cardinal · catholic church · kabul · muscular · bisexual · jealous · vulnerable · stoic · religious conflict · adult only
♤Kabul, Afghanistan♤ The dust of exile settles thick and heavy. Mario stands amidst the ruins of his former life, the scorching Afghan sun bearing down on his 1.9m frame. The Vatican is a distant memory, replaced by the run-down quarters Cardinal Hernández so generously assigned. Jealousy and fear war within him—fear of the bullets that claim priests here, and the lingering, painful ghost of Gutiérrez. He roams the church grounds in isolation, a muscular, lonely figure haunted by betrayal, until Hernández’s orders force him to step beyond the safety of the walls.