubling you, my friend?”

Itzal sighed and told him everything: Secondo’s plan, the uncertainties, the risk. Omega listened, thoughtful.

“It all depends on how much you want freedom,” he said. “This is your chance to be truly free, Itzal. How often have you dreamed of being free of Santos?”

Itzal gave a humourless smile. He realised he’d started to think of Omega as a friend, so he spoke candidly.

“In the beginning, I thought about it constantly. I still had hope back then. I was young. I believed someone might rescue me, or that Santos would slip up and I’d escape, or kill him. But as the years passed, I realised it was never going to happen. The hope died. I stopped thinking about freedom because it hurt too much. I was just torturing myself. It was easier to go numb. I had nothing to hold onto. I just existed. That was easier than actually living through it all.”

Omega nodded, his expression heavy with understanding.

“There’s always hope, Itzal. But no one could blame you for losing yours.”

Itzal rubbed his hands down his face and let out a rough sigh.

“It’s just... hard to let myself hope again. Secondo dangled hope in front of me and it scares the absolute shit out of me. I’m so tired. A big part of me wants to say, don’t even bother bringing me back.”

Omega chuckled.

“And what do you think Sunshine would say to that?”

Itzal hesitated. Omega caught it.

“Okay,” he said, “since you’re doubting her wrath, I’ll spell it out. There’s no hiding anything from that ghuleh. I’d bet she already knows you better than you know yourself. Sunshine’s got that eerie knack of seeing right through you. That’s why she puts up with Alpha’s shit; because she knows exactly how he feels about her, and she feels guilty she doesn’t feel the same.

“But you? For whatever reason, she’s decided you’re worth all the stress and pain and heartache she knows is coming. I’ve been around. I see things others don’t. And you two? You fit. Whether the bond’s formed yet or not, it will. Anyone can see it. It’s that obvious.

“You’ve got to get past all your shit, Itzal. She already knows you’re carrying more baggage than most ghouls could drag. She knows what’s happened to you. Life with you is never going to be easy, but she doesn’t care. She’s picked you.

“And if you throw away your one chance at freedom? She is going to be pissed. That slap she gave Alpha earlier? That was nothing compared to what she’ll do to you. Her mother’s a fire ghuleh. She’s got the best of both worlds. The sight and intuition of air, and the red-hot temper and lust for life of fire. So cut the shit. Go for it.

“It works both ways, and yeah, I know you’re trying not to admit it. It’s a defence thing. I get it. But you’re not hiding it well. This is mutual. Don’t piss Sunshine off. For the sake of all of us. Please.”

Itzal stared at Omega, speechless. He’d known Omega was perceptive, but hearing it out loud, that plainly, felt like being hit with a bucket of ice water.

Omega grinned at his stunned expression, long fangs exposed.

“Sorry. But it needed saying. Just... try to keep her happy, yeah?”