Here Comes The Son (Ghost Band / Papa Emeritus fic)

Stay and Burn With Me

Copia stood in the pulpit looking down at the gathering in the chapel below him. He had called all the Sisters of Sin together and he was giving a special sermon of appreciation written purely for the sisters. Talking at length about their value to the abbey and the surrounding area, and how they offered their services to take care of young orphans, offering guidance and solace. He went on to talk about their roles in the community and his personal appreciation of everything they did for the abbey.

It had apparently come out of the blue and depending upon the disposition of each of the sisters, they were either appreciative, embarrassed or bewildered. Nevertheless, thirty minutes later, after concluding his sermon, he stood at the door and kissed the right hand of each sister as she left. Three ghouls stood alongside him as he smiled, nodded and kissed each hand as a token of his appreciation. Several sisters thanked him in return and commented on their favourite parts; he seemed to appreciate their interest and replied to any questions they posed, or comments made.

As he kissed the left hand of one of the sisters, Swiss, one of the three ghouls standing guard, slipped out of the chapel as Copia continued saying an individual goodbye to each of the remaining sisters.

Retiring to his private chapel with Aurora and Dew alongside him, he smiled as he greeted the sister who had inexpertly warned him to take protection by striking him with a ladle in the kitchens some days earlier. The attack had necessitated a constant guard and with it, perhaps, protection from what was really happening. Exactly what that was he didn't know, but he intended to find out.

As he offered the sister his most reassuring expression, she returned with what appeared to be her most terrified, with Swiss's clawed hands resting on her shoulder firmly but not painfully. The smallest movement encouraged a slight but noticeable increase in the firmness of his grip. She was well aware that she was going nowhere until she was allowed to leave. The man who would decide that now standing in front of her. Uncertain about his intentions, she found herself trembling in the grip of the ghoul. Copia's expression appeared benign but she couldn't be sure. Either way, she felt certain that some of her siblings had noticed her being escorted away. It could make for a very uncomfortable, even dangerous conversation later.

"Sister," Copia greeted her softly. "What is your name?"
"Sister Grace Manipulata," she replied, barely above a whisper.
"Sister, I will not hurt you," Copia expressed his distress at her apparent terror of him.
"With respect, Your Unholiness, it's not you I'm afraid of." She replied, her eyes lowered to the floor.
"Neither will my ghouls hurt you," he added, hopeful it might help.
"Then I'm free to leave?"
"Sister Grace Manipulata," he shook his head. "I'm certain we both know why you're here. We spoke the night before last in the chapel, did we not?"
"Your Unholiness, I don't know what you mean," she lowered her head, refusing to make eye contact.
"And last week we had a different encounter in the kitchens," he replied, lifting a hand to his head. "Surely you remember that?"

To Swiss's surprise, she pulled out of his grip by simply dropping suddenly to the floor. Bowing on her knees at Copia's feet, she found herself immediately admitting to everything.

"I'm sorry, Papa, please forgive me," she begged. "I had to warn you. It was clumsy and stupid, I know, but I thought that if you felt under threat here, you would adopt security, which you did. I thought you'd be safe.
"From?" He prompted.

The sister looked up, unnerved by the question.

"Belial," she whispered. "His devotees are numerous in the abbey."

Copia gave a pained expression as his worst fears were confirmed.

"What about Belial?" He asked, unwilling to give away too much if they were merely guessing.
"Your Unholiness," she looked up at him, surprised by his question. "His banishment. We are without Him."
"We?" He gasped; he didn't know why he was surprised, but he was. "You worship Belial?"
"Yes, Papa," she nodded, lowering her eyes again.
"And they blame me for His banishment?"
"Yes, Papa," she repeated, looking up once more. "The Ceremony of the Sword, the Ritual to raise Him up, your... your attempted sacrifice. Your defeat of Him."
"How do you know all this?" He asked, reaching down and lifting her to her feet. "Tell me how you know."
"I watched," she finally admitted, her face racked with guilt.
"How?" Copia shook his head. "There was only my ghouls there."
"And Papa Nihil," the sister corrected.