Children of the Clergy

Season 1 | Episode 16 | How to deal with traitors

Primo and Terzo rushed passed the guards into the dungeon. Primo's fire and Earth ghouls followed along behind them, since they were the only elements that were used while giving out prisoners' punishments. Prisoners like Seestor. Traitors.

Papa Nihil was already waiting for them in front of the stone spiral stair case that lead down into the different levels of the dungeon, each more fortified and secure than the one before and each with its own interrogation and torture chambers, "You both came quickly."

Primo waisted no time before pushing passed and hurrying down to Level III. That level was for slightly more dangerous prisoners, often ones that had betrayed the Clergy in some way, "Is she already in there?" Papa Nihil nodded, "Good."

Terzo followed close behind them. After recovering from his initial sadness, he'd started to go on and on about all the things he'd do to Seestor once they'd gotten her back. And his thoughts were still just as violent, "As if we would let her go that easily. I hope she gets what is coming to her."

"Do not worry." Papa chuckled and a cruel grin spread across his face, "She will."

They arrived at Level III, striding down the small corridor with prison cells lining one side.

The dungeons had a very medieval design to them: stone walls, wooden benches for beds, simple metal bars, chains attached to the walls. It made them a very threatening environment to be in.

Sometimes prisoners would be tortured inside the cells instead of in the chambers simply due to convenience or just for the effect it gave. Fortunately for Seestor's dignity, she would be receiving her punishment within the chamber, where none of the other prisoners in the dungeons could hear her screams when they echoed down the stair case that connected all of the levels together. The thought of her suffering brought a smile to Terzo's face.

They crept up to Seestor's cell at the end of the corridor and stood in front of the barred entrance, glaring down at her. She was knelt in the corner with her head hung low, avoiding eye contact with any of them. She was completely at the mercy of the Clergy now, and Terzo was loving every second of it.

"Hello, Seestor. How have you been?" Papa's voice was low and threatening but there was still a hint of something gentle in it. Primo had been right. He'd never get over Seestor, and it was showing.

"How do you think I've been?" She bit back.

The Clergy had flown Seestor and Secondo back through the night. The Ether had remained hidden throughout the entire journey, pretending to be scared of Seestor as if she'd forced him to go with her. It's attempts to hide its presence seemed to have paid off because no-one had noticed that it hadn't been Secondo.

Seestor had been begging for them to believe that the Ether was there, but they'd just locked her in a separate compartment of the plane and refused to listen to her 'excuses'. As far as they knew, she'd taken Secondo to Transylvania against his will and, now, she was just trying to find something else to blame.

The gates to her cell were opened and Vukan, Primo's fire ghoul, and Vanth, Primo's earth ghoul, strode in. They picked her up from either arm and escorted her to the chamber, barely even acknowledging her please for their mercy. Without the Ether nearby, they were back under the influence of their masks and could no longer think for themselves. They could only act under Primo's command.

They threw her into the chamber and she scrambled backwards across the floor, away from them. She let out a yelp as her back hit the wall behind her.

Papa, Primo and Terzo joined her in the small stone room, shutting the large metal door behind them. Seestor was shaking and panting with fear as Vukan and Vanth hauled her up and locked the chains attached to the back wall onto her wrists, putting her in a positing that meant she couldn't put her arms down or sit back down on the floor.