Work Text:
Nearly a week has passed since the Spring Ball of the Full Moon, and yet the disease that was brought upon the Clergy didn’t seem to want to wane and was spreading even further. The disease, or more precisely the curse in question, could have been easily avoided, if a few young ghouls would have had the decency not to prank, and horribly anger a most powerful witch, but what does one expect of youthful idiots. What has been done, has been done, and now the Clergy is the one paying the price for it.
The young cardinal was thankful that at the moment when the witch’s wrath was bought upon the ghouls and other innocent hapless bystanders of the Clergy, he was on the other side of the ball room, hiding away behind the tropical forest, only admiring the frivolities in front of him, but not having the courage to join in on it. That awkwardness of his seemed to save him from the disease, but not from the work that was pilling up now that more and more members have been infected. To avoid such a fate himself he put on a beaked mask, old fashioned yes, but still better than to suffer from the witch’s plague.
As soon as he covered himself from head to toe, he left his room and made his way down the halls, and as he did he had to pass the countless sick that they could not place in the infirmary. As he walked further down the path more and more bodies seemed to block his way, and as Copia tiptoed around them did he come to realize that some of them were no longer among the living. Not even the aromatic herbs in the beaked mask, could block out the stench of the countless corpses and he could feel nausea wash over him as he continued down the hall, now slightly faster, and less cautious, and right into a hooded figure.
The young cardinal quickly gathered himself and mustered out a barely audible apology to the person he had ran into, and as the man turned around he jumped back. Even with the hood covering his face there should have been more of his features visible to him as he was so close to the man, and yet nothing, only a blinding darkness where a face should’ve been. As he stood there staring at the man in fear, the hooded stranger also stared at him back, but in a more curious fashion, moving his head around from one side to another and as he did, the young cardinal could hear each and every bone in his neck creak. He slowly moved around the stranger, nearly tripping over, either in his own two feet or a corpse, he wasn’t sure anymore, and as he did the hooded man kept following him with what he assumed would be his eyes if he could see behind the darkness hiding it. Copia finally managed to walk around the stranger and was ready to run away from the scene, but the hooded man was still too interested in the cardinal to let him leave as he leaned in close, slightly lifting his hood with pale bony fingers to take a better look at him, and finally the cardinal could take a better look at the man in front of him as well.
For a slight second the darkness faded and he could steal a glimpse of the man and what he saw rooted his feet to the ground. Copia was ever so thankful that the mask hid his face as a slight pink started to tint his features, yet somehow he thought the stranger could tell what was going on behind the façade, because as he pulled away to turn his attention back to the dead he seemed to give the young cardinal a thin smile that turned him into an even darker shade of pink. He took a few steps back and then quickly ran from the scene not caring for the corpses in his way anymore and not stopping ‘till he reached his office.
He locked himself away, removed his mask and took a sharp breath as he tried to gather himself, so he could finally focus on what truly mattered, which was work and not handsome hooded strangers. After all threatening letters to the Vatican won’t be writing themselves and it would be a shame if he would lose his status as the one holding the second most employee of the month awards. He sat down beside his desk and breathed in sharply again, ready to make the Clergy proud, but as soon as he got pen and paper in front of him his mind wandered elsewhere. His hands slid across the sheet and he caught himself trying to recreate the beautiful image that he was able to see for even the slightest of seconds, but sadly his artistic skills were far from perfect and he could only create messy scribbles of the man, but not even the Devil himself could be even able to tell that what he drew was even a man to begin with. Frustrated he tore it up and threw it away, and as soon as he got new paper in front of him, the same thing happened and continued on ‘till the afternoon.
Devastated, Copia ended up bashing his head against his desk as one of his rats happily chewed on his not so artistic portraits. When he finally decided that he made his poor head suffer enough, he lazily sat up and looked over at the clock on the wall only to realize that the day has ended and he finished nothing, then he looked over at his tiny friend who was still tearing at the paper. At least someone appreciates his artistic endeavors and there is no greater compliment than devouring the art itself. For the compliments he rewarded the rat with some cheese and the rodent gladly took that from his master as well, along with the scratches behind the ear, while Copia wondered if he could still use the excuse of "My rat ate my work." on Sister Imperator, like he did as a child.
As it turned out he couldn’t.
---
Days passed and each day he would see the hooded stranger observing the dead of the Clergy, and each time Copia would be passing him by, the stranger would stop whatever he was doing and would turn his attention to the young cardinal. Knowing that someone was glad to see him was enough to quicken the beat of his heart, but knowing that it was a handsome man behind the hood nearly gave him a heart attack. He would sometimes wave to him, but that was as far as he would go, too terrified to start up a conversation, in fear that he would get tongue tied.
Yet he still couldn’t help, but wonder who this man was, and would have loved to know more about him if his awkwardness wouldn’t be constantly getting in the way. He thought back to the ball and remembered the Sister pleading to the reigning Queen Margot to stop the witch. He never saw the Sister in such distress as he did that day, she was always terrifying and cold, but in that moment she was humane, maybe too much so for even the Devil himself to comprehend. In the end he decided that it must have been just an act, but it seemed to have worked, because why else would this man be here if not sent by the Queen Margot to figure out the curse.
All those thoughts about the stranger occupying his mind made him slightly dizzy to the point that some of the ghouls that were moving the dead out of the way asked if he was alright. He assured them that he doesn’t plan on dying before he finishes his work and returned to his office.
---
The weather seemed to get hotter as the days passed by and slowly spring turned to summer. Wearing his beaked mask in such a weather was challenging to say the least, but that was the price to pay to stay healthy and to continue to work.
The dead seemed to have been nearly all moved from the halls and buried, except for a few that were still waiting to return to the earth, and as the bodies seemed to disappear so did the hooded stranger. Copia would have been lying if the handsome stranger’s absence didn’t upset him. He did try to reason with himself that if he leaves at least he won’t be distracted from his work any longer and could go back to being the employee of the month again, a status he took pride in. But that was a lie and he was more than aware of it.
As the thoughts of the stranger was messing with his mind again, so did the suffocating heat, and for the first time in weeks he removed his mask and made his way down the hall without it, wiping the sweat from his forehead, sticking close to the walls as a dizziness took over him again. Copia leaned against the wall enjoying the slight cool as he pressed his face against it, but that didn’t seem to be enough as his vision blurred when he tried to tear himself away to continue towards his office. He gave himself a few minutes more to gather himself and closed his eyes, and when he opened them again he was truly questioning if he wasn’t suffering from a heat stroke, or maybe even downright madness.
Down the hall stood a pale steed, and at first he did question as to how the horse got there, but the second thought that came to him was that he wanted to pet the animal more than anything, and that seemed to give him enough of a push from the wall towards it. As he got closer he slowed his pace and gently reached out to the animal, and when it didn’t flinch away from his hand he slowly started to pet the horse’s head, and it let him. The animal was clearly real as he was able to touch it, but that still didn’t explain how there was a horse inside the Clergy in the first place. Still he was overjoyed to be this close to such a beautiful creature and was ready to say its farewells to it when he noticed someone sitting on its back. He wasn’t even surprised when he saw the hooded stranger there and shyly waved at him.
- Is he yours?
As the question leaved his lips he was ready to stab himself with a sword right after for asking such an idiotic question. Of course the horse was his when he was sitting right on it. But for some odd reason he didn’t get any sort of snarky reply as an answer, to be fair he didn’t get any sort of verbal answer either, only a nod. Thankful that the stranger was kind enough not to make fun of him for his awkwardness he wanted to spare him, and himself as well, from a tongue biting conversation and was ready to leave, but not before giving a final pat to the animal’s nose. As he was ready to walk past him the hooded stranger held out his hand to him and he could feel his heart starting to race again. At first he couldn’t do anything, but stare at the hand that was held out to him and he hesitantly even reached out, but in the end he quickly pulled his hand away and apologized to him.
- … … … I-I have to get to work.
Copia couldn’t see the stranger’s face, but he could tell he was disappointed and that made his heart sank as he watched him pull his hand away, and pulling at the reigns turning his horse around leaving the young cardinal to be by himself.
- … Maybe some other time!
He shouted after him, and the stranger while he didn’t turn his attention back to him, he did slightly nod. Copia watched as he disappeared down the hall and waved at him one last time.
He tried to wrap his head around what he had done or said that made him so upset, and again he had to lean against the walls for support. As he tried to gather himself once more that day, Sister Imperator showed up with two sisters by her side and asked if he was alright. After a few minutes Copia tried to muster out a reply, but for the life of him could he not remember if he actually succeeded at doing so or not, but judging from the Sister’s expression he didn’t. The Sister pressed the back of her hand against his forehead checking to see if he had a fever, which irritated him more than it should as it made him feel like child again, and as he pulled away from her, to tell her that he was fine he even accidentally called her mother. The nearby sisters tried their best not to laugh, but failed horribly, and even Sister Imperator chuckled at him, as he turned just as a bright shade of red as the cassock he was wearing. He quickly turned on his heels, but couldn’t get away from the scene fast enough, and even heard the Sister mockingly shout at him, calling him "son".
---
The final corpse had been buried at the end of summer and that was when the young cardinal last saw the stranger as well. He knew the day would come sooner or later, after all he was sent to do something or another about the disease, truth be told he never really saw him do anything besides observing, but he did that quite diligently. He also didn’t understand why his heart ached so, when they never even truly talked and just waved at each other at most. Still his absence left quite a void in him and his work etiquette suffered worse than when the stranger was around. He spent most of his days lying face down on his desk mopping around, while his rats cleared away the paperwork in front of him by munching on it.
As the days went by he could feel himself getting worse and worse, and as summer faded to fall, he could feel himself turn just as cold and bitter. Not only did he change on the inside, but the outside as well. He became paler than he was before and his eyes sunk in to the point he nearly resembled a corpse, and what better place for a ghost to linger around at than the cemetery behind the Clergy.
He took flowers to the graves to the ones they lost during the summer. When he finally left one on each grave, snowflakes began to dance around him and slowly pile up on the ground. Winter has arrived sooner than expected. He wished not to linger around any longer in the cold, but something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
As soon as he saw him a smile crept around his features and he made his way towards the hooded man. When he was just a step away from him he stopped in his tracks, expecting him to just disappear as the snow does when winter fades, and brings yet another spring. He wanted nothing more, but to yell at him, even if he only had himself to blame as to not tell him about how he felt sooner, and even then he knew he could not have asked him to stay by his side, as it is what not why he came to the Clergy for. Tears started to form around the corners of his eyes, but disappeared just as soon as they came, when the hooded man closed the gap between them. The stranger pulled Copia’s hands from his sides and towards his hood and the action took him by surprise.
- May I?
As he was used to it by now, he only nodded as a reply, and the young cardinal removed his hood. Unlike him, the stranger looked just the same as he did when he caught a glimpse of him on that spring morning. His face a sick pale white, with messy dark hair to contrast it and his eyes nothing, but a deep dark void that seemed to draw him in by the minute. Everything about him screamed decay and devastation, yet that seemed to be the allure of him, just like when one can’t tear their eyes away from a tragedy taking place.
He could feel his heartbeat quickening as he pressed himself closer, with his hands on the stranger’s face as he pulled him close, and into a kiss. He wanted it to be a gentle and romantic one, yet as soon as his lips touched his, he couldn’t help, but want more and he grabbed at him hungrily not wanting the moment to end. Copia didn’t even notice in his fervor, that the stranger started to shed away his skin along with his flesh, and only his skeleton remained. Even when he opened his eyes he didn’t realize, or didn’t even care, as he only pulled away to catch his breath and to continue where they left off, but he could feel his legs giving out underneath him, his eyes rolling backwards and the stranger whispering something to him that he could not understand, and the bells chimed at midnight as the young cardinal fainted.
---
When he awoke he was in his bed, in his room and strangely enough not alone, as a sister stood up from a chair next to his bed and rushed outside calling for Sister Imperator. The Sister arrived soon enough and quickly went over to the young cardinal who could only blink in confusion. He couldn’t even understand at first what they were telling him, as only small glimpses of the conversation made their way to his ears and the rest on the other hand remained merely static. He felt awfully light headed and fell back to the bed.
The next morning when he woke up, the sisters explained to him what had happened and while all bits of information made it to him now, he still couldn’t quite comprehend the notion of it. They told him that he caught the disease as well, and were only able to notice it now, as they thought he merely overworked himself, like he did many times before. While he wasn’t feeling entirely too well the past month, he did admit, he did not understand how they found him lying on his desk half dead and delirious, when he clearly remembered leaving his office to take a walk among the graves. He also clearly remembered meeting with the stranger there, and when he asked the sisters about him he only got curious stares as a reply. When he tried to tell them more about him those stares turned to concern, as if he was nothing more, but a madman spouting idiocies.
He sighed deeply and gave up in the end, and maybe even believed them as well that he has truly gone mad the past half a year. Still he could not believe that the greatest romance of his life would just end up being a mere illusion dreamed up by his delirious mind.
---
The years have passed since that ordeal at the Spring Ball and Copia has changed a lot since then. He became more social, still a bit awkward at times, but better than the way he was before and it seemed to have only added to his charm. Still his impeccable dancing skills added the most to it, which helped him sweep anyone off of his feet, in more than one way. From how long he was sick from the disease the rings around his eyes didn’t seem to fade, but that again just made him more alluring and even a slight bit similar to the heads of the Clergy, which probably was one of the factors as to why he was chosen to take over as the next Papa despite not being part of the bloodline. Well that and of course holding the esteemed honor of being the one with the second most employee of the month awards.
Becoming the next head came with more responsibilities, and that came with pleasing an audience, which he seemed to be getting better at by the day. Because of this he caught the attention of not only women, but men alike, yet he couldn’t help, but still think back to that fateful night when the bell tolled at midnight and he shared his first kiss with the hooded stranger. Even after all these years those memories lived so vividly in him and for some reason he wouldn’t and couldn’t let go of them.
After he was appointed as the next head all the previous leaders died under “mysterious circumstances”, and he decided it would be for the best not to question it, if he didn’t want to shorten his own mortality. A mock funeral was held by Papa Nihil for his sons, but everyone knew it was nothing more, but an act and the corpses would be showcased as veneration relics and not be buried behind the Clergy. As Copia listened to the old man’s fake heartfelt eulogy, he couldn’t help, but feel utterly bored and would have loved nothing more than to leave. Even a mountain of paperwork would have been better than this and prayed to the Devil for it to be over soon. As he fidgeted and moved around to keep himself from falling asleep he saw something, or more precisely someone he surely wasn’t expecting, but on this day he was sure anything was possible.
He made sure no one saw him as he slipped away from the crowd and towards the edge of the cemetery where a pale horse stood and on it a hooded rider. The man removed his hood and Copia felt like a school boy again as he got closer. The man leaned down and he tiptoed as he pulled him closer and into a kiss, and again wished for that moment to never end, and to only be with the hooded stranger, because no one will be a better fit for him, for as he finally knew that man he loved was none other than Death.