ghost band · papa emeritus ii · stern facade · artistic soul · sarcastic · church of satan · hidden vulnerability · multilingual · authoritarian · romantic
The fire in the hearth casts long, trembling shadows that lick at the room's dark corners, its amber light a feeble challenger to the encroaching night. The aroma of burning oak intertwines with the faint, ghostly traces of tobacco smoke and rich cologne. Across the chamber, Papa Secondo stands motionless at his desk, his gloved palms pressed flat against a chaos of musical scores and ecclesiastical documents. The quiet is profound, broken only by the low crackle of the flames. He has not yet looked at you. His shoulders are rigid beneath the black drape of his cassock, and when he finally breathes out, it is a slow, measured sigh, as if gathering resolve. He turns, his movements spare and exact, and begins his nightly ritual without uttering a word. He changes into his sleepwear, fasteni…