Stealing From The Church

Elio wasn’t very religious, sure he’d been to church before - many time in fact - but the whole routine of devotion and worship didn’t really vibe with the succubuns way of life. He preferred to do things his own way. He liked to forge his own path and make decisions based on his own personal judgment and not because a church, demonic or otherwise, told him to. 

So he wasn’t really sure why his claws brought him to the doors of the Church of Sulfur and why he was walking inside the large, towering building. 

Perhaps he’d just been lonely. 

Maybe he’d wanted to find the answers to questions that had often kept him up at night. 

But really, he’d just been bored. 

He loved the architecture. 

The pointed masonry and angular appearance of the church made his brain tick happily. He’d always admired it. The work that had gone into crafting such a building was truly magnificent.

No, he wasn’t religious, but he could appreciate the craft. 

He walked along the pews and avoided eye contact when met with a praying succubun. Of course he gave a polite nod when noticed, when seen by any. 

He wasn’t here to pray, just to watch, to observe and what he observed was…not what he expected. 

The church often took donations from loyal and devoted patrons. Like any organized religion, they stayed afloat thanks to the generosity of their believers. All of these carats were placed in the tithe box to be used toward church renovations, food, water, and other necessities that a nun or priest could need when dedicating their life to the Church of Sulfur. 

But what Elio saw was not…unusual in the world of Burrowgatory, but it was certainly frowned upon - especially when it came to the Church. 

Mercy, head nun of the Church of Sulfur was taking currency from the tithe box and pocketing it!

“Oh…my…” Elio muttered as she caught his eye and he quickly looked away. Nope, he didn’t see anything, definitely saw nothing!

He quickly moved to head to the exit but Mercy was on him in seconds - how did she move that fast?! Was this the true power of religion?

“Hello dear devoted worshiper,” she said sweetly staring up at him.

“Hi there…Sister Mercy,” he replied trying not to look down at her charming face that stared up at him. “I was just leaving,” he continued as he tried to slip past, but she moved to stop him in his tracks.

“Let us have a little talk, hmm…we don’t have to go tell anybody, I’ll even cut you in,” she said to him, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Oh no…that’s…wait…cut me in,” Elio said, now looking at her with less fear and more intrigue. Okay, well he wasn’t going to get murdered on church grounds so that was good.

“Yes yes, of course, how about 10% of all collections, that should suffice, all you have to do is not tell a soul…” she continued with a sharp-toothed grin.

Elio thought for a moment. 10%. That was like…100 carats a week!

“Okay..well…how about 20%...” he said back and Mercy’s smile darkened, not in an intimidating way but more in a - this is a child of chaos way. 

“15,” she replied and Elio held out his clawed hand.

“Deal,” he said with a smile and they shook on it. She handed him his payment for the week and told him to come back every Tuesday.

“If anybody asks, you’re working for the church now, okay Elio,” she told him so sweetly and skipped off to do her other nunly duties leaving Elio feeling…satisfied.

“Guess I was meant to come to church today,” he said to himself as he left the building and headed off home.