The door opened to reveal Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator, the heads of the Ministry standing in front of us. "Good morning to all of you." Imperator greeted us. A wave of greetings swept through the group in reply. "Welcome to the Ministry."
"For the next four years you will be here, learning and attending rituals alongside your fellow ghouls." Nihil said. "All of the papas will be here to mentor you as well."
"There's also a counselor who is available to speak to you and help you with whatever internal struggles you have." Imperator leaned into Nihil's ear. "Where are the papas, they should be here by now." As if on cue, set of doors down the hall opened and three men walked out. "Ah there they are."
"Oh shit.." My brother hissed, shrinking behind another ghoul.
"What?" I whispered.
"You remember that Secondo guy I told you about?" Avery mumbled.
"You pissed off one of the higher ups?! Are you fucking serious?!" I smacked him.
"I didn't know he was an authority figure dumbass!" He hit me back as Imperator and Nihil droned on from up front.
"How did you not know? They sent a brochure in the mail as soon as our acceptance letters arrived!" Aether chimed in, his voice low.
"Because they threw it away remember?" Aurora spoke up.
"Yeah it was Flame's fault."
"Bullshit you threw it out!" I shot back.
"Wait guys, who's that?" Swiss whispered.
"Who?" Sodo asked.
"I think he's talking about that woman in the veil." Aurora pointed up front to a woman in a black dress and veil standing next to one of the papas dressed in a chasuble like the other two, except with purple lining.
"She's got her hand on her stomach- is she pregnant?"
"Looks like it." I said.
"I thought Papa Terzo was gay." Aether muttered.
"If he got that lady pregnant, obviously not." My brother crossed his arms over his chest.
"You are all free to go. First lessons will commence tomorrow morning at nine A.M. sharp." Imperator clapped her hands. "In the meantime you can roam the ministry and become acquainted with your surroundings and fellow ghouls."
"I'll see you guys later." Aurora waved as we all dispersed.
"Bye Aurora." I waved back.
"Hey do you know if we're gonna be bunking with anyone?" Sodo asked as we walked down the corridor to the ghoul wing.
"I dunno. If we do I hope I get to be roommates with that one girl I was talking to on the bus." Avery stretched his arms behind his head.
"Stormer?"
"Yeah her. She's pretty cute- I mean cool." My brother corrected himself. I looked over at him, smirking. "You shut up."
"Uh huh." I stuck out my tongue. "I'll see you guys at dinner."
"Bye Flame!" Swiss grinned at me as I opened the door to my room.
"Bye." I nodded in his direction, stepping into the dorm.
