Chapter Text
He was a rowdy child, merely a boy when he was initiated into the church, he had memories of what was before, but as an adult, he was happy with where he had ended up.
Wild and intense, he’d disobey and run away and do what he pleased more often than not, unavoidably earning himself harsh scoldings once he was caught.
Badly tempered, misbehaved, loud.
His first years with the church were spent in a hidden monastery out in the Swedish outbacks, where they practiced their religion in peace.
The grounds were big, surrounded by forest and wild, grim nature. Beneath; tunnels, unending tunnels. It was never mentioned why they were there, and no one was supposed to go down there. It never stopped him from exploring anywhere he decided.
He knew the monastery better than anyone, he’d climb and hide where no one could follow. It wasn’t always enough to escape the consequences of his behaviour, sadly.
He drove many of the monks mad on a regular basis, and their disciplining could get physical.
Being told to stand silently turned towards a corner for hours was a bust, when they didn’t look, he vanished, and they had to waste time finding him.
Unfortunately, some were more than willing to take on even more archaic measures of “sorting him out”.
One day, after a particularly bad episode, he was hiding up on the rafters of the bell tower. No one except him could climb up here, anyway. All those old men weighed too much, or they were just, yeah, too old. There wasn’t much room up there, and nowhere to run, but this was where he’d hidden. He knew he’d get it worse than he’d ever been punished before, but this time, he was regretful.
He had smashed one of the stained glass windows, they were ancient, but beautiful, he enjoyed standing in the chapel as the sun shone through them, throwing colorful light across his face.
The one he’d smashed was his favorite, the one of Lucifer falling because of his arrogance.
He watched as the glimmering pieces of colored glass fell, crashing and splitting in hundreds of crystalline fragments on the stone floor.
It was an accident.
As he ran from the chapel, he heard yells of fury echo behind him, followed by loud footsteps.
They didn’t catch him.
Had they given up and stopped looking? He wondered if he could sneak past them to a new hiding spot, possibly just taking up permanent residence in the forest… That’d be nice, he’d make it on his own, he figured.
Although it’d get cold in the winter, so maybe not… There were always the tunnels too, they were never used, anyway, and he could steal food from the kitchen easily at night.
While he considered his options, he was suddenly alerted to footsteps on the old stairs, as someone walked up.
It wasn’t time to ring the bell yet, and it was starting to get dark outside.
The boy crawled back further on the rafters, in the corner, making him hard to spot, and he went deathly silent.
The footsteps had a weight to them, yet somehow they were light, lithe even. He listened to each step as they ascended to the highest floor of the monastery, then stopped.
The tower was cold, with only thin glass panes on the slim windows. The boy found himself not even breathing and the silence was stifling, he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
Why was he this scared, all of a sudden?
He felt a jolt in his spine when he heard the floorboards creak beneath, whoever that was moving beneath was silent. Maybe they weren’t even looking for him? The tower had a bit of space for storage, after all.
The child tried to calm himself, amongst the dusty rafters, it was dark, and in his own dark uniform, he hoped he’d be invisible up there.
Yet, despite his fear, his curiosity got the better of him.
He leaned forward carefully to peek down between the wooden beams, throwing a hand over his mouth as he spotted a dark, hooded figure way closer beneath him than the boy had expected.
Most of the clergy wore the dark robes, this one was big, though, really big. He was almost tall enough for the top of his hood to drag along the rafters. He moved far more silently than one would expect of a man that height. He moved with his hands tucked in his sleeves as he turned and walked over towards the crates in the corner, and the boy let out a sigh of relief in his head, leaning back against the cold wall behind him. He shut his eyes, and he just needed to wait.
There was a sudden, loud screech of one of the wooden planks close by, and the boy’s heart skipped a beat as his head shot up, staring ahead, only to be met with a pair of dark, intense eyes staring at him from over a beam.
“Ahh!!” The boy cried out in surprise and fear, he hadn’t even heard he man walk closer again.
The man had pulled himself up with his hands enough to get a view of him, and only that made the wood groan with stress.
The man said nothing, his eyes disappearing as he let go, landing with a surprisingly soft sound, but the boy heard the quick footsteps coming closer beneath him and he braced himself.
The two hands shot up between the planks and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him down.
“Ahh- ow!” He struggled at first, but was quickly put down on his feet, at which he stopped and craned his neck up at the man, nervous.
The man looked down at him, expression serious and cold, betraying nothing in his silence. The boy realized he recognized him, but just barely. He was a quiet figure and he wasn’t sure what his duties were, but their paths almost never crossed, except for in the dining hall and during sermon. Even then, the boy couldn’t recall ever interacting with him. He thought he’d seen him talk to talk to one of the other boys a few times, possibly his son, they looked alike. Same brown hair and dark eyes.
The boy frowned, shoulders tense as he backed away from him for a moment, then looked down.
It was unlike him to not stand his ground once he was caught, or to dispute, but right now; already feeling guilty and under the scrutinizing dark eyes of this cleric, he couldn’t be brave.
“I know I messed up.” The boy mumbled, not daring to look at the man, who scared him with his plain lack of scorn or any other reaction.
“Let’s go.” The tall man finally spoke, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulders before leading him to the stairs. He didn’t struggle this time.
He wasn’t sure just how the monks were going to punish him this time, but he had a feeling it’d be worse than anything he’d been through before. With every step he took through the not yet candlelit hallways, in the midst of twilight, his heart beat a little bit faster.
Just what would they do to him for this?
Was that why the tall man was so quiet? Did he know?
He walked in front of the big man, silent.
Down the corridor, the doorway to the dining room was open, warm firelight flooding out over the cold stone floor.
There were a few voices inside, voices he recognized as the elders who loved him oh so much.
The voices fell silent as they approached the doorway, and he felt like a criminal on his way to be hanged, as he had read in some books in the library.
He let his head hang low, a small whimper escaping his lips, knowing what was coming.
He felt the man come up next to him, his hand heavy on his shoulder as it lead him…
Past the doorway.
The boy looked up in confusion, and there were sounds from the room they had just passed of similar tone.
He felt the man pick up speed, his long legs moving faster, but still holding onto the boy, who had to jog to keep up with him.
“Hey!” A voice sounded from behind them, just coming out the dining hall, the voice called the man brother, and supposedly the man’s name, for the boy didn’t recognize it. Either way, there was anger in the voice, but the cleric kept walking, leading the boy away. He didn’t understand what was going on, wasn’t he getting punished?
The echoes of their footsteps mixed with those of several pairs behind them, trying to catch up.
The man’s name was called again.
“Where are you goi- Wait- Stop! You’re not supposed to disturb the Abbot! And the Cardinal-” The monks, still far behind them seemed to realize where they were heading, picking up pace.
The Abbot?
The boy had no time to let his heart sink or register the second title, just then, the man pulled him with him as he pushed through the door they had just reached.
“...ccident, of course, but nothing you need worry abo-” Words spoken were interrupted as the two barged in, the door closing roughly behind them.
The boy found himself in the office of the Abbot, in charge of the monastery.
He’d never actually been in there, but it was spacious, with carved furniture, tapestries, bookcases and small statues of various figures of their faith on display.
Two men were seated by the large stone fireplace that heat up the room, the light playing across their wrinkled features as they looked at the uninvited duo.
The boy noticed the reverted, ornate cross that stood on display on the mantelpiece, and the weight of the situation pushed down on him further.
“What is this interruption?” The Abbot demanded with agitation, his shaggy eyebrows producing folds above his nose as he scowled.
“I found the boy, your grace. As you asked.” The man said after waist-deep bow, hand leaving the boy’s shoulder as he bowed to the two men, before folding his arms behinds his back.
“ Not right now, can’t you see that I am entertaining the cardinal? ” The Abbot hissed through his teeth, pointedly nodding his head towards the older man beside him, who didn’t seem especially affronted about the interruption, in fact, the boy noticed that he had a peculiar little smile on his lips when he looked at the tall man.
“Long time no see,” the cardinal spoke the man’s name fondly, “How’s your boy doing?”
He was the same as the Abbot, in his sixties, the boy guessed. He was old and wrinkly, like most of the people he knew. For a Cardinal he was surprisingly ordinary looking, in only a simple black cassock and inverted cross around his neck. It was the eyes that made the boy nervous.
“Your Eminence,” the tall man greeted back and bowed again, “Better than this one.”
“Now out, let the monks deal with h-” Once again, the Abbot was interrupted as a red faced, gasping man burst through the door, albeit alone as he shut the door behind him. The boy heard muttering outside.
“Abbot- Please excuuuhssee- Hahh- Excuse them, W-we tried to stop them-” He wiped his neck with a napkin from his pocket, but when he saw the boy, his eyes turned dark and spiteful. The child glared back, looking braver than he felt.
“That’s him , yes. The entire window, destroyed! Right in front of one of the Brothers! It was centuries old- Completely insubordinate, but I’ll make sure he’s appropriately disciplined, please excuse us, Father Abbot, your Eminence.” He ranted with little attempt to hide his contempt, bowing low for the two superiors, before grabbing the boy who squirmed by his arm and eyeing his taller brother with suspicion, whom hadn’t looked away from the monk since the moment he stepped inside. The cleric’s hand shot out and took the boy’s shoulder again, and so, the boy didn’t move.
“What is the intended punishment?” The Cardinal asked, making the monk stop in place, turning around. “He’s… A troublesome child, your Eminence. We are considering starting with a flogging, then going from there.”
The boy froze, swallowing hard.
“That seems… Copious. Don’t you think?” The Cardinal drawled matter-of-factly, leaning back.
“Y-yes, Copious, but appropriate. We are doing our utmost to teach him to be the good acolyte but we’ve had to reprimand him harshly; He is stubborn and will not obey.”
“And he never will, with that approach.” The Cardinal’s experienced eyes looked at the monk, wrinkles shifting as he smiled. His words were friendly, the look in his eyes unimpressed .
“There are considerately more constructive ways of dealing with this, brother.”
The Abbot shifted uncomfortably next to the Cardinal, the monk was possibly redder in the face now than when he entered.
“Of course, your Eminence...” The monk said carefully, “What do you intend?”
“You have pictures, original artwork of the window?” The cardinal asked, and the monk stopped, not expecting the question. His eyes darted to the Abbot whose eyes were distant, trying to remember if they did.
“We do, Cardinal.” The cleric informed before the silence would confirm their lack of knowledge.
“Good, good. Then I’d like to ask you to run me some errands tomorrow.” Their superior smiled at the cleric first, who bowed.
“Of course, your Eminence.”
The Cardinal then turned with a pleased expression towards the Abbot and the monk.
“Alright, then. I suppose the boy must have missed dinner, make sure he gets something in him, then send him off to bed, yes? We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“As you say, Cardinal.” The Abbot said respectfully, nodding to the cleric first, then the monk.
The boy wasn’t sure what just happened, but met eyes with the cardinal for a moment, he smiled and nodded at him, at which the boy looked away unsurely.
The cleric and monk bowed to them before leaving, and the small group of outside parted as the cleric lead him through them.
As the two walked away towards the kitchen, the boy suddenly gasped, like he’d been holding his breath. He felt the clawlike grip on his shoulder loosen and he glanced up at the man whilst catching his breath.
The cleric looked at him, there was something in them; pity? Malice? The boy couldn’t tell.
As the boy went to bed that night, fed and yet unpunished; He wondered what had happened, and what tomorrow held in store for him.