Blackened Feathers

Acceptance

It was late the next day before something woke Omega up. He came aware and registered the feverishly warm body of Alpha wrapped around him at his back. One long leg draped over his waist and an arm clung to his torso. He could feel the fire ghoul’s hot breath on the back of his neck as his face was resting there. He opened his eyes and saw Ifrit sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee and watching them.

“Hi,” said the smaller fire ghoul. “Did I wake you? I tried to be as quiet as I could.”

Omega stretched out his arms causing Alpha to stir behind him.

“It’s okay. What time is it?” he asked as he rolled onto his back. 

“It’s afternoon. I brought you some food.”

He gestured to the plates laid out on the coffee table.

Alpha groaned behind him and rolled away from him. This could be awkward, Omega thought. Ifrit was Alpha’s replacement, and with all that had happened to Alpha recently, he didn’t know how he would react to meeting the new fire ghoul. 

Omega sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He felt better than he had done in recent memory and he was so fucking thankful. He hated being so helpless and reliant on other people. Whatever that was between him and Seren last night had done something to him because he felt physically healthier, as well as getting his quintessence juice back.

“You look so much better," Ifrit said before his eyes swung over to Alpha, who was trying to sit up.

Ifrit got up and hurried over, putting his arm around Alpha’s shoulders and helping him up. Omega tensed, waiting for Alpha to lash out and push him away, but it didn’t happen. 

“Thanks," Alpha said.

Omega blinked. 

“This is Ifrit, the new fire ghoul Terzo summoned,” Omega said, and he saw Alpha’s emotions swirling.

There was sadness there and maybe a bit of jealousy, but there was a grudging acceptance that really surprised him. The biggest thing he noticed, though, was that he didn’t detect any anger towards Ifrit whatsoever. The way things had been lately, this was a miracle as far as Alpha was concerned. 

Ifrit gave him a small smile, and Alpha nodded. 

“Welcome to the Clergy, brother,” he said and Ifrit’s smile widened.

Omega saw his elation at being welcomed by the remaining member of their family, the one who had more reason than any of them to cause problems for him.

They ate the food Ifrit had brought them. Alpha picked at his but at least he ate something. His wounds looked better. The healing spells the witches had cast were working well. He was just more exhausted than anything now, weakened by his time in the Pit. 

Omega went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. He’d messaged Secondo to ask about his investigation and was going to go talk with him. When he came out of the bathroom, Alpha and Ifrit were curled up on his bed watching SpongeBob. Omega laughed and shook his head. 

“Seriously? Is that the fire ghoul official cartoon or something?” he said.

Two pairs of blue eyes swung over to him. 

“It’s SpongeBob. It’s a classic,” Alpha said with a smile in his voice. “I’m educating the younger generation. We don’t have SpongeBob in our dimension.”

“It’s funny,” Ifrit said with a shrug.

“Don’t show him the butterfly episode, whatever you do,” Omega said. “I need to go speak to Secondo. Will you guys be okay here?”

“We’re good,” Ifrit answered, and Alpha nodded.

“Go, we’ll be fine. We’ve got snacks,” Alpha said.

Omega gave his emotions a once over and decided they’d be okay for a little while. One of Secondo’s ghouls would be outside in the hall too, if anything went wrong. The pendant Seren had left for Alpha seemed to be working for now. Omega could sense calming magic coming from it. He sighed and headed to Secondo’s study. 

Earth, Secondo’s chief bodyguard, let him in. Secondo was scrutinising a scroll that was rolled out on the large wooden desk. He looked up and motioned for Omega to sit.

“So good to see you up and about Omega. You look better than I expected.”

Secondo tilted his head, studying Omega. He didn’t want to mention what had happened with Seren. That was their business, but he knew that Secondo could read thoughts, and if he wanted to ask Omega about it, then he would. Thankfully he didn’t mention it.

“Thank you Secondo. I just wondered if you had questioned the Clergy members about Alpha and to see if there was anything I can do to help?” 

Secondo huffed a laugh.

“Have you asked Terzo about this yet?” 

Omega looked away and Secondo picked up that there was an issue.

“Ah. So you haven’t spoken to my brother.” His eyes softened as he spoke with a sympathetic smile. “Terzo can be impulsive, but you know him better than anyone. He does everything for a reason, even though it may not seem that way. He has all of your best interests at heart. Even the witch, si?”

Omega shrugged. It certainly didn’t feel that way to him.

“He wants Seren to commune with the demon. How am I supposed to agree that’s a good idea?” 

“What other options are there? You are looking at this from a personal point of view, Omega. I know you are close to the witch.” Omega scowled. “She is a Clergy witch, this is part of her job. She is a power in her own right and Terzo knows this. He would not ask it of her if he wasn’t confident that she could do it,” Secondo said, ever the voice of reason. “I knew her mother. She was a force to be reckoned with," he said with a fond smile. “She was a powerful witch and could have given Anya a run for her money. In my opinion, she should have been our head witch. I tried to persuade her to take the position, but she chose to stay at the smaller Abbey to raise her daughter. Seren has far surpassed what her mother ever could be. We did not select her to take over as head witch here for no reason.”

Omega knew he was talking sense, but his instincts still told him she shouldn’t do it.

“I have spoken to the Clergy members. Some of them are downstairs in the cells as we speak. Quinn can be very persuasive and very creative while gathering information. I will let you know when we have pieced this together, but it looks as though you were right all along with your mistrust of them all,” Secondo said.

Omega had seen Quinn’s work firsthand and he was unique amongst all the ghouls he had met in his life. He knew Quinn well and he trusted him with his life, but there was a part of him that was juxtaposed with the empathic quintessence ghoul that he should have been. It was a broken part that allowed him to do things that the others wouldn’t even dream of. Secondo often utilised him when interrogating prisoners and he had the best hit rate of all the ghouls for extracting accurate information.

“I hate the thought of Seren being in danger, though. What if something goes wrong?” Omega said.

Secondo sat back in his chair and rolled his shoulders to get the cricks out of them.

“We will do everything within our power to make sure it does not. I promise you that, Omega.”

Omega was grateful that Secondo had tried to put his mind at rest, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to come of this. He had only just found Seren, and the thought of having her snatched away made his heart ache.

He excused himself and left. He knew where he had to go next, and he steeled himself and tried to take on board Secondo’s words as he headed up to Terzo’s office.