#message box

It's no secret that Nihil was a shit father, absent even when he wasn't touring. He never spent any more time than was necessary with his boys. Nihil paid various Siblings of Sin to do that for him. That job fell to Primo when he was old enough. Primo who had recently been made a Cardinal and given more responsibilities than he really was prepared to deal with. Being a father wasn't really ever something Primo had thought about but here he was with three younger brothers all looking to him for guidance.

Secondo had been the toughest to take care of. He had already been a bitter old man even as a teenager. Just another thing Primo could blame on Nihil. Primo tried to act like more of an older brother to him than a parent, Secondo didn't react to authority figures very well at all. Primo had lost track of how many flowers and fruits baskets he had sent to traumatized Sisters who had barely survived having Secondo in their classes.

But his brother had come out of it all a brilliant, strong young man. He moved up the ranks of the church faster than even Primo had. Despite Nihil's attempts at making it a contest Primo tried to not feel like Secondo was biting at his heels. Secondo was ambitious, that was all. He had come to Primo before he reached each new position in the church, wanting the blessing of his fratello before he continued his rise within the clergy.

The night before Primo's final ritual, when Secondo was set to become Papa Emeritus II, they had shared a few drinks in silence before Secondo asked for Primo's blessing. Secondo wanted to be Papa badly, so very badly. He wanted to show Nihil what he was capable of, he wanted to show the old bastard what he could do while in charge of the church. But he wasn't interested in doing any of that without Primo at his back. They had both shared a rare embrace and Primo had promised Secondo, who in that moment looked far younger than he actually was, that he would always be there for him.

Lucifer himself wouldn't be able to drag him away if Secondo needed him.

Terzo was in many ways the complete opposite of Secondo. There wasn't as much ambition, as much desire for power. Terzo was gifted and incredibly smart, much smarter than most gave him credit for. When he applied himself he got high marks from the Sisters and Brothers in charge of the classes at the abbey. The issue was Terzo often didn't want to apply himself. He preferred indulging in sin rather than learning about it. The older he got the more this became true and when Terzo achieved the rank of Cardinal well...

Let's just say Cardinal Terzo's favorite sin was lust and leave it at that.

Primo really didn't really care what Terzo got up to and he certainly didn't want to hear any details. He just wanted Terzo to be happy and safe. Every time he saw his little brother he couldn't help but think of that scared little boy that trailed him everywhere. The loss of his mother had hit Terzo extremely hard and Primo had done his best to fill both parental roles for him.

It was hard for anyone else to tell, but Primo could see it. He knew that despite the companions Terzo always had his little brother was still lonely. Still looking for someone to fill a void by his side. Primo remembered the night when Terzo ascended to Papa, when Secondo bowed on stage to him and let Terzo take the spotlight. The two older Emeritus's had watched off stage as Terzo expertly performed the ritual as if he was born to be up there and in the spotlight.

In a way he was, this was what the Emeritus's were all aiming for. To be Papa, to lead the church to greater things. Primo could see all of that happening under Terzo. He was talented, handsome and charismatic, a true leader. Primo couldn't help but worry about his little brother though, especially as he prepared to hit the road with his ghouls. Touring could be brutal and Primo was concerned that Terzo would be overwhelmed with indulging instead of focusing on what he was supposed to be doing.

It took him witnessing something he probably shouldn't have for Primo to feel better about Terzo leaving. He had been trying to track down his younger brother the night before he was set to leave and had finally found him out in the gardens. Right when Primo was about to walk up he was stopped by another figure joining Terzo. One of Terzo's newly summoned ghouls, Omega he believed was his name, had placed a clawed hand on his brother's shoulder and Primo watched as it trailed up to Terzo's face. Omega had brushed the back of his fingers across his cheek, letting them move back into Terzo's hair, gently combing through it. Terzo had said something Primo couldn't hear before he'd risen up on his toes and placed a kiss on the mask covering the ghoul's face.

Perhaps Terzo wouldn't need his help after all.

Little Copia had been a surprise and at first, not a good one. Primo hadn't been happy to have another Emeritus heir dumped at the church door step. At least this time it wasn't just Primo yelling at Nihil because Secondo and Terzo were there as well. Poor Copia had been scared out of his mind. It was rare for Primo to let his anger get the best of him and even a teenaged Secondo had been surprised at his outburst. When Primo felt like his point had been made, not that Nihil actually gave a fuck about anything that had been said, he had left the old man's office to take Copia around the abbey. However the sight he saw let him know that he was too late.

Primo hadn't even noticed that Terzo had left the office, although he supposed it made sense. Terzo always quickly grew bored when "the adults were yelling" and his new little brother was much more interesting to him. The two of them were deep in a conversation, hurried Italian mixed with English being thrown between them. Primo had walked up and was about to tell Terzo to get back to his lessons, but before he could even open his mouth Terzo had latched onto Copia's little hand and the two had taken off down the hallway.

He knew he should have stopped them, at the very least he should have gone with them. Primo had turned to Secondo and was about to ask him to chase them down, but all he got was a sneer in response. Secondo promptly stalked off the other direction leaving Primo desperately hoping that Nihil didn't have any other little Emeritus's that might show up. Three was more than enough.

As Copia grew up and began to achieve great things Primo couldn't help but still see the nervous little boy in him. Although he could definitely be a smart ass he was probably the sweetest of the four brothers. He treated the entire congregation with care from the siblings to the ghouls and even to the rats he would save from the traps in the kitchens. Copia was special and Primo couldn't wait to see how the church would flourish under him.

Primo was proud of all of his brothers. Each of them had their faults of course, but one of them was always there to pick up the slack and help. They wouldn't do it without giving each other a hard time, but that's what brothers were for. Primo had done his best to teach them that they were all in this together, that the church was theirs. They had to help each other to bring the church to greatness in the name of Lucifer.

Even when they were acting like dumbasses.

(also P.S. Primo has kept every drawing his little brothers ever gave him)

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