They stood in silence for a little while, allowing Sunshine time to be with Itzal. All of the ghouls had their eyes trained on the ground out of respect for her. Secondo was the one who finally broke the moment.
Omega stood with his arm around her shoulders, subtly soothing her but still allowing her to experience the pain. She wanted it that way.
Secondo met his eyes and nodded that it was time.
“Sunshine?” Omega said gently, rubbing a hand down her spine. She was hunched over Itzal, lips pressed to his forehead, fingers stroking through his hair. His sightless gaze was still trained on her. She made a whining sound and turned her face to the side in response to Omega. “We need to let them work now. They have to prepare him.”
She placed a final kiss to his pale skin and allowed Omega to guide her trembling form away to the edge of the chapel where her pack mates were waiting to comfort her. Cumulus and Cirrus wrapped her in a blanket and they went to sit on the wooden pews.
Earth handed Secondo a flat wooden box and he stepped up onto the dais to remove the collar from Itzal’s neck. Quinn had felt the magic from it dissipate at the same time that Itzal’s soul had completely gone from this plane. The force that had bound it to him and bound him to Santos had broken and the collar had split apart enough to remove it.
Itzal was finally free.
Secondo placed the black metal torque into the box and closed the lid, murmuring a locking spell to prevent anyone else from opening it. The collar was still useable and if it fell into the wrong hands, that person could take control of any one of them if they happened to have the know-how.
Earth and Quinn had been chosen to prepare Itzal’s body for the next part of the ritual which would be performed in around thirteen hours’ time. He needed to be cleaned and covered with a ceremonial shroud, as was proper and respectful.
They made sure to follow the traditions of the Shadow Council and carried out the death rite that their fallen warriors underwent. As far as any of them were concerned, that’s what Itzal was. He had fought as bravely and as fiercely as any of the warriors of his species and he was more than deserving of the proper customs.
He was stripped and cleaned with oils that were infused with herbs from their home dimension. Quinn spoke the words from their ancient sacred texts, a prayer to send his soul on to the Veil with honour. He tried his best to ignore the extent of the scarring on Itzal’s skin but it was difficult. Earth was having a hard time of it too if the growls he let out every now and then were anything to go by.
Ghouls didn’t usually scar, but shadow ghouls were different. They used their shadow forms to heal wounds and because Itzal had been prevented from shifting to that by the collar he had worn, his body had healed itself in a similar way to how a human’s would have done.
Some of the scars had been made by ritualistic cuts; symbols carved into his skin over and over again on many occasions. Quinn was almost certain that Santos’ witches were to blame for those rather than the man himself. They’d left behind raised scar tissue that could be used again and again during rituals.
Others looked like they’d been made with knives and whips or chains. His torso was littered with what looked like healed over stab wounds and slashes from various blades. His forearms and thighs were covered in rows of carefully spaced slices. They had mostly healed to white but some were still pink and raised, indicating that they had been made not too long before Itzal had made his escape. Quinn got the impression that someone had done those ones for fun and he let out his own growl when he thought about it.
Secondo had carefully stitched the cuts that he and Shay had just made on Itzal’s wrists but the older ones were visible underneath.
The worst scars however were the ones crisscrossing his back. It seemed that Santos had been fond of the whip as his chosen method of discipline. Some of the wounds had still been healing; the ones from when he’d first arrived at the Abbey were still red and scabbed over in places. Many older, fully healed lash marks covered the whole of his back in raised welts which had been revealed as they turned Itzal onto his side to clean him.
When they were done they carefully wrapped his body in a black shroud, leaving his face and head uncovered. Quinn went to stand with Air who had just finished donating his blood to the witches. They’d taken the maximum amount this time, wanting to use every resource at their disposal. Each ghoul had their own specific donation amount based on ghoul type, age and weight which was why Secondo had been so angry at Quinn and Air yesterday when they’d come to give their blood battered and torn up.
Quinn sent some healing energy to Air and he rested his head on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” he murmured, looking over at the altar where Itzal lay. “I really hope Papa can bring him back. He needs to be with us now. He needs to live a life.”
Quinn nodded, not trusting his voice. He realised he knew almost for definite that the ritual would work. The visions he’d had of Itzal and Sunshine hadn’t happened yet so if they were accurate, Itzal must surely come back. He didn’t mention anything to Air or anyone else about that though because small doubts crept in that maybe he was wrong. He hoped that he wasn’t though, hoped with all that he had that Itzal would make it back to them as a free ghoul.
Quinn offered up his arm to the witches and they took his designated amount. They’d tweaked his a little because of his bond with Andras. They used the age he had been when he was bonded to him instead of his true age when they did their calculations because physically he was still the same as he’d been five centuries ago.
When everyone had donated and the witches had finished preserving the blood so it would stay fresh, Secondo came to stand before his ghouls. He glanced over at Itzal and a sad smile crept onto his face.
“We shall rest now. Who knows what this ritual will bring? We need to ensure we are prepared as best as can be,” he said.
Earth looked around at them all.
“Shall we stay with you until the time comes, Secondo?” he asked.
The others nodded and Secondo smiled fondly at them.
“Si. I think that is a good idea.”
The whole pack headed back to Secondo’s apartments and settled down for the rest of the night with him. They didn’t often sleep this way but certain events made them crave the comfort that resting all together with their summoner brought. This was one such event.
Quinn could feel that Secondo was still wrestling with his conscience over what he’d just had to do and it was having a knock on effect on the rest of them. Usually he was all business and rituals such as this didn’t faze him, but this time was different. Secondo had already begun to think of Itzal as one of his own and it had hit him particularly hard.
Quinn used his magics to soothe him and they drifted off to sleep curled around one another until the preparations for the next ritual would begin.
Earth, as always was the first to wake. Quinn opened his eyes and was met with Air’s purple stare. His leg had ended up draped over Quinn’s hip during the night and he grinned when he realised that Quinn was most definitely pleased to see him. Air rubbed their noses together and subtly shifted his hips making Quinn groan at the friction. He was so pissed that they had relatively polite company right now and sure enough...
“No time for that, lovebirds. We need to get to work,” Earth said with half amusement, half annoyance.
Secondo stirred from next to Earth and he stretched.
“Fuck off, Earth. As if we’d do that with you perving on our every move,” Air said.
The others laughed.
“Doesn’t usually stop you,” he grumbled under his breath.
Secondo sat up and shook his head, getting out of bed and leaving them to it without a word. He was used to pack banter by now and as long as it didn’t affect their work he would put up with it for a while. He locked himself into the bathroom and went about getting himself ready.
“I guess we should go and get changed,” Water said, ever the voice of reason.
Fire stayed with Secondo as he was on the daytime security shift anyway and the others headed up to the lair to shower, dress and eat breakfast.
They wore their traditional uniforms today, the black robes that were reserved for the most important rituals and ceremonies. Papa and Secondo would be dressed accordingly also in their official attire. Any help they could get and any favour they could garner from Lucifer today would be helpful.
They met up with Secondo and Fire again at Papa’s office to go over the ritual. Papa had Aether, Swiss, Sodo, Mountain and Rain with him. The ghoulettes had stayed back to be with Sunshine. She and Omega had sat vigil overnight with Itzal’s body in the chapel but it had been decided that she shouldn’t be there for the ritual itself. It wouldn’t be fair on her and she would be a distraction if things didn’t go to plan.
Before long it was time and they walked silently along to the chapel. Seren and Helena were already there, finishing up and setting out the necessary items to be used.
Quinn could tell that the Papa was nervous. He’d done this before but it must have been over a decade ago by now. His powers had grown and been honed since then, but it would still be a massive drain on his energies and was still a risky thing to undertake.
Papa went straight over to Sunshine and gathered her into his arms. He spoke soft words of encouragement to her and she accepted the love he was offering.
Omega guided her away and out of the chapel and the mood changed to one of fierce determination.
Papa turned to everyone gathered there and looked each one over in turn.
“We have an important task ahead of us, but I am sure that with our Dark Lord watching over us, we will succeed. Let us bring your brother back,” he said.
The ghouls all nodded and voiced their agreement and everyone took their places.
Quinn and Earth headed out of the chapel and down to the basement cells. This time there were no ghouls to sacrifice for the ritual as there had been the last time to bring the Emeritus brothers back. Humans would have to do. There were several being kept in the cells right now for just such an occasion.
They were members of the congregation who had committed crimes against the Clergy or against their fellow Brothers and Sisters and every single one deserved whatever punishment had been doled out to them. Once they joined the congregation, they were subject to Clergy law which operated outside of human law. The Clergy had ways of disappearing someone that raised no suspicions in the human world and they often kept those who were deserving stashed away for future use.
Earth checked the list to see which humans had been chosen to die today. They were taking two upstairs right now but there were several more if that was not enough. Everyone was confident that with the amount of ghoul blood they had ready, two would be sufficient but it was always best to be prepared.
“Rise and shine, humans,” Earth said, running his claws along the bars of the cells as they walked past. “Who will be the chosen ones to serve their Papa today?”
Sobs and whimpers could be heard coming from inside the darkened cells, along with shuffling sounds as the prisoners scooted away from the bars. Quinn shuddered as he sensed the rot that emanated from them all. The souls that these humans possessed were the darkest most broken kind so he had no qualms about dragging any one of them to their demise.
They stopped outside one of the furthest cells and looked inside. They were met with the wide, panicked eyes of a middle aged man. Quinn remembered this one from a few years back when he’d murdered a Sister of Sin and then desecrated her body. It hadn’t taken them long to apprehend him. He hadn’t been the brightest spark and had seemingly forgotten that the Clergy had ghouls at their disposal to track him down.
He’d been kept here ever since, waiting for such time as his death would be useful.
Quinn grinned at him and let his eyes glow blue.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day today. You’ll be meeting your maker soon enough. I hope that you have thought long and hard about what you will say to Him,” Quinn said with a grin.
He relished the fear that rolled off him and a raw sob broke from the human’s throat. He was about to beg or some such shit but Quinn glanced at Earth and gave a weary sigh. He sent enough quintessence to the human to temporarily knock him out before he could say something to piss them off. They didn’t have time for messing around today. The sooner they got started, the sooner this would be over and done with.
Earth unlocked the cell and gathered him up, throwing him over his shoulder to carry him. They moved onto the next cell and repeated the process, not giving the human the chance to beg for their life. Quinn was sure they’d be doing enough of that once they got to the chapel and woke up in a few minutes’ time.
“Have you seen the outcome of this?” Earth said as they left the cells behind and made their way up the stairs that led to the main Abbey.
Quinn glanced at him sideways and frowned. The other ghoul was perceptive when it came to what the others were thinking and feeling so he must have picked up on something from him.
“What makes you say that?” Quinn said, avoiding the question for a while longer whilst he decided whether or not to share his thoughts with Earth.
“I dunno. I just don’t think you seem as nervous about this as the others do.”
Quinn figured he might as well share the burden with Earth. He was practical and he knew how fickle the ether could be sometimes so it would be good to get his opinion.
“I had a vision a few days ago and it hasn’t happened yet. Itzal was there. So yes, I think I know the outcome. In my humble opinion, the ritual will work.”
Earth grunted and nodded, shifting the weight of the human on his shoulder to make it more comfortable.
“I figured as much.”
Quinn waited for some other nugget of wisdom from the earth ghoul but nothing came and that was apparently that.
The ritual was well underway by the time they reached the chapel again and the crackle of magics brushed against his skin as they stepped over the threshold. Quinn recognised the feel of it from the last time Papa had used his gift to raise the dead. It grated and it almost felt wrong. It was a power that could be catastrophic in the wrong hands.
Copia seemed to have more control over it this time and Seren was there in support once again, her magics combining with his to amplify them.
Quinn woke up the prisoners after he and Earth had knelt them down into position inside the circle of magic, but he kept them subdued to make this easier. They didn’t struggle, just knelt there calmly, waiting to meet their ends as the force of the necromancy swirled in the circle around them.
Seren and Secondo sliced open their throats as they recited the incantation they had worked on. They used bales of muslin cloth to soak up some of the blood and the painted symbols around the circle sparked to life as the humans died, their deaths fuelling the magic. The bodies were discarded and both of the cloths were draped carefully over Itzal’s head and shoulders.
The magic surged and the hairs on Quinn’s body stood on end. The power behind it was immense. He glanced at the Papa who seemed to be holding his own this time. Last time he had blacked out with the force of it, almost losing control of it.
As the crescendo approached, the chants from the witches and Secondo rose in volume. They were shouting to be heard above the unearthly storm that was contained within the circle.
Quinn prepared himself for the final detonation of power and he felt the others tense up also. They all knew it was coming, they could feel it. The glow of the symbols grew brighter for a second but then stuttered and went out completely.
Secondo cursed. Just as the symbols glowed again and Quinn thought it had worked, the magic failed totally. The symbols on the ground burned up and turned to ashes and Copia fell to his knees, gasping for air.
The ghouls looked around in confusion. All eyes came to rest on the altar and Itzal. They waited for the inevitable coughing fit and wheezes that would come from having one’s soul ripped from the Veil and shoved back into their body, but he remained deathly still.
Secondo started cursing again and Quinn could feel his frustration. They had all been confident that the ritual would work. On paper it should have done. It very nearly had.
Aether rushed to his Papa’s aid. He seemed to have calmed somewhat and the ghoul helped him to his feet.
“Fetch us two more prisoners. We go again right now!” Secondo snapped.
His ghouls glanced at one another and Aether looked like he was going to protest but Papa spoke up.
“Si, he is right. We will try again immediately.” He looked to the witches who looked as shocked as Aether. “Re-draw the circle and we will try again.”
Quinn and Earth did as they were told, making their way back to the basement to get the next two prisoners from the list. Quinn now had a bad feeling about this and so did Earth apparently.
“Do you know what went wrong?” Earth asked as they walked.
Quinn thought about it and shrugged.
“Nope. It felt as though it had worked. You felt that too right? Something blocked it right at the end. We made adjustments to allow for him not being human. It should have worked.”
Earth sighed.
“Well, maybe this time we’ll get lucky.”
They grabbed the prisoners and headed back. The witches were almost done with the new circle and it looked as though they’d used double the amount of ghoul blood this time if the smell was anything to go by.
Secondo was seething by now and Quinn tried to calm him down. He nodded his thanks and they got to work again.
They went through the motions twice more with a few hours for recuperation in-between and again the rituals failed at the exact same point. Quinn was concentrating on that specific part the final time and he thought that he’d seen a flicker of something dark but it was too quick to pinpoint.
Secondo let fly a stream of curses again and when he was done they took a moment to reconvene.
“Does anyone have any clue what is going wrong?” Secondo asked, his patience all but gone.
It was late and everyone was nearing the point of exhaustion.
The others shook their heads but Helena looked thoughtful.
“Did you see it too?” Quinn asked her.
All eyes swung to him and Secondo raised his brows expectantly.
Helena nodded.
“I can’t explain it. I could see the tag we put on his soul. He’s still there, but it was as if something pulled him back. A tether maybe?”
Quinn nodded, that made sense to him. It had felt like he was tied to a dark presence.
“So what are we dealing with here? What do you think it was?” Copia asked. “I felt something also. The last time I did this it was not easy, but once I’d latched onto the soul it was easy enough to yank it free. This time felt different. It felt tangled.”
Secondo sighed heavily.
“The early shift should be in the kitchens by now. Have them send us some food. We will refuel and go over every detail again. There must be something we’ve missed.”
They broke off into smaller groups and Air came to stand with he and Earth. It was past four a.m. by this point and everyone was losing hope, especially Copia. Quinn frowned.
“Something isn’t right,” he said, musing out loud.
He broke away from the others and went to speak to Helena. She had a connection to the spirit world, she’d inherited it from her great-grandmother. She often communed with spirits so she was a good authority in this situation.
“What do you think it is?” Quinn asked her, not bothering with any pleasantries.
She was used to him by now and jumped straight into the conversation.
“It felt... I dunno, it was almost as if he was being held back. Something knew we were trying to take him and they dug their claws in deeper.”
“How do we fix it?”
She thought on it for a moment and glanced at Seren who was chatting to Copia.
“We need to strengthen that last part of the ritual somehow and get a tighter hold on the soul to make that final pull count. Any ideas?”
“Could we modify the symbols we used on Itzal somehow?” Something occurred to him. “Whose blood was used?”
Helena frowned.
“Well, we used Itzal’s. We figured it would act as a beacon to guide him back.”
“Did you use all of Sunshine’s blood already?”
Helena’s eyes widened as she realised what he was getting at.
“I don’t know, let me check.”
They hurried over to where Seren and Copia were still deep in conversation next to the table where the glass jars of blood that each ghoul had donated stood. For whatever reason, Seren had insisted that they be labelled and kept separate rather than combining the blood all together. Thank Satan for her fastidiousness.
“Did we use Sunshine’s blood yet?” Helena blurted out, interrupting papa and Seren’s conversation.
Seren glanced at the table and shook her head.
“No, we haven’t got that far yet. I put them in alphabetical order.”
Helena snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes.
“Of course you did.”
“Why, Helena?” Papa asked.
She looked to Quinn and gestured for him to speak.
“We should try using her blood in the ritual. She and Itzal have begun to bond so it stands to reason that her blood would be the most likely to help out of all of us,” he said.
Papa looked sceptical. None of his other ghouls shared a natural bond with a partner so it was possible that he didn’t understand the intricacies of it and the power that a bond carried with it.
“I suppose it is worth a try, but we can only go on for so much longer. I don’t know how many more times I can do this. We are running out of time,” Papa said.
Secondo must have noticed their little get together and he joined them. Quinn filled him in and he smiled.
“I think that this could work,” he said after a moment of chewing It over. “It seems to me that the problem is with keeping hold of Itzal’s soul. Who, out of all of us here on Earth, wishes for him to return the most? Sunshine. We already know that the bonds work across dimensions and realms, look at Quinn and Air’s.”
When Quinn had been near death his bond with Air had been apparently still viable across the divide between realms. Using Sunshine’s blood to try and tempt Itzal’s soul back made sense and it was worth a try.
Copia sighed and nodded his agreement.
“I need an hour or so to rest and then we shall try again. I think this will be our final shot though, si? We need to give it everything we’ve got.”
Secondo, Quinn and the witches carefully painted a new circle on the ground using a mixture of Sunshine and Itzal’s blood to draw the symbols. They moved his body from the altar and lay it down on the stone floor within the circle of blood.
Helena used what was left of Sunshine’s blood to paint symbols onto Itzal’s chest. They would be the target to aim for and to call him back, all being well.
The mood was sombre as everyone took their places around the chapel again ready to begin. Earth, Fire and Quinn made one more trip down to the basement to fetch three more prisoners. They’d decided that this time Helena would make a sacrifice also in the hope that more death equalled more magic which couldn’t hurt.
This time, the surge of magic from the sacrifices was stronger and more potent. The ghouls moved the bodies once they’d been drained of blood and added them to the ever growing pile at the edge of the chapel. Fire would deal with getting rid of them later.
They went to join Air and Water at the other side. Air took Quinn’s hand and pulled him closer. He was fretting and Quinn lent him some calm. He nuzzled his hair and kissed it.
“It will be fine,” he murmured. “This is going to work.”
Air looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Do you know that or are you just saying it to make me feel better?”
Quinn smirked and shrugged, turning his attention back to the ritual as his instincts prickled.
The symbols of the circle lit up with magic again and as had happened before, all seemed to be going well. Quinn couldn’t tear his eyes away from Itzal as they reached the peak of the ritual. The power flared, making the blood symbols on his skin glow with an eerie grey light.
Copia was struggling. The drain on his powers from performing this ritual so many times over the last twenty four hours was immense and just for a second Quinn thought he was going to fail. He faltered and the glow flickered out for a couple of seconds. Seren stepped in and sent a massive push of her own power to compensate. She hissed in pain but whatever she’d done worked.
The chapel was doused in an explosion of grey light and Quinn shielded his eyes from it, feeling the breeze escape the circle as the magic forced its way out.
The area was shrouded in smoke and Quinn saw Copia and Seren laying on the ground. That’s when the retching sound started.
Secondo hurried towards the circle and stood on the edge. It was still mostly obscured but as the smoke began to clear, it revealed the shadow ghoul on his hands and knees. His back was arched and he was puking up black bile onto the ground.
Quinn smirked and he felt the joy from all of those present when they realised it had finally worked.
What a way to return to Earth; naked and puking and covered in blood. It didn’t matter though.
Itzal was back.