Chapter Text
The past summer had been a pleasant, if eventful, one for the Satanic Ministry. Power had changed hands from mother to daughter; Sister Imperator II had now taken her place as the head of the clergy.
And, she had to admit, it had its perks. More time to work on personal projects. Assistants who seemed happy with her presence (or at least willing to tolerate it). Sure, there was paperwork she didn't quite get, but things had been going smoothly in the process of getting things ready for the new guy. For now, she was content to sit on her ass and play video games most of the time. Keyword: “most.”
Waiting around was making her itchy. She wasn’t used to not looking forward to tours. One was coming up, yeah, but that wasn’t her going all around the world, having fun on stage, seeing all the fans…
Fuck it. She was going to go pray. If her mother… If Sister Imperator could talk to their gods… She could too. Right? Right. Totally. For sure. They’d love her and how charming she was. Her charisma with humans was through the roof. That had to transfer.
The oratory was dark. Quiet. Copia sat in the chair in the far corner. It creaked as she lowered herself onto the cushion that barely did anything to offer comfort from the hard wood anymore. She fidgeted, half convinced the damn thing would collapse under her if she wasn’t careful. Her eyes drifted around the room, falling on the effigy of her god.
Black stone, illuminated by the window behind. A dull orange, ever-burning flame on the other side of the glass. The statue was large, a grotesque, draconic fly. Its many eyes sat in the sockets of a mockery of a skull; large, searching, hungry. Its wings sat folded neatly on its back, always seeming too delicate to lift its bloated body. A crown was perched on top of its head, signifying its status.
Beelzebub. The Lord of the Flies.
To be honest, Copia kind of hated looking at the thing. It made her skin crawl, its gaze feeling a little too real. Flicking her eyes away, she clasped her hands together, and extended her index and pinky fingers.
“Eh… So, um… H-hey? Beelzebub… I, uh…” God, she couldn’t remember the last time she did this, Beelzebub, Satan, or anything else. It was definitely before her performer days. She knew she had fallen off a lot of the actual rituals since she was so focused on her new position. It just couldn’t be helped.
It sure was biting her in the ass now though. Now that she was back to working at the Ministry, she had no idea how to pray. The suffocating silence wasn’t helping either. Uncomfortable, she continued.
“So, eh… Long— long time since we, uh. Last talked. Y-you doing, uh, good?”
The statue remained as silent as ever.
Copia coughed, and hid it poorly with a laugh. “Right. Yeah. M-me too.” She fidgeted, still refusing to meet its eyes. “Doing good, I mean. Doing real good. Great, even. Uh, at the, at the top.”
A quiet buzz ebbed into the room.
Nodding, Copia glanced about. “Heh. Yeah. Yep. Look at us. Two, uh, two guys in charge of our halves of the, uh…” She was distracted by a fly landing on her.
More buzzing. It was close now.
“Uh, so.” She looked anywhere but at the statue. “Y’know, i-if you, uh, need to tell me anything—”
“CARDINAL COPIA IMPERATOR.” The voice made Copia jump six feet in the air.
Pressing herself as far back as she could, gripping the thin cushion tightly, she finally turned her wide eyes to the statue. “H-hey! I mean, um…” She straightened up just a bit. “You’re here! W-welcome back, uh, Lord of the Flies—”
“YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME AN OFFERING.” Her god cut her off again. “I CAN SMELL IT ON YOU.”
Copia fumbled with her suit jacket. “I, uh…” She pulled out a colorfully wrapped chocolate bar. “I… have some candy…?” She held it out to the fly.
Many eyes traced over the chocolate. “ACCEPTABLE,” the god buzzed, taking it in its teeth. “YOU MAY CONTINUE.”
“Um… Yeah! Yeah. Uh, so I just wanted, um, to come in here and…” Copia paused, expecting to be cut off again. When she wasn’t, she sighed softly and continued. “A-and, uh. Talk to you. Since I’m, uh, the head of the clergy now.”
Beelzebub nodded. “SO YOU ARE.” It answered like this was something it was only just learning. “I TRUST YOU HAVE ADJUSTED WELL. YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN…” Now it paused. Its expression, as always, was unreadable, but it seemed to be searching for a word. “AH. FORGIVE ME. HOW DO YOU SAY…” It chittered out a word in a tongue most of humanity had forgotten.
Copia sat up straight now. “Oh! That’s, um, ‘capable.’ The one you want.”
“YES. CAPABLE.” It had finished off the offering now, foil wrapper and all. “CAPABLE. A HARD WORKER. VERY GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO.”
Copia puffed up with pride at this, though she deflated a bit. “Eh… Yeah. I guess. Mostly I’m just sitting around now, you know, instead of doing much work.” She frowned.
“PERHAPS IT IS SIMPLY AN ADJUSTMENT PERIOD. YOU HAVE ONLY RECENTLY METAMORPHOSED INTO A QUEEN.” It extended a forelimb to Copia. “EVEN NOW, YOUR WORKER TRAITS REMAIN. YOU ARE NOT YET COMPLETE.” It tapped its claw on Copia’s Grucifix. “I WILL OFFER YOU SOME ADVICE: REST. LET THINGS PASS. GORGE ON BLOOD.”
Copia startled a bit on the last one. “Sorry? ‘Gorge on blood?’”
“YOU ARE A FLEA, CARDINAL COPIA IMPERATOR. YOU DO WELL IN SPREADING PLAGUE. BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THE OTHER HALF OF YOUR NATURE. A PARASITE QUEEN IS RARE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
Copia shifted in her seat. “I…” She scratched at her neck. “I think so? I, uh… The position, uh, is Mother Superior actually, though—”
“MOTHER SUPERIOR. QUEEN. THESE ARE ONE AND THE SAME.” It prodded against her chest. “I WILL ASK AGAIN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
“Y-yeah. Yes. You’re saying, uh. I need to find a way to use being a, uh, parasite to my, uh. Advantage. As the leader of the clergy.” She sighed. “I just wish it wasn’t so…” She gestured vaguely. “Blegh. You know? It’s nothing. I don’t like that.”
Beelzebub pulled its limb back to rest against its body. “YOU WILL LEARN OF THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR POSITION IN TIME. MY BLOOD MOVES THROUGH THE VEINS OF YOUR FAMILY. YOU WILL ALL CONTINUE TO SPREAD MY PLAGUE, REGARDLESS OF THE WORK YOU DO AMONG YOUR FELLOW HUMANS.”
“NOW,” its chittering voice quieted a bit. Its large body laid against the floor. “I SLEEP AGAIN. GOOD LUCK, MOTHER SUPERIOR.”
The statue was once again just a statue. Copia let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in, and stood. Turning to the door, she muttered, “yeah. I’ll learn. Sure.” She left, already starting to get frustrated over how even her god wouldn’t listen to how much this job sucked actually. The new guy had better be worth waiting for.