Hey! This is the first time I've written anything like this.
Ghost have been my favourite band since 2016, and the release of their latest album has sent me feral, so all my writing projects are on hold until I finish this fic.
Please bear with me, I'm changing my writing style to fit with this, and you may find I'll go back and change stuff; tags will be added depending on how confident I am to write scenes.

Any and all feedback is welcome :)
Oh and I'm using a phone to write this so if there's any incorrect names and words please point them out.

 Chapter one

Time is circular, forever moving in a sphere. If you sat in the sun all day and watched the shadows from a nearby tree, you would see them rotate, following how the sun circled the world. Now that is not to say shadows are circular themselves, but by watching them, you would get a sense of the completeness that comes with watching time move. At the end of it all, life moved with the world, every sadness felt, every joy and tragedy would pass as the next rotation of the earth spun the new day. Each day brings death closer but creates new life as well. Memories are made, each new experience stamped into our minds, while other thoughts just fade away into the distant parts of our brains.

The circular nature of time was poetic; it told the tales of history; how great empires were forged and how they collapsed. It tried to warn us that no matter how hard we try and change the wrongdoings of our past, history would always come back around with only subtle changes.

If we paid attention to it, to the whispers of time, you would hear it tell you about a passage, a way to fix the past or at least grow from it. The problem was people lived liner; they could no longer feel the circles of time and thus have been silenced to the fixtures of life.

It was a cold night in the middle of December; rain battered the windows of the Monastery, creating a symphony of taps against the stained glass. It was dull in the ritual chambers; only a faint glow of blue flickered against the stone walls as cursed flames danced from the candles. There was no use for that room that night; in fact, it had been kept bare for months. Strangely, however, a man found himself there, alone. He was sitting in the comforts of a quiet room, without the sounds of the clergy readying themselves for the band's return. There was many a comfort to be found in the pages of an old tome and the tiny squeaks of his rat companion.

The man could be considered odd; he was quiet and reclusive, even a little awkward when attention was fixed upon him. Indeed, he wasn't at all like the ones who employed him, nor was he like the ones who fronted the band. He was just a little more thoughtful than most, and he found himself okay with that. He often found his days taken up by mounds of paperwork, working the accounts for the band or finding the best venues for the clergy to do their rituals. If he wasn't doing that, he was attending Sister Imperator, assisting her as she pulled the strings on the head of the church. He never complained; he enjoyed the workload; its monotonous nature left him little time to worry or allow his mind to wonder about the dream he had as a child.

In the little time he had for himself, he found escapism in tomes and books, the ones that painted his Lord in all his glory, the ones about his followers. The tomes were never about violence and destruction but about equality and prospering that had been lost to the twisted image his Lord gained.

A clap of thunder echoed around the chamber, followed by a brilliant flash of light which lit up the carvings of Mephistopheles and Asmodeus; that twisted the features of Beelzebub and Lucifer. And yet, the thing that drew his attention wasn't that, but the small, panicked squeak of a rat. It scuttled up the sleeve of the man's cassock, seeking refuge in the warmth of his clothes. The man smiled, closing the tome. It was probably past midnight; he knew he'd been there far longer than he had wanted.

"Okay my little friend, I believe It is time for you to return to your home." He whispered, fishing the rat out from his sleeve. The rat's pink nose twitched rapidly as he beheld it. He loved rats; he considered them his closest of friends, even more so than the people he worked with. They were intelligent, pleasant creatures that he could spend hours talking to.

"You know you can't stay with me, our band is returning tomorrow, and we must have the place in perfect condition, which means, you have to make yourself scarce until the hype of their return has died down." He stroked between the rat's ears. As he was doing that, the large wooden door at the entrance of the room creaked open.

The man froze, slowly looking towards the door. His free hand curled protectively over the rat, shielding it from view. A pregnant pause made the man begin to overthink about which of his higher ups had caught him, but he was pleasantly surprised when a masked face peeked around the door.

Candlelight bounced against the sliver mask, highlighting the points of its horns. A harrowing sight If the man wasn't used to seeing the masked creatures every day.

"Copia?" The newcomer rasped.

Copia's shoulders slumped as he recognised the voice, and he carefully moved his hand away, allowing the rat to look at the intruder.

"Swiss," He breathed, swiping his hair back. The rain continued to hammer the glass; it was a terrible storm. "My apologies; how can I help you?"

Swiss crept into the room, closing the door with a soft click behind him. Lightning illuminated his body, showing that the Ghoul was not at all dressed to be seen outside of his room. His black suit was swapped with a loose white shirt and black shorts. Copia could see the thick grey fur that covered his legs. His usually hidden tail swayed against the floor as he walked towards him, his markings glowing faintly under the fur.

"I've been looking everywhere for you; Man, you're hard to find." He scratched behind his mask. "Damn, I'd never have thought to find you here of all places."

"I came for some light reading." Copia gestured to his tome and slid a candle closer so he could better see the Ghoul. "Do you need me for something?"

"It's three am." The Ghoul said deadpan, "I went to check on you and found your office empty, and I thought, 'Thank Lucifer, he's finally gone and got an early night.' And then! I walk by your rooms, just in case you'd decided to take work back there with you and low and behold! You were not there...." The Ghoul continued to ramble, but Copia found his attention stolen by the little critter that was trying to sneak back up his sleeve.

"No, no, Little one, you can't come back with me; I will get into trouble again for hiding rats." He laughed.

Swiss silenced himself, his tail growing still as he looked down at the man and the rat. Copia swallowed tightly; a general rule in the Monastery was that any pest would be exterminated. They may worship the Dark Lord, but that didn't give them an excuse to be unsanitary.

"Is that a new one?" He asked, squinting to see in the dull firelight.

"Yes, I found her the other day in one of those barbaric traps Sister placed around the grounds." Copia frowned.

"Oh boss, you know not to pull that kind of face when you speak of her." Swiss laughed before tapping his mask with a clawed hand.

The church said that since the summoning of ghouls was one of the most unholy practices, the creatures were therefore required to cover their bodies from every human they crossed, like obscure angels in the presence of God. They were not permitted to leave the grounds unless authorised by the Sister, and they certainly didn't remove their masks in front of their bosses.

However, Copia didn't quite play by those rules. He'd grown up with Ghouls; the orphanage had been run by the Monastery, meaning that Ghouls were there when he was born, they were there when he took his first steps, they were even there through those awkward teen years where nothing made sense.

The Ghoul kept himself still as he waited for the man to respond. Copia wondered what it must be like for them, to one day go from this dark, primordial being to a creature forced to look as human as possible. The masks must be suffocating.

"You don't have to ask me Swiss; you know I don't mind if you take it off. Just make sure you put it back on before we leave this room." Copia smiled. He loved his Ghouls; while another rule was that you genuinely didn't form a close bond with them, he found it almost impossible not to be fond of them and the little quirks they had.

Swiss, for instance, he was a shadow Ghoul, allusive and silent by nature and yet Swiss was one of the loudest he'd ever met; he made his presence known and Copia could respect breaking away from what society thought of you.

"Just making sure, Boss." Swish chuckled before working his hand under the mask. It slid off his face with ease; the twinge of magic that coated the mask made the air feel charged as it clattered to the ground. Spools of long, dreaded black hair fell across the Ghoul's shoulders. Swiss seemed to sag with relief and with the ability to emote gifted back to him, to Ghoul flashed him a winning smile, the tips of his sharp fangs poking over his lip. "Now, can I say hello?"

He moved quickly, sitting down cross-legged across from Copia and holding his hands out excitedly. His tail thumped against the wooden floor. Swiss was a young Ghoul, one of the first Copia had summoned two years before to help him deal with the duties of being a Cardinal. He'd never seen the Ghoul in a bad mood, the creature was happy just to be a part of the little group who surrounded Copia, and that was a warming thought.

"Carefully," Copia warned as he picked the rat up and placed it in Swiss's hand. If it were Dewdrop, he wouldn't have so much faith in the survival rate of his rat friend; the Fire Ghoul didn't seem to know how to do anything carefully.

"So cute." Swiss smiled.

"I haven't named her yet; you're welcome to it."

The Ghoul gently stroked the rat's back; a Ghoulish trill rumbled from his throat. Copia had heard those sounds before, they were rare, but when he was alone with his group, he would hear them chattering to one another in a tongue he couldn't understand.

"Hmm, what to call such a beast." Swiss sniggered. "Leave it with me, boss. It's a tough one."

"Take all the time you need."

Swiss nodded, then looked up from the rat, fixing Copia with a stare.

"Not to be a downer, Boss, but you need to go to bed."

Copia groaned, rolling his neck; there was a crunched that told him he was one, getting too old to sit in one place for so long, and two, he needed to relax and rest.

"I know; I'm just not ready for them to be back yet. We left things on...well, you know how it went."

Swiss was the only one who knew about the secret life of Copia and the third Emeritus brother; it had been a long thing, full of desperation and need. Neither of them had expected their friendship to blossom in such a way, but it had. Then the call of the band happened, and in the space of a few meagre weeks, his best friend had been stolen from him.

Copia played with the greying strands of his hair; a whole year had passed since the third had become the frontman. Copia had hoped that time would have healed him, that he could walk in the presence of him without yearning for the man he once was, he may still, but there was this underlying feeling in his stomach that told him otherwise.

"Yeah, I know how it is. I forget how fragile human hearts are." Swiss sighed; the rat had scurried into his hair and was making a home there. "You're better than you were then; the church respects you, Satan, even Nihil asks about you on the occasion."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yeah, you're right, he doesn't, but still. I've got your back. If Terzo comes sniffing about, I'll bite his hands off." Swiss puffed his fur up like an angry cat, his eyes glowing faintly purple.

"Stop it." Copia snorted. "You stilly thing, that's a one-way ticket back to the pit."

Swiss flickered his tail.

"It'll be worth it to see his face."

Thunder rang through the room, rattling the candelabras. Copia saw it as a sign that the Dark one wanted him out of the room.

"I suppose we should head to bed. You know the halls are going to be bustling with brothers and sisters and worshipers alike."

The band's return was one of the only days in which the doors to the Monastery were thrown open, allowing fans to fill the corridors. A huge feast was played out in the sermon room, and the gardens were decorated with seats and stands that sold merchandise and the word of Satan. Copia enjoyed the buzz but found it too overwhelming to tolerate for a long time. He always allowed his ghouls to take the day off though, to mingle, to release some energy, get lucky if they could. Swiss included, even if the idea of him being released into the public was daunting.

"Mm, Aether is all revved up about it. I think Dew is gonna lose his shit if he so much as glances at anyone else." Swiss shrugged. "Hey, maybe if you mingled, you might find a partner, if only for the night, eh, Boss?"

Copia waved him off and stood up, his spine popping as he stretched.

"The day I find someone will be the day Aether and Dew finally cool the sexual tension between them. It's so thick I could slice into it with a knife."

Swiss tossed his head back and laughed heartily at that.

"Fat chance of that ever happening! The dudes are so full of pride they won't ever allow themselves to fall victim to feelings." The Ghoul stood as well, though it was a great deal quicker than Copia. "I think I'd know if I'd truly found a mate."

"I think most people would," Copia suggested, noticing the rat nestled in a tangle of Swiss's dreads. "Are you taking her with you?"

Swiss looked confused for a moment before remembering his fury hitchhiker.

"I don't see why not; she seems comfortable enough."

"Right, and to continue our previous conversation. Swiss, you are a young Ghoul; experience life first before you start that nonsense overwise...." Copia's heart did an unwelcome jolt at the thought.

A hand brushed his shoulder, not quite grasping him but there.

"I know Copia." He whispered. "Come, let's get you to bed; it's only a couple of hours until I'm waking you up again. Honestly, I don't know how you do it."

"Coffee," Copia nodded, leaning into Swiss as the Ghoul replaced his mask. "Lots of Coffee."

Swiss lingered by the door of Copia's room, partly to make sure his boss actually made it back to bed and partly because he was afraid somebody would come and take advantage of the vulnerable man, not that anyone would dare. Still, the Ghoul was rather fond of Copia and didn't take well to him being upset. Swiss didn't like the idea of his boss's old flame being back in the church either; Terzo Emeritus had thoroughly wrecked Copia's heart and had no idea about the fallout it left. Swiss had spent hours just being a shoulder for his boss, carefully purring words that the man couldn't understand and yet they comforted him anyway.

"I will be fine." Copia patted his arm. It had taken Swiss a full year to understand that humans were a very touchy species; every gesture they did was designed to either touch or open up for touch. It was strange but not unwelcome; the feeling of the spot behind his ear being itched was the best he'd ever felt.

"Yeah, I know, but, and don't take this the wrong way, you know you can always lean your problems on one of us. We were summoned to serve you, and yet you only ever ask us to help with the workload; you never actually ask for us on a personal level. We want to help you, whether it be for a hug or a kiss, to get your rocks off, or just to sit and chat for a bit. So please don't feel bad about asking; we've got your back.

Copia was still for a moment, and Swiss felt he may have overstepped the line. He loved his boss, would die for him, but there were some parts of the man he had no idea about, this being one part of it.

"My Darling, Ghoul." Copia hummed and reached out; Swiss stilled himself, willing his instincts to back down. A gloved hand stroked the side of his mask, and Swiss thought for a moment that he would be invited inside. "You worry far too much about me."

"Well, someone has to." Swiss purred.

"Go to bed," Copia smiled, "I will see all of you here at seven; I must go over a few things with you before the day begins."

"Seven is so early, Boss." Swiss groaned.

"You don't sleep; I'm sure you'll not have a problem making it for that time."

Swiss clicked his teeth from under the mask but nodded.

"Alright, Goodnight, Copia. And make sure to actually sleep; you could get a good three hours at least."

His boss tssked and shooed him away. Swiss laughed and began stalking the route back to his room.