Children of the Clergy

Season 1 | Episode 9 | Communion attempt

Flashlight. Three right turns. Four left turns. Tunnel. 4:32.

Secondo jolted awake, taring away from the strangely pleasant feeling of the dream-vision. It hurt. But he found himself enjoying it. He knew that there was something wrong with him, but it made him feel so good that the pain was almost worth it. He wanted it to stay with him. Although, he couldn't tell if that was truly his desire or just how it was causing him to think.

It took him a moment to register the hand that covered his mouth before he began to panik. He tryed to pry it away but its grip on him stayed firm, muffling his cryes for help. He looked up...and saw Seestor Imperator. She was gazing down at him with such interest and admiration. She hushed him and muttered soft words that he couldn't seem to hear over his own fear, "Talk to me, creature. I know you're there." He felt a wave of pleasure wash over him as his thoughts began to drift away. He tryed to fight it back but it was no use. He wanted it, "His mind is yours now. Use your power. Bless him with your control."

Secondo felt his mind going blank as he lost all say in what his body did. His hand ceased its attempts to pry Seestor's away from his mouth and fell to rest beside him. He watched as the situation unfolded from somewhere out of his own vision. As if he was looking at it all from above, watching as something inside him became him. It breathed very slowly, practically causing his heart to stop beating. Seestor smiled down at it, scooping his body up into her arms and carrying it out of the infirmary. It maintained eye contact with her the whole time.

Papa Nihil had left to check on Primo and Terzo. He wanted to make sure that they were alright too before he decided to break the news to them. This had given Seestor a chance to slip in and take him while no-one was there to see her do it.

She carried it through the long, twisty hallways of the ministry, all the way to her office where this whole mess had began. Secondo begged for it to give him his body back. At least he would have, had he been able to even get the words out. The waves of pleasure that it continued to overwhelm him with willed him to keep his mouth shut. He couldn't protest against its decisions. He wasn't even able to decide if he even really wanted to.

Seestor Imperator placed it down in the centre of the room, where it sat and waited to see what she had planned. Its eyes followed her closely as she moved around the room. She sat opposite it, so close that it could feel her breath on his face.

"I want to talk with you. Use his body if you must. I'd like to know a few things." Seestor explained.

For a moment, Secondo felt the Ether let go of its control and he desperately tryed to get away from her. Something about Seestor was tempting the Ether out and he couldn't seem to stop it. It might have been that the Ether was thankful to her for helping to get it a vessel, but Secondo felt that it was more than just that. He couldn't tell what more it was though.

He groaned as it seeped back into his thoughts again, taking even further control of his mind. Once again, he was pushed back into his place in the Mind Space. It was like a separate world where his thoughts and mental state were represented by a reality. Only people, and creatures, with neurological abilities could access it, which included seer ghouls. Usually, he was quite comfortable while inside but now the control of the Ether had turned his environment black and the thought of it having full control in there instead of him made him shudder.

"Tell me," Seestor began, "Does Secondo gain any sort of control over his abilities in the near future?"

Inside the Mind Space, red blood-like vines wrapped around one of his ankles and pulled him backwards. They threw him into some sort of wall and many more began crawling over him, tangling him in their grip. They twisted around his neck and waist, keeping him in place by holding down his arms and legs too. A few seemed to loop around his mind, sending a sudden pleasant sensation through him. He relaxed into their touch as they pinned him against the wall.