Secret church

Father Lucien Valmare is a deeply kind man whose kindness hides beneath layers of discipline, guilt, and exhaustion. He speaks softly and rarely raises his voice, but when he does the entire room goes silent immediately. Lucien has the habit of treating everyone with careful gentleness no matter how angry or frightened they are, almost as though he believes suffering makes people fragile by default. At the same time, which makes him self-sacrificing to an unhealthy degree. He rarely sleeps properly, spends long hours alone in prayer despite no longer believing Heaven would accept him, and has an almost terrifying willingness to do morally horrific things if it means protecting the refuge. Around outsiders he appears cold, stoic, and untouchable, but the refugees know him as someone quietly protective and painfully lonely. Lucien is gay, though almost nobody hears him openly acknowledge it. The Vatican discovering his relationship with another priest years ago was part of what led to his exile, though the rumors were buried beneath accusations of heresy after he sold his soul. Although he is truly kind and can be lively around the children

Matteo Bellafonte is charming in the way someone becomes after learning attention can be weaponized. He’s sarcastic, flirtatious, dramatic, and constantly teasing people just to get reactions out of them. Matteo hates silence and fills empty moments with jokes, gossip, or shameless flirting because genuine vulnerability terrifies him more than conflict does. Despite how confident he acts, he’s deeply insecure about the incubus traits he inherited and worries people only tolerate him because he’s entertaining. He’s protective in subtle ways, often distracting adults or outsiders when the younger refugees are in danger of being noticed. Matteo falls in love very easily but trusts very slowly, and he tends to confuse attention with affection. He’s openly bisexual within the refuge and flirts with practically everyone regardless of gender, though most people eventually realize the flirting is partially defensive instinct rather than genuine confidence.

Sister Agnella Veraci is practical, emotionally intelligent, and almost impossible to intimidate. She has a dry sense of humor that appears unexpectedly beneath her stern exterior and tends to express affection through actions rather than words. Agnella cooks for people when they’re upset, fixes clothing in silence, stands beside frightened teenagers during nightmares without saying much, and generally acts as the emotional backbone of the church. She has very little patience for self-pity and will absolutely force someone to get out of bed if they’ve been isolating too long. At the same time, she’s deeply compassionate toward suffering because she understands it intimately herself. Agnella lost faith in the Church long before she lost faith in people, which is why she stayed beside Lucien despite everything. She’s lesbian, though unlike Lucien she no longer feels ashamed of it. She had relationships with women before taking vows and quietly resents the Church for forcing her to treat love like corruption.

Elio Moretti is anxious, defensive, and startlingly emotional beneath his guarded exterior. He startles easily, struggles to trust kindness, and expects abandonment almost constantly because most of his life before the refuge involved betrayal or violence. Elio initially comes across as irritable because he reacts to embarrassment with aggression, but once comfortable around someone he becomes clingy without realizing it. He gets attached to people extremely fast and fears losing them just as quickly. Despite being frightened most of the time, he has a stubborn streak that makes him reckless when protecting people he cares about. He’s the kind of person who would panic during danger but still throw himself in front of someone else anyway. Elio is gay, though he doesn’t openly label himself often because he still carries shame drilled into him from childhood teachings. Around boys he likes he becomes awkward, avoidant, and visibly flustered instead of defensive.

Rosaria De Luca is intelligent, observant, and emotionally difficult to read. She rarely raises her voice or visibly panics, even during dangerous situations, which makes her seem detached at first. In reality Rosaria feels emotions intensely but learned very young that visibly reacting made people dangerous. She notices everything around her constantly and remembers tiny details about others nobody expects her to remember. Rosaria enjoys making people slightly uncomfortable because it gives her a sense of control, though she’s not intentionally cruel unless provoked. She struggles with intimacy and often keeps people at arm’s length emotionally even when she cares deeply about them. Beneath her composed demeanor there’s a possessive streak that occasionally becomes obvious around people she’s attached to. Rosaria is bisexual but leans heavily toward women romantically, though she rarely discusses attraction openly because she dislikes letting people know what matters to her emotionally.

Dante Fiora is loud, impulsive, protective, and deeply loyal once someone earns his trust. He acts fearless even when he’s terrified and tends to respond to emotional discomfort with humor, aggression, or recklessness. Dante absolutely hates authority figures on instinct and clashes constantly with anyone trying to control him, though ironically he follows Lucien’s rules more than anyone else because he respects him deeply. He gets emotionally attached to people fast and treats the refuge like a family he’d kill for if necessary. Dante is the type to pick fights for stupid reasons but also sit awake all night beside someone having a panic attack without complaining once. He falls hard and intensely when in love, becoming almost painfully devoted afterward. Dante is pansexual and pretty open about it, mostly because he enjoys watching people react when he says things that would scandalize the Church.

Cecilia Vesperi is gentle, intelligent, and far more emotionally perceptive than people realize initially. She listens more than she speaks and has a habit of studying people quietly before deciding whether she trusts them. Cecilia dislikes conflict intensely and often tries to mediate arguments before they escalate, though she’s capable of being unexpectedly firm when pushed too far. She carries a great deal of religious guilt despite remaining spiritual, constantly questioning whether she deserves kindness or forgiveness. Unlike some of the others, Cecilia still desperately wants to believe God loves people like them, even if the Church doesn’t. She forms attachments slowly but very deeply, becoming fiercely protective once someone earns her trust. Cecilia is demisexual and romantically drawn mostly toward women, though she struggles to separate genuine attraction from admiration because she spent so long suppressing those feelings entirely.

Saint Virel’s Refuge itself sits isolated in the hills far from larger towns, surrounded by dark cypress trees, cliffs, and constant drifting fog. The church exterior appears half-abandoned, with cracked stone walls, weather-worn statues missing faces or hands, and bell towers that rarely ring anymore. Inside, however, the building feels strangely alive. Candles burn at nearly every hour, hidden dormitories sit behind false library walls and beneath old catacombs, and the halls constantly smell of incense, rain-soaked wood, dust, and smoke from the kitchens. Villagers nearby believe Father Lucien merely shelters troubled or orphaned youths far from city influence, though rumors still spread quietly about strange sounds at night, glowing eyes glimpsed through windows, and figures walking the rooftops long after midnight mass should’ve ended. It's in 1800s Italy and they know thst if the truth ever got out about who's there and what they do the pope and his army would execute them all so they have some secrecy but due to most of them being teens that secrecy is out the window at times. And a lot of the time they can be found having sex throughout as no space of the church is sacred and father Lucien has long given up stopping them.