Blackened Feathers

The Cardinal

It took a while for the chaos in the room to die down, but the Ghoul Council members who arrived not long afterwards managed to create some kind of order. The Clergy ghouls were hurting, their bonds had been severed and they were most of them in shock. Primo’s older ghouls were struggling the most. Their bond with Primo was the longest standing, and they were in agony and absolutely distraught. 

The pain coming from them was unbearable and Omega felt like he could become overwhelmed very quickly if he didn't get out of here soon. Secondo’s ghouls were angry. They wanted justice. Terzo’s were a mixture of both.

Omega was hurting too, of course he was, but he wanted to get to the bottom of this. Alpha was being surprisingly levelheaded about the whole thing. 

The Council were selecting ghouls to take back to the Abbey to sort this out. They had contacted Councillor Shay on Earth and he knew they were coming. They selected Omega, Special and Alpha from Terzo’s ghouls. All of Secondo’s five ghouls were going because of their experience with this type of thing. 

Six ghouls from the Council task force and a Council member who was a shadow ghoul and who often accompanied them on missions like this were also being sent. The shadow ghoul would liaise with Shay on the Council’s behalf and was their authority for the time being.

They had pulled out all the stops and arranged for them to stay for twenty-four hours this time. Subsequent visits would be granted as necessary, but the amount of power needed to send this many ghouls at once was immense. The Council meant business and were doing everything within their means to help the Clergy.

The chosen ghouls gathered in one of the chambers to go over the details. Amon, an older earth ghoul with a scar down his face, was in charge of the task force. He was the Prime Ghoul's right hand and would be the ghoul in command. Zagan, the shadow ghoul, was the Council representative and he would make any necessary decisions on behalf of the Council with Shay. They would send them two at a time in quick succession from the two summoning rooms at the Council building.

Alpha and Omega stood in the circle waiting to go. A few ghouls had been sent already and they prepared themselves for the quick journey back to the Abbey. After a few disorienting minutes, they appeared in the chapel at the Abbey. 

Omega took a calming breath and stepped out of the circle. It was so good to be back. It had only been a day or so, but it felt like forever. He caught Seren’s scent before he saw her. She ran towards him and threw her arms around him, kissing him. He basked in the love he felt from her and he breathed her in. She grounded him and his thoughts became the clearest they’d been since he’d woken up back home.

“I missed you so much. I was so scared for you,” she said. He held her to him and he didn’t care about the looks he was getting from the others. “I’m so sorry about the Papas. I can’t even imagine how you all feel.”

“Everyone is pissed. I’ve never felt pain like it, not just my own, but the other ghouls too. It feels so empty without Terzo.”

He hadn’t meant to say so much, but the words just spilled out to her. It hurt, and there was so much going on that he hadn’t had time to stop and grieve. She stroked his face gently and stepped back. Shay was there as well as Cardinal Copia and his ghouls and they went to join them.

Amon and Zagan stepped towards their group.

“What has happened since the Papas were discovered?” Amon said to Copia and Seren.

They filled in the blanks from the time since the Clergy ghouls woke up in the Council Summoning room, and right up to the present moment. Mountain had apprehended one ghoul already and he was now in the cells. The earth ghoul was currently on the trail of another.