majestylegions

[majestylegions]

•A Story to be Told•

Prologue

It was an overcast morning; mist would cling to your cheeks if you ventured outside. Grass was weighed down by the morning dew and patches of mud peaked through the emerald blades of grass.

The sun was straining itself to poke through the layer of fog and mist. All you could see was a gray orb floating above the treeline. To some the gloomy weather would throw a cloudy blanket of grumpy emotions. The man sitting on the bench currently was not one of those people. It was something else troubling him.

His blood red robes swished and flowed in the summer breeze. His brown hair fluttered from his neatly structured styling. His head was bowed in sorrow and his body trembled as he quietly sobbed.

Cardinal Copia had received news that destroyed his heart. His whole entire being. Things were changing too quickly for him and this was just another blow to him.

He blamed himself. For everything.

The fall of the family.

It was plastered everywhere. A man getting ripped off the stage. The ghouls freaking out and running after their beloved friend and leader. Then the old man hobbling onto the stage; saying time's up.

During the night, the remaining to brothers were gathered up in a flurry and shoved into a room. Their questions unanswered to why they're being treated like this.

Copia stood aside as the mayhem of it all spun within the ministry. Sister Imperator came to him as she returned with youngest sibling and explained to him what was going on.

The Cardinal's gaze fixated onto his trembling hands. Speckles of blood covered them, blood that matched his red cassock.

The slicing of flesh rings in his ears. It won't stop.

"Copia?" A meek voice approached from behind. He turned his head slightly towards the sound. Stood behind him was a ghoul: It was Cirrus.

Her long silvery hair flowed softly in the wind. Her ghastly white eyes were displaying an abundance of sadness and despair. She was the first to track him down after the incident.

"Copia, are you okay?" She squeaks again.

The man's shoulders drooped even lower if that was possible. His eyes still locked onto the blood splattered all over his hands.

Cirrus timidly approached him and crouched down to find his eyes. She softly grabbed his hands; Copia flinches.

"Come inside, Copia. Let us take care of you," She whispered.

He nods only once.

-----

It's been several weeks since the falling. Copia's mind has been running in circles. Sister Imperator has tossed him in a pool of responsibilities and was expecting him to float. He was drowning.

He was aimlessly in the night. His eyes were drooping in exhaustion and his cassock was fluttering as his floated through the corridor. He was becoming one with the old ghosts that are rumored to haunt the old ministry.

The halls were dark and the moonlight streamed into the cracked windows, lighting Copia's way to the library. No one was going to be there this late at night.

The doors to the library were enormous carved wooden doors. A tree spreading it's branches, reaching for the edges of the frame. Copia had always favored these doors because of the intricacy of the design.

He enters the library after unlocking the door.

The library has always been his favorite place to hide. He remembers, when he first arrived at the ministry, how many times he got lost in the shelves; crawling through books. "Every rat needs a favorite hiding place," He mumbles to the empty library.

Cardinal Copia did his usual rotation of the library shelves. His fingers scraped the leather bound books until finally he pulled out a book.

"The Disaster of Plague"

It's better than nothing he reminds himself. He finds his favorite reading chair and flipped open the cover. The plush lounge chair was very worn down and the velvet was cracking at the edges of the arms. His hand found the chain to the old lamp next adjacent to him and light flicked on.

Hours have passed and the Cardinal was on his third book.

He read through the large book until his eyes burned. He blinks slowly as he rereads the paragraph the fifth time; words were jumbling in his brain. His lids finally closed shut and his head slumped to the side.

Exhaustion had finally pulled him under.

"Please, don't- PLEASE!"

"Not him! Per favore! No-"

THUD! SQUELCH!

...drip...drip...dripppp

"Cardinal?"

The man yelps and raises his fists in defense. "Sweet lord, I am so sorry Cardinal!"

He huffs and his eyes pan rapidly around his surroundings. A figure stood before him; their hand hovering over his shoulder.

He clears his throat and rubs his eyes. "Mi dispace, sorella."

He looked down and was stunned to see a blanket was tossed over his lower body. His glasses, he found, were folded neatly onto the nightstand. He doesn't remember putting them on.

"No apologies needed, Cardinal. I thought I would wake you up before I open the doors, sir," The sister smiled. "I've also heard the Sister is looking for you."

Shit.

[majestylegions]

Into the source of wisdom ✨️🖤

I don't have a thing to track the number of brush strokes, but I chose not to use any blending tools for this painting, so it must have been a lot. And I'm really pleased with how it came out!

You can click on the image for better quality; the description is in the alt text.

[majestylegions]

How it all began

[majestylegions]

When the Summer Dies

When the summer dies,

Severing the ties,

I'm with you always.

This follows Copia through his time of becoming the leader of Ghost.

Chapter 1

It was a long journey for Cardinal Copia

The journey to the main chapel from his office.

Sister Imperator had summoned the congregation for a mandatory meeting. Usually, these were about a half hour meeting of the Sister passing important news to the congregation. Possibly an update of the expected increase of followers the band was pulling in.

No one knew what it was. As far as they knew, no one got anointed. Papa Emeritus the Third was still on tour they all assumed.

Cardinal Copia was wearing his black cassock without his biretta as he glided towards the side door of the chapel. As he neared the door, the bubbling anxiety and dread reached his throat. He didn’t know why the sudden feelings, something in the usual vibrating energy of the ministry. It was being tainted by a negative force.

He finally pushed down the feelings of impending doom, and snuck through the door. Here he was placed in the back of the crowd, he did not want to approach the front since he was trembling with anxiety.

He was surprised to see all of the attendees sitting patiently in the pews. All of them were quietly whispering to each other, wondering why they were all pulled into this meeting. Copia found a spot in the back pew and claimed his position in the crowd.

His eyes flickered around the grand hall and he focused on the murmurs of the siblings.

“... pulled off by his men…”

“...Papa Nihil was there too..”

“...Third hasn’t been seen since..”

Of course, Copia was completely clueless to what they were talking about.

As his eyes flickered to the podium, Sister Imperator came into view. He then saw Papa Nihil, oxygen mask in hand.

The Cardinal gulped.

What is going on?

“Esteemed members of the ministry.” Sister’s loud voice echoed throughout the chapel, silencing all conversations.

“Our ministry has grown in numbers these past few years and it is Satan’s blessing to see you all joining our family. As most of you came from our rituals on the road via the band Ghost, it is most exciting to see our numbers grow.”

She’s stalling.

Something happened.

Cardinal Copia's eyes left Sister Imperator’s figure and that’s when he noticed Aether. He sat forward slightly, curious as to why his ghoul had returned home. Behind Aether, stood the rest of Papa Emeritus the Third’s entourage of ghouls that performed with him.

Where is Emeritus the Third?

“...Nihil and I have finally formed a solid plan as we move forward with our ministry. Therefore, with deep sadness, I am announcing the removal of Papa Emeritus the Third.”

The congregation as a whole gasped.

“We saw no growing opportunity with him for our future, so it was our decision to remove him.”

Copia’s breaths were coming out short and quick. He slowly stood up from his pew and stumbled towards the door he came through. Thankfully, everyone was too shocked to noticed him leave.

His subconscious didn’t have a destination in mind but outside is where he needed to be. The ministry’s walls were closing in on him and his vision was going blurry.

Help

His thoughts were rapidly boiling in his mind. He couldn’t latch onto a single one as they continued to pop up.

Papa Emeritus the Third was removed.

His eyes blinked slowly as they flickered around; recognizing his surroundings. Primo's outside garden where flowers and trees formed a winding path through the back courtyard of the church. He was in the section where the beautiful, red roses were planted. Tears start to gather in his eyes, threatening to release a flood of emotions.

“ A rose for you, caro.”

Copia closed his green eyes and he could feel the soft phantom 'thwap' of the rose. He once stood in this exact spot years ago and was given a special flower.

A special flower from the rose bush in front of him.

The special rose was from Papa Emeritus the Third.

The Third tapped Copia’s nose playfully before handing him his romantic gift. Copia's cheeks blushed and he held onto it with such care.

He opened his eyes and saw no one standing there. It was nothing but the cool night air.

“Ti amo, amore. Ti amo fina alla luna e ritorno.”

Finally, a loud sob escaped his throat as he collapsed on the cobblestone path. Black paint streamed down his cheeks as the dam finally broke.

Sister Imperator’s words were still repeating in his mind. How could she remove him? He brought many loyal followers to the congregation, more than his brothers and father.

The Third loved his job. He took it seriously and it won him a Grammy. Why was he rewarded this way?

“Cardinal?”

The man snapped his head and saw his most loyal ghoul, Aether.

“Aether, please, t-tell me what happened? You were there!” Copia spoke quickly and continued to cry. He grasped at the ghoul's body as Aether crouched down to gather the man into his arms.

"They took him..."

[majestylegions]

Did you know that between 1939 and 1941 the NYC Tax Administration and the Works Progress Administration collaborated to take photographs of nearly every building in all 5 boroughs of New York City? And that you can see these photos today thanks to NYC Municipal archiving? This is, obviously, amazing for hundreds of reasons. For the purposes of this post, it's fantastic because this is a very real address:

And when I put that address into the photo locator map, I get this:

Going from there, we can walk around the surrounding blocks via photographs. And if we assume that Steve and Bucky's pre-war apartment was fairly close to the Barnes', then these photos from 1939 to 1941 are a historically accurate trip to their neighborhood.

So, let's explore some pre-war Brooklyn. For your fic inspiration needs, your feelings, the general Stucky vibes, or just because:

160 State Street, bigger and without the map.

(If you ever feel like making the details of a fic incredibly historically accurate, there are so many real businesses to choose from in these photos.)

Like I said, there are pictures of nearly every building. This is just a small collection of the images I grabbed from the immediate blocks around 160 State. You can walk around the neighborhood in more detail, or anywhere else in 1939-1941 New York you want on the map I used.  

[majestylegions]

AGENT ANTONIA M. GALANTE for @tangodancer91

Fic: We’ll Meet Again (Some Sunny Day)

[majestylegions]

Me after completing all the possible fanfics of my ships in Ao3 and people suddenly aren't updating new stuff

[majestylegions]

Did you know that between 1939 and 1941 the NYC Tax Administration and the Works Progress Administration collaborated to take photographs of nearly every building in all 5 boroughs of New York City? And that you can see these photos today thanks to NYC Municipal archiving? This is, obviously, amazing for hundreds of reasons. For the purposes of this post, it's fantastic because this is a very real address:

And when I put that address into the photo locator map, I get this:

Going from there, we can walk around the surrounding blocks via photographs. And if we assume that Steve and Bucky's pre-war apartment was fairly close to the Barnes', then these photos from 1939 to 1941 are a historically accurate trip to their neighborhood.

So, let's explore some pre-war Brooklyn. For your fic inspiration needs, your feelings, the general Stucky vibes, or just because:

160 State Street, bigger and without the map.

(If you ever feel like making the details of a fic incredibly historically accurate, there are so many real businesses to choose from in these photos.)

Like I said, there are pictures of nearly every building. This is just a small collection of the images I grabbed from the immediate blocks around 160 State. You can walk around the neighborhood in more detail, or anywhere else in 1939-1941 New York you want on the map I used.