Children of the Clergy

Season 1 | Episode 12 | Invasion

The Emeritus brothers sat in silence for the majority of dinner, Primo occasionally glancing over at Secondo suspiciously. He couldn't tell if he was being quiet because he knew what had happened or if he just wasn't in the mood to talk. Either way, his silence was putting Primo on edge.

Terzo sat to the side, trying to understand why neither of his older brothers were speaking at all. Usually, they would at least spark up some small talk with each other but, tonight, something felt very off. And Terzo wasn't liking their silence at all.

He cleared his throat loadly, "So, how did the test with Moon go?"

'Moon' was the nickname Terzo had given Primo's water ghoul, Monsoon.

"Oh, uh. I didn't really get to finish it." Primo stuttered.

He silently begged for Terzo not to push any further, but his persistent younger brother continued, "Why not? You were already talking about it two days ago. What happened?"

Primo sighed. The image of Papa Nihil and the young woman in his bed flashed into his mind and he couldn't help but glance over at Secondo again. Luckily, nothing seemed to have changed, "Well, I had to return a book to Papa. You know how he can be about his things."

Terzo nodded, satisfied with his answer, "And what about the ones with Pascal? You said he crushed a can yesterday?"

Pascal was Primo's air ghoul. While searching through the book he'd borrowed, he'd noticed something about air ghouls being capable of controlling the flow of the wind. He'd tried yesterday to find out if he could collapse an empty can by sucking the air out of it and, to his delight, the test had been a success, "Sì. That, he did. I honestly didn't think it would work at first."

He saw Terzo's eyes wander over to Secondo, who was remaining silent throughout their conversation. It was clearly upsetting him. Primo frowned. He hated when either of his brothers weren't enjoying themselves.

An idea popped into his head and he turned in his chair to face behind him, calling Zephyr over. The tall quintessence ghoul crept over to stand beside him, his head bowed and his pale blue eyes barely visible underneath the shadow of his hood. He held his hands together in front of him and his perfect posture never faltered. He was like a machine. And Primo hated it. Terzo watched every move the ghoul made very closely. He still hadn't quite gotten over his fear.

Primo reached up and began scratching underneath Zephyr's chin, receiving a low purr in reply. Terzo smiled as he watched the tall ghoul gently lean into his older brother's touch. It brought Primo a lot of joy to know that Terzo was, slowly and steadily, getting less nervous around his pack.

"Keep your hand away from its mouth. They bite." Primo turned to Secondo, who was still refusing to look at him. Did he know?

"Well, he hasn't hurt me yet." Primo added.

"Not that he could." Secondo looked up at him with an accusational glint in his eyes, before instantly looking back down at his plate.

Primo frowned, removing his hand all the same, "Are you implying that I want to continue doing this to them?" He could barely hide the hint of anger in his voice. Secondo stayed silent. They both knew what that ment.

Primo pushed away from the table and stood up firmly, "I had no say in what the Clergy did to them. Nor would I have any say in what my ghouls would do if the masks were removed." He paused, "I can feel their fear. It seeps through the control we have on them just enough for me to notice it." Secondo glanced up at him and Terzo looked from him to Zephyr with a pitying expression, "But I can also feel that fear boiling into anger. At us, and anyone who dares step foot in this building. If I took off the masks now, they would be sure to hurt, or even kill, someone. I will not have my ghouls sent to the pit because they were, understandably, scared of us." Secondo lowered his gaze. Primo was right and he knew it.

Terzo picked up his brothers' abandoned plates, as well as his own, and carried them over to the sink. He scrapped off the barely touch food he'd made for them and began cleaning them up in silence. Primo watched. He hadn't meant to upset him, but it seemed as though he'd done it all the same. Terzo hated when his efforts weren't appreciated, and he'd spent so much time making their food for them. And they'd hardly eaten any of it.

"The food was lovely, Terzo. You're getting really good at making it." Secondo added, smiling softly in his direction.

Terzo stayed silent, gently washing up the dishes and placing them on the drying rack one by one. Primo and Secondo got the message and left the kitchen quietly, understanding that he was no longer in the mood to talk.

Primo walked swiftly to his room, closing the door behind him. He slumped down onto his bed, placing his head in his hands and sighing. Had Secondo really not heard his thoughts at all? How was that even possible?

At that moment, his door creaked open and Secondo walked in. He stared down at Primo with a disappointed look.

"We have thin walls, brother. And I can hear a lot more than you think." Primo glanced up at him, confused. He hadn't been making any noise, "So, did you plan to just wait until Papa came to tell us himself?"

He'd heard. Of course he'd heard. He always mentioned that his thoughts were very load, but they weren't usually load enough to be heard through walls. Had he really been thinking about it that much?

Primo sighed. Once again, his privacy was gone and his brother was invading his thoughts, "I thought I'd said that I didn't want you reading my mind."

Secondo looked irritated by his reply, "You repeat yourself as if it were my choice. I do not have enough experience yet and cannot control when I use my abilities. It is not my fault that you cannot quiet your own thoughts, although I am also not saying that it is yours." He spoke the last part a little more gently, but Primo still wasn't any happier with him.

"Learn to control them better, then! They are your abilities!" He was becoming increasingly more irritated by his brother's excuses.

"It isn't that simple! It will take time! And you can't say that as if you've ever tried to help! All you do is get upset when there's nothing I can do!" Primo suddenly felt Secondo pocking around in his mind, just to further infuriate him, "It was fooling of you to have brought up Papa Nihil in front of Seestor, as well. You, of all people, should know that they don't get along anymore. "

Primo snapped at the continued invasion of his thoughts, "Keep out of my mind! If you could use your abilities half as well as you can use your mouth, the Ether would have never even touched you!"

Secondo growled back at him and it felt as if the room was slightly shaking. He turned and stormed out of the room, flinging the doors open and refusing to close them behind himself. Primo strode over and slammed them shut. He'd had just about enough of Secondo's attitude.

He sat back down on his bed, holding his head in his hands and grumbling to himself. His ghouls entered and formed their protective circle around the room, just as they were supposed to. In that moment, he was glad that Zephyr was being controlled and his quintessence instincts couldn't kick in. He'd had enough people in his mind for one day.

Once his head had mostly silenced itself, he noticed the sounds of quiet sobs coming from the room on the other side of the wall on the right. Terzo's room.

It was already ten pm and Terzo was always asleep by now, but he must have overheard them arguing and that had kept him up.

A single tear slipped down Primo's cheek as he layed back on his bed, crawling under his covers. Their family was falling apart. And, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from him, even Terzo knew. And it was, slowly and steadily, breaking him.