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“Why do you get to stay?”
Dewdrop’s question is aimed at the air ghoulettes, who are watching with curious eyes the ghouls moving around the common room. The demons are getting everything ready as the lead guitarist addresses the ladies, glaring at them and breathing out steam through his nose while one of his clawed fingernails taps repeatedly the crook of the opposite arm, both of them being crossed in front of his chest. Not only that, though, but his tail is swishing behind his legs almost in time with the impatient tapping of one of his feet.
He’s standing in front of the coffee table, facing the couch where both ghoulettes are sitting.
“‘Cause we aren’t troublemakers,” Cirrus replies with a sugary tone, unbothered by the irritated fire ghoul.
Before the lead guitarist can even formulate a biting retort, Mountain steps in to offer his two cents on the matter.
“Technically, the only troublemaker here is Dew. And maybe Swiss.”
“Yo! The hell did I even do?” An irked Swiss questions, head popping up behind the kitchen island.
“You went too far with the last prank you pulled for your TikTok account,” Rain answers from beside him.
“I said I was sorry!”
Water ghoul and multi ghoul get invested in a conversation of their own, discussing the latter’s latest exploits for his social media account and the repercussions of the same while they finish packing what they need to take from the kitchen. At the same time, Mountain continues his conversation with Cirrus, ignoring the other two.
“Anyway, this is more of a bonding trip than anything else.”
“Then why come we aren’t going as well?” A mildly miffed Cumulus asks, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Well…”
However, instead of Mountain, it is Aether who attempts to answer her before being interrupted by Copia, who has just gotten to the demons’ common room. As he excitedly opens the door, he greets everyone inside.
“Good morning, boys and girls! Is everything ready for the trip? I can’t wait to spend some ‘boys’ time’ with you, fellows!”
“That’s why,” the quintessence ghoul points out.
“Hm, kinda rude.”
Cirrus’ offended response catches the Cardinal’s attention, making him feel bad for leaving the ghoulettes out of the trip. Still, he promises both of them that the time will come when they’ll have the opportunity to live a similar experience.
“Do not worry, my bellissimas,” Copia assures Cirrus and Cumulus, grasping one of their hands each in his. “I’m sure we’ll get to spend quality time together as well, doing something that you ladies enjoy.”
Despite the singer’s attempt at encouragement, his implication of the future trip being fun, and by proxy the one they’re about to take being fun as well, is enough to make Dewdrop snort and scoff at the man’s words. As far as it concerns him, Copia is overselling his pitch far too much. Especially since no one, except Aether –and maybe Rain–, wants to go on the trip, to begin with.
“No one is going to enjoy this trip.”
“You don’t know that, Dew,” Rain tries to defend.
“Trust me, I do.”
“Same,” Swiss agrees.
As the multi-instrumentalist and the lead guitarist voice their discontent with their enforced participation in the activity, the Cardinal butts in to try to appease them. Otherwise, they’ll begin the trip on the wrong foot and in a sour mood.
“Now, now, no need to be pessimistic about it. We’ll have fun together, I’m sure of it!”
Unfortunately, the clergyman’s enthusiasm isn’t contagious.
“If you say so,” the drummer mutters under his breath.
“Let’s just start loading the car,” Aether says as he sighs, already tired of the argument and dreading the few hours they will spend together in the car. “We have a long trip ahead of us.”
“That’s the spirit!”
With Copia’s final exclamation of optimism, all the ghouls finish packing their stuff, sighing and groaning in unison. They would rather stay than spend the weekend out in the countryside, going on a fishing trip that only the frontman believes to be a good idea. Nevertheless, Imperator backs up his plan, so the demons can’t get out of it even if they want to.
All they can do now is accept their fate and hope that the weekend will be over sooner than later.
“Have a safe trip, guys,” Cirrus tells them with a cheerful tone, realizing that she and Cumulus are actually lucky. “Don’t let Dewey drown.”
The keyboardist’s joke, aimed at the fire ghoul, gains her the middle finger from him. But at least he has the good piece of mind to remain silent and instead grab a couple of the bags that compose their luggage before exiting the common room. He is followed by Rain, Mountain, and Swiss (all of them carrying bags as well), who leave after giving brief and downcast farewells to the ghoulettes.
The last two still remaining –besides the ladies–, are Aether and Copia, who take a little longer to say their goodbyes. Both of them give the keyboardists a couple of tips and bits of advice before leaving, given that it’s the first time they’ll be without the Cardinal and the rest of their pack. Just some cautionary words that a couple of parents would give their teenage children before leaving them alone at home. Even though the ghoulettes are the most responsible ones out of all of them.
“We’ll see you, ladies, when we return,” Copia assures with confidence, feeling more positive about the trip than he probably should. “Take care!”
“Have fun and bring lots of fish!”
With Cumulus’ last wish and request being voiced as rhythmic guitarist and singer start to retreat, the door to the common room closes behind them. The ghoulettes are left on their own while the other two climb up the stairs and exit the building, finding the rest of the ghouls already done loading the minivan with the bags they were carrying, putting them either in the small trunk or in the rooftop luggage carrier.
Dewdrop, Rain, Swiss, and Mountain have been waiting for Aether and Copia to arrive. Rain is already seating inside the car, having chosen one of the seats further back. Mountain already claimed the copilot seat, being the one most qualified to help out Aether ‒who’s the driver. Swiss and Dew are still outside, standing beside the car and leaning against it, talking quietly as the multi ghoul smokes a cigarette.
The four of them turn their heads in unison to look at the two missing members of their group and Swiss instantly puts out his cigarette against the sole of his shoe before discarding it in a nearby trashcan. He then climbs into the car, choosing one of the seats in the middle. Dewdrop follows his lead and climbs after him, sitting beside Rain. That leaves the Cardinal to seat next to Swiss, which he promptly does as Aether opens the driver’s door.
With the six of them seated inside, seatbelts fastened around their bodies, Aether starts the car and they begin to make their way out of the Ministry’s property and toward the Visingsö island inside the Vättern lake (the second largest in Sweden). There awaits them two lovely cottages they rented to spend the weekend, near the shore where they’ll be able to use their motorboat.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!”
Copia’s excited announcement tries to imbue the ghouls with some excitement as well. Yet despite failing royally, he doesn’t lose hope on the trip being a fun experience for all of them.
He should probably lower his expectations, though.
Facing one of the beautiful seasides of Visingsö Island are two picturesque cottages that Copia rented for the weekend. Mountain, Aether, and the Cardinal are staying in one of them while Dewdrop, Rain, and Swiss stay in the other –much to Rain’s detriment. Near the houses, on the other side of the road that borders most of the island’s shoreline, there’s a lovely beach big enough for the band members to spend the day if they want to.
Not that the ghouls particularly care about that, knowing that getting a tan is not only pointless but near impossible. They prefer to just do the damned fishing and be done with it. Although, none of them have dared to tell the clergyman just that yet.
The group of six set off from the abbey Friday afternoon and arrived at their destiny the evening of that same day. After settling in and eating a light dinner, they fell into bed, feeling exhausted after the long journey. And, given that they already formulated plans about seizing the day and going fishing, they knew that they would have to get up at the crack of dawn the next day.
The first ones to wake up were Copia, Aether, and Mountain, who fixed themselves a hefty breakfast that would fuel them at least until lunchtime. However, in the other cottage, things weren’t that easy. Over there, the only one to wake at the stipulated time was Rain, who knew that he would have to wake his two companions if they wanted to make it out of there in time and not have to deal with any admonishments from the others. Still, it was easier said than done, especially regarding Dewdrop.
Being well aware of the fire ghoul’s propensity to throw tantrums get angry, coupled with the fact that he isn’t an early riser, made the bassist apprehensive about facing the daunting task, almost to the point of considering going to fetch Aether just so the quintessence ghoul could take the risk in his place. Yet despite that, Rain managed to gather enough courage to try to do it on his own, which ended with the pleasant surprise that was Dew getting up without putting up too much of a fuss, even though he was still quite grouchy about being woken up “so fucking early”.
In the end, the one to present real trouble was actually Swiss, who, given how heavy of a sleeper he is, required Rain to shake him roughly for several seconds before he was even acknowledged by the sleeping multi ghoul. At that, Swiss just rolled over and asked for “five more minutes”, which in actuality meant an hour longer. Because of that, the water ghoul was forced to call for Dewdrop’s assistance.
Only after threats of violence and death were made did Swiss finally get up from his bed, groggily insisting that none of that was necessary. Naturally, Dew and Rain disagreed with him on the matter.
Nevertheless, with all three of them finally awake and up, they made quick work of cooking and eating breakfast –although a lighter version than the one his neighbors ate– before starting to get ready.
Thing is, the ghouls believe that despite whatever directive Imperator gave Copia regarding the demons’ appearance while out and about, the Cardinal chose to disregard it completely, given what he told them the previous night while they were eating dinner all together. As he said then, he took into consideration their comfort during the trip and thus decided to give them a little more freedom than they are usually allowed.
That’s why they can leave their silver masks behind, as long as they keep up their glamours at all times. Thus, no horns, tails, clawed nails, pointy ears, fangs, grey skin, or colorful slitted eyes are allowed while outside the cottages or in the presence of anyone else who isn’t a fellow ghoul or the Cardinal. And although maintaining their human appearance can be a pain in the ass the longer they do it, it’ll be worth it as long as they get to avoid head-to-toe covering layers of clothing. Especially when going fishing during the late Swedish summer.
So, wearing t-shirts and swimming trunks, most of the ghouls make their way out of the houses and meet in the front yard, awaiting Copia to appear. When the man emerges, he does so carrying the fishing gear needed, with Aether trailing behind him, helping him carry the big load that they put inside the boat.
Said gear, like the boat, isn’t rented, but actually borrowed. From Papa Nihil.
As it turns out, the older man got into fishing as he grew older, but he can’t do it anymore due to his advanced age. He even taught the former Papas how to fish as well, intending it as a bonding exercise with his sons. However, none of them ever cared much about it, preferring other activities. Like gardening, writing and reading poetry, and playing golf.
Yet Nihil never did the same with Copia, despite the younger man knowing about his favorite pastime and how it was attempted to be used to bond with the other Emeritus descendants. Despite that, he wanted to feel included in the “tradition”, so he decided to do it on his own, with the ghouls taking the place of his –unbeknownst to him– half-brothers. Mainly because the three men are already dead.
Never mind that, though, what’s important is that the Cardinal is finally able to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. And with none other than his beloved ghouls as well.
“So, everyone’s ready for a little adventure?!” Copia asks enthusiastically, looking around the demons.
They all give affirmations that vary in degrees of excitement, but it proves to be enough for the clergyman, who promptly directs them to climb in the car so they can get the boat into the lake. Thankfully ‒and given they just have to go across the street from where they’re staying‒, it takes them less than anticipated to do that last task, with all of them working together in tandem. Even Dewdrop manages to help without complaining much, which is a big win for the group.
In the end, they manage to get the motorboat into the water without much trouble. And while Aether parks the car back inside the cottages’ property, the rest get everything else ready to go fishing for the day.
“So, like, are we supposed to wait here for fish to take the bait while under the sun?”
Swiss’ question carries a mixture of worry with sarcasm, as he fears that they might overheat under the blazing summer sun while sitting in the boat, waiting for fish to show up. They made their way using the motor, sailing away from the shore in search of deeper waters, and casted their lines as soon as they found what they assumed to be a good spot.
The Cardinal is wearing a white t-shirt coupled with Ratatouille-themed swimming trunks and white Crocs. On top of all that, he’s wearing black Ray-Ban sunglasses and a red and white umbrella hat to shield him from the sun. He got that last one as a gift from Imperator after he told her about his fishing trip plans. He also put plenty of sunblock cream on all his uncovered skin, particularly his nose, despite the hat covering his face.
Altogether, he makes quite an adorable yet funny picture.
The ghouls don’t need to put on sunscreen –although Rain and Mountain chose to wear beige bucket hats for some protection against the bright sunlight– and their clothing isn’t as flashy as Copia’s. They are all wearing light-colored clothes except for Dewdrop. And instead of Crocs, they wear flip-flops.
They have been waiting for anything to take the bait for the past hour.
“Well, yes, my boy,” a sheepish Copia admits. “But if the heat becomes too overwhelming, you can always get refreshed in the water.”
“Wouldn’t that scare the fish away?” Mountain asks, deadpan.
“That might be a problem, yes,” the Cardinal concedes after thinking it through for a moment.
“Wait, how did ya learn how to fish, though?” Swiss asks, furrowing his brows.
The question did just occur to him despite the fact that the Cardinal taught them the basics of fishing and drove them through some drills a few days before they started the trip.
“YouTube,” the man says as if that were enough of an explanation.
Naturally, such an answer does nothing to reassure the ghouls. In fact, it makes them fear being stuck in the lake all day just waiting for something to bite.
“May Satan have mercy on us,” Rain prays under his breath.
With that matter apparently settled or, at the very least, with the conversation being finished, Swiss takes the opportunity to change the subject. Mainly, to focus on questioning the fire ghoul’s choice of clothing for their day out.
“Honestly, I don’t understand how you can stand wearin’ that.”
“Heat doesn’t affect me the same way as you,” Dewdrop replies, matter-of-fact. “My body temperature is always high anyway.”
“Does that mean you wouldn’t need to get ‘refreshed?’” Aether asks next, a bit cheekily.
“I wouldn’t do it even if I was literally melting.”
The blunt response from the lead guitarist gives pause to everyone else in the boat, all of them turning to look at the smallest demon while he keeps his eyes glued to the water. And since he doesn’t explain further, the others are left to theorize what could possibly be the reason behind such a strong stance.
“You don’t know how to swim, do you?” The quintessence ghoul inquires, sounding serious yet curious.
“No, and I don’t like water either,” Dew admits through gritted teeth.
The revelation catches everyone by surprise even though it shouldn’t, considering what’s Dewdrop’s nature. Still, none of them knew about that little ‒and important, given their present circumstances‒ detail. That all is enough to prompt Rain to make a question, out of pure concern, despite not realizing how the other might take it.
“You don’t like it or you’re afraid of it?”
“I don’t like it!” Comes Dew’s incensed reaffirmation. “If I were afraid of it I wouldn’t have even gotten into the fucking boat.”
“Maybe you just puttin’ up a front,” Swiss suggests with a snort, wanting to tease the other further.
“Maybe I should throw you into the water and keep your head under it until the bubbles stop coming up,” the fire ghoul threatens as he stands up and turns to face the multi ghoul, eyes blazing despite lacking their scarlet coloring.
The intensity of the abrupt movement manages to gently rock the boat despite its size, the other occupants remaining still inside it, and Dewdrop’s light weight. That, in consequence, leads the bassist to grip the edge of the boat harder. And if his clawed nails were longer, he would certainly leave deep dents in the wood. He has been trying to keep his breakfast down ever since he boarded. After all, and despite being a little ironic, the water ghoul suffers from motion sickness, which is worsened by the rocking waters.
All that aside, it comes down to Copia to try to appease the infuriated little ghoul.
“Boys, boys! C’mon now, this is supposed to be a trip to foster healthy bonding between us, not to get mad at each other and spew threats of violent death,” the Cardinal says, trying to defuse the tension. “Please, let’s just all calm down and enjoy the nice weather and beautiful view in front of us.”
Three of the ghouls are about to object in varying levels of irritation when everyone’s attention is pulled toward Rain.
“Guys, I think I caught something,” the water ghoul announces as he holds onto his fishing rod as best he can. “Can someone please help me?”
The note of desperation clear in the bassist’s otherwise quiet voice is enough to snap everyone else out of their stupor and Aether, Mountain, and Swiss soon get up from their seats in order to assist their friend in his effort to capture whatever got hooked. With the added help, it doesn’t take long for them to reel in their first fish of the day.
“Well done, my boy! I knew you had it in you,” Copia cheers as soon as the demons pull the thrashing fish out of the water and into an awaiting net.
In the meantime, Dewdrop takes care of opening the cooler that they brought to store whatever they caught that day.
“Thank you,” replies a flustered Rain. “Although, I don’t even know what I caught…”
“That’s salmon,” Mountain answers with ease, getting only mildly odd looks from the rest.
After all, it is well known that the earth ghoul enjoys eating fish meat. Still, his knowledge of different species never ceases to amaze his bandmates.
“Doesn’t matter what the hell it is, just throw it in the freezer quickly,” Dew prompts, getting impatient.
“Hold on, we have to kill and gut it first,” Aether intervenes, making Dewdrop groan.
“I’m not doing it,” Rain says before anyone can ask him, even though it’s his catch. “I don’t like killing living beings.”
“Aw, such a soft boy~” Swiss coos, a little mockingly. “You do remember you’re a flesh-eating demon, right?”
The multi-instrumentalist’s rhetoric question is ignored by everyone while the unfazed drummer volunteers for the dirty job, sharp knife already in hand.
“I’ll do it.”
Mountain takes the fish out of the net and gives it an instant, merciful death before he passes it on to an awaiting Dewdrop. The lead guitarist is less formal about the whole ordeal, making quick work of filleting the fish before he almost tosses it inside the cooler. The fact that he is more careful about storing what’s left of the fish is only due to Mountain’s threatening glare, given that he doesn’t want to be thrown into the lake by a pissed-off drummer in retaliation for “ruining the meat”.
“See? The wait was worth it, after all!” Copia tells them, excited about the trip not being a total fiasco. “A few more of those and we’ll have a nice meal for ourselves tonight.”
The gutting of the fish was the last straw for Rain, who can’t keep his breakfast down any longer and ends up hurling it overboard, bending over the side of the boat to discharge everything into the water. Despite being a flesh-eating demon, the water ghoul is the type to prefer receiving his meals already dead and ready to consume, saving him the need to do all the dirty work himself.
That unfortunate display leads Swiss to wonder something out loud as he idly stares at the still-gagging Rain.
“You think Rainy’s puke might attract any fish?”
“You’re fucking nasty,” Dew says dispassionately while he scowls at the other.
“Just sayin’.”
The multi ghoul shrugs, acting nonchalant despite the insult aimed at him. Seeing that, Aether decides to interrupt and call their attention toward what’s important: the sick water ghoul. And, at the same time, Mountain tries to comfort the bassist, patting him on the back with one hand as he holds Rain’s shoulder-length hair in the other, keeping the locks away from the poor demon’s face.
“Guys, can you not do that right now?” The rhythmic guitarist tiredly begs before turning toward the Cardinal. “We should get back to shore.”
“That’s a good idea,” Copia agrees, motioning for the quintessence ghoul to start the motor. “We can always come back at sundown if Rain is feeling better.”
The demons and Copia get back to the shore to enjoy their lunch, comprised of sandwiches and fruit. They get comfortable on the beach, lying some towels on the sand and using a couple of beach umbrellas to keep them protected from the sun. After they are done eating, they spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach, either reading, conversing quietly, or taking a nap, biding their time until sunset so they can sail again.
In the meantime, Mountain takes a quick trip back to one of the cottages to store their catch’s meat in the freezer.
When the time comes, everyone –except Rain, who’s left on the beach, contently reading– boards the boat again, intent on catching more fish for their dinner. Fortunately for them, they succeed in their endeavor, catching chars and trouts that time around. With that, they have enough to eat for the night, much to Mountain’s delight.
The Sunday went much like the Saturday, with the group of musicians spending most of the day either on the boat or at the beach. Only difference was that, at one point, Dewdrop fell into the water and had to be rescued by Aether, since he in fact didn’t know how to swim. He had been standing on one of the boat’s benches when he lost his footing after Swiss purposefully rocked the vessel hard enough to tilt the lead guitarist off-balance.
The multi ghoul laughed his ass off until Dew’s panic stopped being hilarious and turned concerning. That was when Aether jumped into the water to help his friend and keep him from drowning.
The whole situation was a dramatic ordeal, with the fire ghoul screeching and thrashing around in the water, trying to keep afloat. It was a bit of a hassle to get both demons back on the boat, but they managed in the end, with Aether remaining drenched until the sun dried his clothes and Dewdrop rising his body temperature enough to vaporize the water clinging to him.
Swiss got a harsh reprimand from Copia afterward, and a death glare from Dew for the rest of the day. The tension amongst the group remained present until they returned to the cottages, where the fire demon took the opportunity to get his revenge, heating up the shower’s water while the multi-instrumentalist was getting washed. That left them even, in Dewdrop’s opinion.
Rain, who had been made aware of the situation by Mountain during their lunch break, chose not to get involved in the matter, lest he got scorched as well.
That third night, they packed their things after dinner, getting everything ready for their early journey back to the abbey. The ghouls did so with diligence, happy to finally go back to the Ministry, ending the trip once and for all. Because, even though it wasn’t as bad as they dreaded, they would have still preferred to stay at home.
Rising at the crack of dawn for the third day in a row, the band members eat a quick breakfast and begin loading the van with all their luggage, securing everything in place, boat included. After that, they set off toward the island’s harbor to board the ferry that will take them back to the mainland.
Once the van touches soil again, they drive to the nearest gas station, needing to refill the tank. It is then that Copia seizes the opportunity to go to the bathroom. At the same time, Swiss and Dew get some snacks to eat during the rest of the trip.
By the time Aether finishes refueling the car and the two shopping ghouls return to the van, they all get inside and fasten their seatbelts. The seating arrangement this time around consists of: Aether and Mountain in the front, Swiss and Rain in the middle seats, and Dew in the back, already yawning and looking forward to a long nap.
With everyone secured to their seats, the quintessence ghoul starts the car and gets back on the road, the only noise disturbing the silence being that of Swiss munching on some chips.
“I feel like we are forgetting something,” the rhythmic guitarist ponders out loud after a little while.
The sudden question is loud enough to catch the attention of Dewdrop, who’s already dozing off. Despite that, the annoyed little ghoul can’t help but grunt an inquiry of his own, without even opening his eyes.
“Like what?”
Before Aether can answer the sleepy lead guitarist, Rain beats him to the punch after taking a look around the car and only then noticing what’s missing.
“Guys, where’s the Cardinal?”
“What are ya talkin’ about? He’s right–” Swiss starts to object but cuts himself off as soon as he turns around and sees the empty seat next to Dew. “Oh, shit!”
The realization that they left the man behind at the gas station makes Mountain sigh deeply as Aether starts cursing in their mother tongue, speeding up toward the next exit that will allow them to go back and pick up the forgotten clergyman.
When they arrive at the gas station, they find Copia waiting for them, sitting on a bench and eating ice cream. Thankfully for them, the man is only a bit miffed about being left behind, and thus they resume their journey without much trouble. At the very least, they all hope to make it back to the abbey without further incidents taking place.
Too bad a bump on the road jostles the Cardinal’s cone and makes the ice cream fall on his lap. Only small mercy for the man is that Dewdrop and Swiss are way too asleep to make fun of him.