Chapter Text
Sister Olivia sat with her arms crossed. She was not happy. At all . Across a desk from her sat the ancient old Papa Nihil, and the news he’d just delivered to her made her like the man even less than she already did. “Three months!?”
Nihil’s deep, slow voice nonchalantly re-read the part of the decision letter the jury of clergymen decided upon. “ Because of failure to comply with the safety curfew, even after two warnings, Sister Olivia has been assigned to a three month assistant appointment in the abbey under construction outside of La Spezia, Italy. ”
The slow, unbothered voice of the old man irritated her even more the second time he read it. There was a grease fire in the old abbey in that area several months ago, which destroyed the entire building, and it was common knowledge that construction was underway for a new building for all of the siblings who resided there. But, she didn’t see why that was her problem, and how the clergy could possibly send her so far away for three whole months. “But Papa, I don’t speak Italian . How the fuck am I supposed to function in fucking Italy!?” She vehemently protested, leaning forward in the studded leather chair.
“The cardinal speaks Italian. He can translate if need be.” Nihil said with a shrug, folded the letter and pushed it across the desk as he made to stand and leave- he didn’t want to be here either, but Sister Imperator could be very convincing when it came to getting him to do what she wanted.
Sister Olivia’s brow furrowed with a scowl. “The cardinal? What cardinal?”
The wheels on Nihil’s oxygen tank let out ear-piercing squeaks as he began to trudge out of the room. “You will be assisting Cardinal Copia. Guess they forgot to include that in the letter, but he is going with you. I suggest you go and pack, the flight is in two days.”
She jumped to her feet and strode after him. “What? Him ? Papa! You can’t send me halfway across the world for three months with some antisocial cardinal I hardly know! All my friends are here ! I don’t know Italian! What am I supposed to do in an abbey that’s not even finished?”
Nihil raised a hand, waving her off as he left the room. “You knew the rules, Sister. It’s for your own safety. After midnight you must always be with a companion from the church if you’re out in the city- you know how some people are with us satanists. But, you didn’t think the rule applied to you and now you must face the consequences. We can’t have you don’t go and endanger yourself and waste the church’s resources or cause bad PR if you got hurt or wasted. The decision is final, Sister.”
Sister Olivia stomped across the church to her room and flopped on her bed. She tossed her veil carelessly across the room towards the desk, where it landed haphazardly on the desk chair. Her hands twisted into her blazing red hair as she re-read the letter over and over again and anxiety began to surface. She turned the letter over, and found a description of her duties in an email chain, a boarding pass with her name on it, and what was apparently Cardinal Copia’s contact information.
She’d seen the man in passing a time or two, but they didn’t really speak besides a nod or a “hello.” She didn’t know him well at all- but she did know that in her opinion, he was possibly the most boring clergyman they could possibly find, and she knew this would be the longest three months of her life. She never saw the cardinal hanging out with anyone, never saw him joining any groups from the church going out for drinks in the city, and he often had his nose buried in some academic looking book even as he walked through the long hallways in the church. His reputation was that he was very much a loner who never did anything fun.
Olivia, on the other hand, loved being out in the action. She took any opportunity she could to socialize, dance, flirt, or do anything even remotely interesting with her friends. Being the social butterfly that she was, she did often end up losing track of time and staying out later than curfew, which is what got her in this situation. Her friends would come find her and remind her it was time to go, but half the time she refused them, either because she was deep in a conversation or pool match with people she just met, or because she found someone attractive she aimed to get in bed with. Either way, she always found her way back to the church before dawn, so what was the big deal? Her head flopped down face first into her pillow and she groaned.
Resisting the urge to scream her frustration into her pillow, she raised her head and once again picked up the letter to go over her new job description. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it was part of an email chain between some members of the higher clergy and Cardinal Copia. Several people had been cc’d, but the conversation was just between Sister Imperator and Cardinal Copia.
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Cardinal,
Sister Olivia has been assigned as your assistant for your trip to Italy. She can help with administrative duties, data entry, ordering supplies, running errands on your behalf, or anything else you may need. The clergy has decided in order to get the La Spezia abbey back up and running within the timeframe, someone to assist you in such duties will be required. As you know, much of the records were burned in the fire and will need to be replaced and organized so we anticipate a great deal of paperwork. Sister Olivia will be your direct report during this time, and her compliance is expected. Disciplinary action may be taken if she does not follow the rules, but you will be required to make reports to us before taking any actions. Be ready to travel to the airport at 8am this Thursday. You and Sister Olivia will be picked up outside the front doors.
Sister Imperator
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Sister,
I understand and look forward to meeting her properly. I will appreciate the assistance greatly if I am to ensure everything gets finished before the deadline.
Thanks again,
C
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Fucking hell, Olivia thought. This email had the most amount of words she’d ever heard from Cardinal Copia, outside of the occasional sermon she didn’t pay attention to that he gave while Papa III was out and Nihil didn’t feel like doing it. She read the emails printed on the back of the letter one more time and groaned. He sounds so stuffy, I am going to hate this so much. Why can’t I just do some shitty boring punishment task here, where my friends are, not in Italy of all places where I don’t speak the language and my only company is some cardinal who has a stick up his ass?