#this was fun to draw and at the same time i felt HURT for copia

[kabukiaku]

The Resurrection of Papa Emeritus IV.

I've been itching to draw Antichrist Copia for a long time now.

bonus happy ending:

also close up of seestor and rain:

[birdybirp]

[[Untitled Fic]] Chapter 1 - Tiberius

Summary - An abuse survivor in recovery accidentally finds herself befriending a bunch of Satanists.

You kids ready for a first chapter that is probably waaaaaayyy too long? Good, it’s here. 

This is gonna be a Copia/OC fic with some romance, some awkwardness, and some drama if all goes according to plan.

WARNING -- This sweet baby girl is an abuse victim. If this makes you uncomfortable, I’d sit this one out because it is an integral part of Evelyn’s life. Also, I take her triggers and reactions partially from my own experiences with emotional abuse and from other accounts of abuse that I have heard from friends or read. If you have any comments, critiques, or concerns with how I write these situations, please let me know! I only have my own knowledge to draw from and your input is appreciated.

Getting a cat was a mistake.

I had been advised by both my doctor and therapist to get some kind of animal companion so that I wouldn’t be so alone all the time when I left the hospital. Not that I minded my time at home, watching TV. It just seemed like a nice thought to have a furry friend around the house that could sit on my lap and comfort me in harder times. I had always loved animals, but had never had the chance to care for a pet of my own.

I had to set out to a local shelter, determined to get a dog. In a window close to the entrance, though, I saw a group of cats playing together. I took a small glance in and saw a white cat with black on his paws and around his eyes, which were mismatched green and pale blue.

I was immediately in love.

The shelter had named him Tiberius; apparently his entire litter had been named after Roman emperors. I thought the name was silly, but decided to keep it, putting the name on his adoption papers and taking him home. I figured I could call him Tibby, which looked like it fit him.

The next few weeks with him were great. I had no idea how to care for a cat, but Tiberius had very little needs. He mewed when he was hungry, used his litterbox 95 percent of the time, and curled up next to me and purred every second he could. He was a perfect cat

That is, until today.

I had opened the front door to take out the trash and Tibby bolted out like a bullet from a gun. I groaned loudly, dropped the trash bag on my porch, and sprinted after him. I did not have time for this. I had to be to my doctor in about 20 minutes to get my stitches out and those things itched like hell. I wanted them gone, but apparently Tiberius thought I needed to get in a morning run before hand.

He was so fast for a creature that was usually so lazy. I would get close to him and he would zip away, farther and farther down the driveway. It seemed like he was having fun, which made me even more mad. I thought I had him cornered at one point, until he ran between my legs and across the street. My heart dropped, hoping that no cars would hit him, and I just watched dumbly as he made his mad dash across the road. That did nothing to ease my worries, though, because as soon as he hit the other side of the street, he bolted his way through the open doors of the abbey across the street....Great.

The abbey, which I had just been calling The Church in my head, was something that no one in my neighborhood seemed to like. People mumbled about it being a Satanic church. That didn’t bother me, however, as the presence of the ‘devil worshiping’ building brought the cost of homes way down in the area. Having just come out of a...rough situation, I couldn’t pass up the price of my small one story home. I had just told myself I’d avoid the creepy, Gothic building like the plague.

And now my cat that I have only had for less than a month just waltzed in there.

I groaned again. I was going to kill that little furry shit.

But to do that I would have to find him first.

I ran across the street and slowly, gingerly, stepped through the doors of The Church. The ceilings were high, covered in metal chandeliers that seemed to have electric lights in them. All the walls were brown stone that made every noise echo. Luckily, it seemed that the church was much busier than it looked on the outside. Members of the clergy in different colored robed milled around, nuns in shorter skirts than usual following after them. There were also a lot of people in all black wearing silver masks, which was weird. Or was it normal for this church? Either way, hopefully no one would notice one anxious girl darting around them trying to find one white cat.

I kept my pace quick, giving a wide berth to anyone close to me so I didn’t accidentally bump into them. I just had to find my stupid-ass cat and leave, no big deal. However, my heart was thumping. I hadn’t been around crowds much in the past three years and this was certainly a crowd of very strange people. It put me on edge. I was tense as I went through every hallway and corridor, no one seeming to pay me any attention. Surprisingly, I saw a handful of cats walking around the place, all probably strays, but none of them were Tibby.

Time was ticking away and I really had to go to my doctor’s appointment. I wasn’t going to have these stitches in my side a second longer than I had to. But I couldn’t just leave my new furry friend in a place like this. What if they sacrificed cats? Do Satanists sacrifice cats? I wasn’t sure, but even if they didn’t, one of the strays lurking around could attack him. I swallowed my pride and approached the next person I saw, one of the people in all black with the masks.

“Excuse me...” I said, my voice shaky and nervous despite my best efforts. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for my cat. He’s white with black on his paws and around his eyes. Have you seen him?”

I couldn’t see the person’s eyes through their mask but I could tell they were confused by me. They stared, unmoving, for a few moments and I felt myself start to sweat. Then the person made a kind of chirp noise, kind of similar to one Tibby made when I annoyed him, and pointed down a dark corridor.

“Uhm...Thank you.” I said and jogged away from the strange figure. I turned to look back at them for a second and saw them staring at me, something long and black swishing behind them idly. A tail? No, no time to think about that.

I kept my jogging pace down the corridor until I heard the sharp crash of something metal hitting the stone floors and the sound of a high pitched yelp. Something in my bones told me it was Tiberius doing something he shouldn’t have and I followed the noise down another hallway. As I turned the corner, I saw a very tall metal candelabra on the ground, it’s candles thrown off of it and put out by the crash. Next to it, I saw a man pressed up against the wall, his arms spread out and his palms crushed into the stones, trembling. I looked down from the man’s terrified face to see a little white ball of fluff kneading at his leg as if he wanted to climb up him.

I quickly ran up and scooped the feline off of the poor man’s leg, holding the menace in one arm. Tiberius stretched out his paws towards the man as if he didn’t want to let go. I held his arms down and started apologizing. “Sir, I am so, so sorry!”

The man quickly snapped to attention, obviously embarrassed to have been seen terrified by a cat that isn’t even a year old. As he nervously fidgeted, smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothing, I finally got a good look at him. He was an older man, but I couldn’t guess how old. 40s? 50s? I was never good at guessing these types of things. I’m not versed in what people in churches wear, but he wore a black robe with buttons all the way down, a black sash at his waist. At the end of the sash was a symbol that was like an inverted cross, but not quite. He wore the same symbol around his neck. His face seemed to be wrinkled from looking constantly worried; creases lined his face around his eyes and mouth and were deep on his forehead. His upper lip and around his eyes were tinged a purplish black. Makeup? He also had a mustache reminded me of 1920s black and white films. When he finally collected himself and looked up at me, I finally saw that his eyes were two different colors: green and a bright white. What a strange person...

The nervous man cleared his throat and stood up straight as if to show that he was more calm and collected than he really was.

“It’s...uh...” he cleared his throat again. “It’s quite alright. I’m just...not very fond of cats.” He looked in my direction, but was obviously avoiding eye contact. I think he was looking over my right shoulder.

“I really am sorry...He’s ever done this before...” I apologized again, patting the cat on the head gently for emphasis. Granted, I had not had Tibby long enough for him to do something like this, but I wasn’t exactly lying.

And then I noticed: the man had a rat on his shoulder.

“Oh my God, was Tiberius chasing your rat?!” I gasped, holding the small cat a little tighter. I had never seen him around other animals so I didn’t know if he would behave like this. I looked at the rodent and instantly felt bad for the creature. His ears were pulled back and his small pink paws were wringing nervously. I wanted to hold it and tell it everything was going to be okay.

“Yes, I believe he was.” The man seemed to relax slightly now that my eyes were focused on the rat and not him.

“Did he hurt him?” I asked with genuine concern. He looked at me, puzzled, as if no one had cared to ask him about the animal before.

“I...uhm...” he fidgeted again and looked down at the ground. “I don’t think so...Asmodeus is one of my faster rats...I don’t think a cat could catch him.” The poor creature still looked so scared and I frowned slightly.

“This might...sound weird...” I started, feeling a general anxiety in my chest at talking to this stranger. But my love of cute furry animals won out. “But can I...pet him? Or hold him?”

Again, he looked confused. I feel like he doesn’t have people ask to interact with his pets often. He looked at Tibby, then back at me, and at Tibby again, before giving a small nod. He held a leather clad glove to his shoulder for the rat, Asmodeus, to crawl in to. He wrapped both hands gently around the rodent and held him up to me. The rat seemed more curious now than anything, sniffing the air and looking around. I gently reached out and pet the top of his head with two of my fingers as a sign of apology. The rat looked at me and, for some reason, I felt like he forgave me and my asshole cat. I looked back up at the rat’s handler and realized he was staring at me. I couldn’t read his expression at all and it made me nervous. Then a small, almost unnoticeable smile played on his lips. I felt myself turn a bit red, taking a small step back. Now if was my turn to fidget.

“I--I’m sorry again.” I stammered, the anxiety in my chest blooming and making my ribcage feel tight around my lungs. “He just got out. I live across the street and he just ran in here. I don’t even know if I’m even allowed in here--I am so, so, so sorry.” The words tumbled out of my mouth even as it felt tough to breathe. There was a long silence between us and I could feel a lump of fear in my throat growing bigger and bigger.

“I...should go.” I squeaked out, taking a few more steps back. “I’m sorry again...” I realized that I didn’t know what to call this person, so I just went with what I thought was polite. “...s-sir...?” I had turned my back to him and was walking away, feeling a slight tremble in my legs, when he spoke softly.

“Copia.”

“Huh...?” I turned and saw him looking down at his hands.

“I am Cardinal Copia.....You can come see Asmodeus another time if you would like.” And he turned and walked the other way down the stone corridor.

“C--Copia...yeah...alright....thanks...” I muttered. “Oh! I’m Evelyn, by the way!”  I didn’t even know if he could hear me as I blurted out my name, staring at his back as he left. I couldn’t make heads or tails of this person. I shrugged it off and went back the way I came. The farther I got away from that conversation, the less anxious I became. When I was almost entirely calm, the urgent itch in my side started again. My stitches...I had to get going. As I walked, I held Tiberius in front of my face with both hands.

“What were you thinking, little mister?” I asked judgmentally. Tibby licked my nose in response and I sighed. I looked into his mismatched eyes and realized...His patches of black fur made his eyes look like the Cardinal’s. I chuckled.

“Maybe you were supposed to find each other.” I said, cradling the cat in my arms as I continued to power walk and find the exit. “But, you have to admit, it was really shitty of you to attack his rat.”

--

[[How much is Tiberius going to be in this story? Not much, but I still love this fictional kitty with all my heart. Please leave any feedback you have for me! I hope to update this once a week.

 Also, tune in next time for Evelyn getting stupidly lost and having an interaction with a Papa that makes her insanely uncomfortable.

Thanks for reading!

--Birdy]]