Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What if he hates me?” Perpetua’s sudden question earned a low growl from the ghoul working on his make-up, but he ignored them in favor of glancing over at the sister of sin across the room. She had her back to him, in order to not accidentally look at him without his papal paints.

A clawed hand gently grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look back at the ghoul. Aurora, he had learned her name just a few days before, was gentle as she returned to painting his face.

“He won't hate you,” The sister across the room replied.

“He already does,” Perpetua argued, earning yet another growl from Aurora. She bared a fang at him, telling him to stop talking, to hold still. He waved her off for a moment, well aware she wasn't as mad as it may seem.

“Only because he doesn't know you. He's your brother, Papa, he can't hate you too much.”

Perpetua went silent, and Aurora went back to painting his face. The brush had barely touched his lips when he spoke again, “Cain hated Abel so much that he killed him, then lied to God about it.”

The comment earned him a sigh from the sister and an irritated sound from Aurora. The ghoul pulled away to pick up a makeup wipe, returning to dab at where his speaking had led to a mistake in his lip paint. Sweet, kind Aurora, always so patient with him. Perpetua made a mental note to get her something as a thank you for putting up with him.

“Well, Frater Imperator is no Cain, and you are no Abel.” The sister sighed, “And please stop referencing the Bible. It makes the Clergy uncomfortable.”

The Clergy, just the mention of them made Perpetua groan and roll his eyes. They hadn't been much help with his transition from “good little catholic boy” to “satanic pope”, past telling him to forget the Bible. Aurora shot him a sympathetic look, returning to applying his paints.

The conversation ended there, which pleased Aurora as she was able to finish her work. Once done, Perpetua paused to examine himself in the mirror, nodding before reaching for his mask.

“Thank you, Aurora.” He smiled at the ghoul.

“Ghoul,” the sister of sin corrected him, causing his smile to drop. “You shouldn't use names for them, you'll get attached.”

“Am I not supposed to get attached?” Perpetua frowned. “They're… my band mates?”

“And you'll be summoning new ones, to replace the ones that don't accept you over your brother.” Her words made Perpetua freeze, earning a soft sound of reassurance from Aurora. Summon new ghouls? From hell? The thought made his throat dry; he'd only just left the church after all.

“We'll… talk about that in more detail later.” He managed, voice sounding a bit hoarse. A brief pause passed before he glanced at Aurora, “The ones who don't accept me… will they harm me?”

Aurora shook her head, a clear no. She offered him a smile under her mask, one that simply said “but they'll be annoying about it.” Perpetua relaxed a bit; he could handle annoying.

Chapter Text

Copia paced his office, irritation and stress rolling off him in waves. He glanced at the clock, ready to announce his twin's lateness, just to find that he had nearly ten more minutes to wait. He growled, a habit picked up from the ghouls, and returned to his pacing.

Dewdrop growled back, playfully teasing Copia for his impatience from his position by the door.

“Don't you start,” Copia snapped, earning a raised hand of apology from the ghoul. Dewdrop's tail flicked slowly behind him, betraying his continued amusement.

“You'd hate him too, if he took your job.” Copia continued, turning away from the ghoul. He could still feel the head tilt from Dewdrop, the ghoul already having heard this argument.

“My job, my rank, my ghouls …” Copia's pride was injured still; it had only been a week or so since Perpetua took the role of Papa.

Dewdrop was suddenly right next to him, waving a hand around the room, Is this not a higher position?

Copia scoffed, “Of course it is!” He waved Dew off, “That's not the point, and you know it.”

Dewdrop shrugged, not moving from Copia's side. Which prevented additional pacing, much to Copia's annoyance.

Not to be bested by the ghoul, Copia moved around his desk and sat in his chair with a huff. He straightened things on his desk, a few papers, his pens… anything to keep his hands and mind busy.

Dewdrop leaned against the desk, facing the door with his arms crossed. His pose was casual, comfortable, and yet his tail flicked back and forth. To an outsider, it would read as irritation, but Copia knew it was more confused annoyance.

Copia sighed, “Oh, to be free of the mortal desire to keep things as they are…” That earned a huff from the ghoul, tail flicking across his desk and sending pens and papers to the floor. Copia yelped and dove to the ground, scooping up the mess as quickly as he could.

“Frater?” The voice made Copia lift his head suddenly, grunting in pain as his head collided with the edge of his desk. He looked over to see a Sister of Sin in his doorway, looking at him in concern. Dewdrop stood next to the door, Copia could feel the smirk hidden behind the ghoul’s mask.

Copia stood quickly, dusting himself off, “Sister! How can I help you?”

She frowned, moving aside to reveal her guest. Perpetua stared at Copia from behind that stupid silver mask, looking like a child caught sneaking candy.

Copia swore under his breath, “Right, yes. Sorry, Ghoul made a mess. I didn’t catch your knock…”

Dewdrop made a sound with a shake of his head, slipping past both the Sister and Perpetua to interact with the ghoul standing behind the two. Aurora trilled, a cheerful greeting the ghoulettes had brought to the pack, which Dewdrop repeated back to her. The two bumped heads lightly, a gesture so soft that Copia had to bite back a smile.

The sister cleared her throat again, “Frater, did you forget-”

“Of course not!” Copia waved his hands. “I was waiting for you to arrive. You’re late, actually.” A quick glance at the clock confirmed this, which brought a bit of a smug look to Copia’s face.

“I-” She glanced at Perpetua, then bowed, “Many apologies, Frater.”

“Well?” Copia clapped his hands together, “Come in! Sit!”

Perpetua glanced back at the ghouls before following the sister into the room. Copia sat back at his desk, shoving everything to the side to make an open space.

The three sat in awkward silence for a long moment, Copia and Perpetua just staring at each other. Neither speaking, either due to a lack of something to say or uncertainty about the other’s feelings, it was hard to tell.

“Well… This is going well.” The sister of sin spoke suddenly, causing both men to jump a bit. She earned a set of owl-eyed stares from both of them before Copia cleared his throat.

“Sister… Could you give us some privacy?” Copia waved his hand, “And let the ghouls in as you leave.”

“I- Yes, Frater Imperator.” She stood, bowed, then quickly left the room. After a moment, the ghouls entered the room again, Dewdrop closing the door behind them.

Silence fell over the room again, broken only by the ghouls' soft chirps and growls as the two continued to converse. And by the steadily rising sound of Perpetua’s foot tapping.

“Nervous?” Copia tilted his head at Perpetua. The other man froze, then nodded.

“A bit. I didn't know I had a brother…” Perpetua looked away from Copia, now fiddling with his hands. The leather of his gloves creaked under his movements, probably still new and not quite yet worn in.

Copia nodded, “That makes both of us. Quite a few surprises from the past couple of weeks, yeah?”

“Yeah… I've got a full family, a new job, an entire new religious group to lead…” Perpetua waved his hand a bit, glancing at the ghouls, “Pet demons, apparently.”

Copia bristled at that, “The ghouls aren't pets.”

Perpetua flinched at Copia's tone, glancing at the ghouls. Both were now silent, watching the men. Perpetua shrank a bit in his chair.

“Then… what are they?” He asked softly, “I know they're part of the band, but I'm not allowed to use their names. They don't talk, at least not English as far as I can tell.”

“They're ghouls.” Copia said this as if it explained everything, earning a tired look from his brother. He clears his throat, “Demons from the Pit, summoned here to serve us. We summon them, or I did. The current group, at least.”

Dewdrop made a soft sound, not dissimilar to an irritated bark. Copia nodded, “Not Dewdrop. Terzo summoned him.”

Perpetua blinked, looking back at the ghouls, “You use their names..?”

“Of course I do,” Copia huffed. “The Clergy don't get final say in how I treat my ghouls, and the ghouls treat me quite well. Dewdrop worked with Terzo and leads the pack. I rely on him respecting and liking me to get anything done.”

Perpetua nodded along as Copia spoke, before slowly asking, “And… who's Terzo..?”

Chapter Text

Copia had seemed mad at Perpetua’s question, standing suddenly as he stared down at Perpetua in silent bewilderment. He had then looked over at the ghouls, who shrugged in reply to Copia's unspoken question, before waving for Perpetua to follow him. The ghouls had followed as well, keeping a good distance between the men and themselves.

“Terzo,” Copia started as he led Perpetua through the halls of the ministry, “Was the Papa before me. Zio Terzo.”

Perpetua followed Copia closely, a bit caught off guard by the other’s fast pace. He looked at people as they passed, only getting brief looks at various nuns and people in cassocks. He was once again struck by how similar his new home was to his previous one.

Unfortunately, this also meant he was distracted, causing him to collide into Copia with a soft sound as the other stopped short. Perpetua caught himself, turning to face Copia, “What?”

Copia brought his hand up to a sign by the door he had stopped in front of. It read, in scrawling, decorative script: Hall of Relics.

“Oh…” Perpetua blinked, confusion growing, “A reliquary .”

Copia nodded, looking quite eager as he pulled the door open, “Everything should be back in place. We had some remodeling done, so there may still be a bit of a mess. So watch your step!” He said the last sentence with a bit of a chuckle.

The room was quite large, causing their footsteps to echo against the black and gold marbled floor. Perpetua looked up, eyes tracing dark, decorative pillars up the walls to a shallow domed ceiling. The lights above were strong, industrial lights, custom-shaped into the Grucifix. Perpetua returned his attention to the rest of the room. Aside from the mostly empty middle of the space, there were five alcoves in the room, each framed by dark pillars that blocked most of the view from a distance. The only thing taking away from the beauty of the room was the occasional pile of tools tucked away in the corners; things needed only to finish up the cosmetics of the room.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Copia beamed, “Terzo was very successful, so we were able to afford a proper reliquary after the passing of Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil. What’s the point of hiding away money if we never use it, eh?”

“It’s beautiful ,” Perpetua whispered, eyes wide behind his mask.

That just added to Copia’s prideful look, earning a scoff from Perpetua, “And you’re going to ruin it with that look.”

“What?” Copia tilted his head, his grin gaining a bit of humor, “I am allowed to be prideful within the church of our Dark Lord. I’m encouraged, even!”

Perpetua just shook his head at Copia, biting back any snide comments that immediately came to mind, “Anyway… Terzo? I’m assuming he’s kept in here?”

Copia waved his hands, starting to stride across the room, “Just be wary of Omega. He’s been… in a mood since Terzo’s passing.” He approached one of the alcoves, peeking into the space. There was a pause as he looked around, then Copia turned to wave Perpetua over, “Even better, it seems like Omega isn’t here.”

Perpetua approached the alcove, ignoring Copia’s comments as he got a look inside. It was a small room, as expected, with shelving up on all three interior walls. On the shelves were various relics of Terzo’s papacy, behind vaguely green-tinted glass, and in the center was the glass tomb holding the man himself. Perpetua was able to slip past Copia and into the space around the tomb, looking down at Terzo’s body.

“It’s a shame you missed him,” Copia said as he stayed by the entrance, occasionally peeking out into the main room. “Terzo was big on stage presence; he would have loved to show you the ropes.”

“How did he die?” Perpetua asked softly, gaze not leaving the body before him.

“Eh? Why do you ask?” Copia turned back to Perpetua with a confused look, “Does it matter?”

Perpetua put his hand down on the glass, fingers lightly brushing over the glass. Something was wrong about the corpse, about the tomb. “I just want to know.”

Copia was silent, causing Perpetua to look up and meet his gaze. The two stared at each other for a long moment until Perpetua straightened with a frown.

“You don’t want to tell me.” His tone was flat, but the minute level of panic he saw flash in Copia’s eyes told him the answer, “You know, and you don’t want to tell me.”

Copia brought his hands up, laughing softly, “Ah, don’t worry about it. He passed; he’s been preserved. He’s a relic, now. As all Papas will be upon passing.”

“Then why has Omega been ‘in a mood’, as you put it?” Perpetua tilted his head, gaze boring into his twin’s face. “I’m good at learning secrets. It’s how I continued to get in and out of trouble growing up.”

Copia continued waving his hands, “It doesn’t matter how Terzo died. He just did, okay? And it was important.”

Perpetua shrugged, looking away from Copia to look back down at Terzo. He lightly tapped the glass, gloves dimming the sound of his fingers against the surface. Copia didn’t look away. Perpetua could feel the other’s stare on him even as he walked around the small space. He looked over the shelved relics, then lightly tapped the glass in front of the shelves. The sound was sharper, the glass thinner.

“Uranium glass?” He asked, hearing Copia jump a bit behind him.

“Ah… si , yes. Terzo was fond of it.” Copia moved closer to Pereptua, “We’ve even installed blacklights for night viewing.”

Perpetua craned his neck to get a better look behind the glass, spotting the strips of blacklights with a nod, “I imagine it looks amazing when lit properly.” He side-eyed Copia, sidestepping as the other suddenly got too close.

Copia was staring, eyes narrowed dangerously. Perpetua had struck a chord, and it caused him to smirk a bit, “Problem, brother ?”

“No,”  There was distrust on Copia’s face, and anger in his eyes. But he still pulled away, uncertain enough not to push the topic.

“You know,” Perpetua continued, emboldened by Copia’s shift in attitude, “I was worried you would hate me.”

“Hate? I don-” Copia went silent the second Perpetua raised a hand.

“You do hate me.” Perpetua hummed, “I can see it. I was raised in a catholic church, Copia, I know what barely concealed hate looks like.”

Copia huffed and puffed a bit before throwing his hands up, “Of course I hate you! You didn’t fucking exist three weeks ago, and now everything I worked for has just been handed over to you?”

A low growl interrupted both men, causing Perpetua and Copia to turn towards the entrance to the alcove. All of Perpetua’s confidence melted away as he slowly took in the form of a ghoul by the pillars.

Omega stood at his full height, face hidden behind his full mask. He towered over both Perpetua and Copia, tail lashing enough that Perpetua found himself worried for the safety of the relics in the space. The ghoul pointed at Copia, claws sharper than the other ghouls Perpetua had interacted with so far.

“I’m not allowed in Terzo’s space,” Copia explained to  Perpetua as he tried to make his way out of the alcove. “Omega hasn’t forgiven me for taking Terzo’s place.”

Perpetua watched the ghoul, slowly raising a hand in greeting, “You let him stay?”

“Well, I can’t… quite just banish him.” Copia frowned, “He’d fight too hard to stay; we would both be injured.”

Omega stared down Perpetua, silently standing there. He didn’t move past his tail’s continued lashing around. Perpetua slowly started moving, both hands coming up as he approached the ghoul. He slowly set a hand on Omega’s arm, the ghoul tilting his head in reply.

“Sorry for invading your space,” Perpetua spoke softly. “And thank you for staying with him.”

Omega paused, then pulled away, slipping further into the alcove and taking up a spot near the back of the space. Then, he stopped moving, like a guard. Only the slow movement of his tail exposed the ghoul’s living state. Perpetua offered a small bow to the ghoul, then turned and followed Copia out.

Chapter Text

The sun was setting by the time Perpetua was able to slip away from Copia, commenting about how he looked forward to his bed. Copia had agreed and disappeared down another hall before Perpetua could quip about needing a map to get back.

And now Perpetua was lost. Each new hall he turned down seemed to lead to an identical hall, which led to even more matching halls. Perpetua groaned and leaned against a wall, resisting the urge to rub at his face. He really would need that damn map.

There was a soft gust of wind to his side, earning a glance. An air ghoulette stood next to him, head tilted. He jumped a bit, mostly at the ghoul’s proximity than at her sudden appearance.

“Cirrus… Right?” He asked softly, and she nodded. “Can you help me get to my room?”

Cirrus tilted her head again and didn’t move. Instead, she let out a soft humming sound that tickled the back of Perpetua’s mind.

I can, but you don’t want to go to your room. Hearing a ghoul’s voice always earned a shiver from Perpetua, which he hoped would go away the longer he interacted with the ghouls. Her voice was soft, as one would expect from wind, but promised great power underneath.

“I’d like to go to my room, Cirrus.” He sighed.

If you insist, hints of laughter clung to Cirrus’ words as she started down the hall.

They walked in silence for a while, and, since every hallway looked the same, Perpetua took a bit too long to notice their path.

“Cirrus, my room. Please?” He sighed, going still in the hall. “This isn’t the way to my room, that I do know…”

But you don’t want to go to your room, Cirrus insisted as she also went still. I’m taking you where you want to go.

“And where is that?” Perpetua asked, waving his hand to the ghoul.

Cirrus waved her own hand at the wall, or more specifically, at the sign on the wall. They were back at the reliquary. Perpetua paused, silently staring at the door. Cirrus was right; somehow, he had wanted to return here.

“Am I… allowed?” He asked softly, reaching for the door already. Cirrus’ giggling filled his head, ticking the base of his skull as he slowly pushed the door open. It was unlocked and opened so easily.

The lights flicked on as he entered, adding a low electrical hum to his footsteps on the marble floor. The room felt larger without Copia showing it off, his voice having filled the space. Cirrus was behind him, but her footsteps made no noise, and her laughter had gone silent. It was just the two of them, in a big empty space for the dead.

And Omega, he reminded himself mentally, glancing at Terzo’s alcove. He worried his lower lip between his teeth before striding over to the alcove.

“Omega?” He called softly, stopping right before the pillars and waiting. He could swear he heard soft talking, but it fell silent as he spoke. Silence followed, and Perpetua was ready to turn away just as the ghoul appeared.

Omega stared down at Perpetua, only his eyes visible behind the mask he wore. It was hard to tell exactly what was on the ghoul’s mind as a result, but Perpetua felt no danger. In fact, he found himself smiling softly up at the ghoul.

A new voice called from inside the alcove, breaking the silence, “Let him in, tesoro.”

The voice was soft, calm, and masculine, sounding almost tired. Omega nodded a bit in response as he moved away from Perpetua, no longer blocking the entrance. Taking this as his cue to continue, Perpetua entered the alcove and froze.

Sitting on the glass case was Terzo, looking almost exactly as he did inside the glass. A quick glance down confirmed that he hadn't risen from the dead, as the body remained where it lay, cold and motionless. He wasn't in his papal robes, either, and his entire body shimmered a faint blue. But that wasn't what led to Perpetua’s legs locking him in place; it was the fact that the man's throat was only a gaping wound, and blood still soaked the front of his suit.

Terzo smiled at Perpetua, opening his arms wide, “Ah! Perpetua! Welcome, nipote!”

And those were the last words Perpetua processed before he crashed to the marble floor below him.

Chapter Text

“Ah, he’s waking up.” Terzo’s voice broke through the fuzzy ache behind Perpetua’s eyes. He groaned softly and turned his head away, absently rubbing his face against the pillow under his head. A hand gently traced his jaw as he moved.

Perpetua slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision. Cirrus came into view, leaning over him as she pushed his hair from his face. It took a couple more moments before his brain caught up with him and he sat up, face burning as he realized his pillow was Cirrus’s lap. Her laughter filled his mind as he moved, which didn’t help the rising blush.

Omega was sitting next to them, Perpetua’s mask in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He offered Perpetua the water first, head tilted as he did.

“I hope you don’t mind that I had Omega remove your mask,” Terzo hummed, still seated on his own tomb. “I was worried the metal would dig into your face. And the facepaint makes cleaning any cut just a pain in the ass…”

Perpetua rubbed at his face with a grumble, ignoring the smearing he was inflicting on his face paint, “You’re dead.”

“Thank you for the reminder,” Terzo’s reply was dry. “What gave that one away? My body here or the wound where my throat should be?”

Omega shook his head, handing Perpetua his mask, Play nice, he’s not used to this.

Perpetua jumped a bit at the additional voice, taking his mask back, “Thank you, Omega.”

Terzo swatted vaguely at the air, “And I am? Seven years, and he’s the first one able to see me.”

Perpetua looked down at his mask before carefully setting it aside. Terzo had already seen his face, so what was the point in trying to hide behind the mask again? Cirrus patted his shoulder, then stood and stretched.

“How long was I out?” Perpetua asked, sipping at the water. It was still cold.

“Eh… about five minutes?” Terzo shrugged, “You didn't hit your head or anything, Omega caught you.”

Perpetua nodded a bit towards Omega, “Thank you.” He paused, “Again.”

Omega shrugged, watching Cirrus for a moment before leaning back against Terzo's case.

“Anyway,” Terzo hummed, waving his hand to get Perpetua’s attention. He smiled and spread his arms once the other man turned his way again, “Welcome to the ministry! You've caused quite the commotion, you know. Especially for Copia.”

Perpetua frowned, “Because I took his job, right?”

“Si,” Terzo nodded. “A job he quite literally killed for.”

As he spoke, Cirrus walked around the alcove and opened one of the displays, plucking something from behind a couple of larger relics. When she returned to Perpetua’s side, he saw it was a magazine. The cover sent a chill down his spine.

On the cover stood Copia, front and center, dressed in black Cardinal robes. In his gloved hands, Terzo's head. Perpetua stared at the image for a long moment before laughing dryly.

“I can see why Omega isn’t fond of Copia.” He tossed the magazine on the floor, and it slid a short distance across the marble. Terzo watched it for a moment, nose scrunched with distaste.

“He didn’t even actually decapitate me…” He grumbled, a hand moving to the wound that was now his throat. “Says something about his pride, eh?”

“But he did..?” Perpetua trailed off, waving at his own throat, leaving the rest of the question unasked.

Terzo and Omega both nodded, the latter growling low. Terzo waved the ghoul off, sighing softly.

“He deserves to know, si? It changed his life just as much as it changed everyone else's.” Terzo stood, making no sound as his feet connected with the floor, and began to walk away. Perpetua quickly stood, nearly knocking himself off balance in his haste.

Terzo didn't go far, stopping by another alcove and peering in, “To start, you have three uncles. Myself, Primo, and Secondo. They're also dead.”

“Great…” Perpetua said dryly. “Will I also be meeting their ghosts?”

“No.” Terzo frowned, “They passed on, content with the way things were and their passing. I stuck around because I was and still am angry about it. Sister and Nihil are still around, I think, but if they are, they avoid me.”

“So why were they…” Perpetua trailed off, “Or… how..?”

“We were sacrifices.” Terzo lifted his arms with the grandeur of a showman, “Three lambs, bred for slaughter.”

Perpetua gave Terzo a once-over, “Lambs… is a choice.”

Terzo blinked, then lowered his arms, “That hurts, nipote… And that was Sister’s nickname for us. One I didn’t understand it until I literally had a knife at my throat.” He waved his hand at Perpetua, “To enact your blessing. Copia’s too, I’m sure.”

“My…” Perpetua blinked, then frowned, “You mean the eye thing?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yes. It was more than just the eye.”

“I know that! I was hunting and eating deer!” Perpetua threw his hands up, “I was exorcised! Twice!”

Terzo cringed at the last part, nose scrunching up, “That’s awful. Also makes me slightly more impressed that Copia managed to hide his own blessing becoming active. Deer, you said?”

Perpetua waved off the question, “Copia’s also blessed?”

“The eye is the biggest giveaway. Copia wore a contact until the ritual activated his blessing.” Terzo shrugged, “Made it hard to tell when it actually kicked in. I suggested it when we figured out who his mother was. And Sister was never active with anyone else. So that led to Nihil, leading to…” He waved his hand at his white eye, raising a brow. “Eh?”

Perpetua sighed, nodding, “I caught on about halfway through. Did he have the same… other changes?”

“No idea,” Terzo shrugged. “I was already dead.”

“Helpful,” Perpetua sighed. “So you were killed to enact the… Satanic magic in my body?”

“We were killed to enact the power of the antichrist, Perpetua.”