It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Two: The Bet

"What the hell is this?!" The voice screeched. I jumped awake, seeing Sodo did as well. He was quick to speak up, glancing at me, confised why I was leaning against the bookshelf, "Sister Imperator! What are you doing in here?"

Was she one of the ones we had to wear our masks with? I looked at the woman in shock as she approached me, ignoring the fire ghoul, "You must come with me at once, Ghoul."

I stood up quickly, only having the time to grab my mask before I was pulled out of the room. I slipped on the mask, making sure to tuck my hair underneath it as I was basically dragged down the hallway, stumbling over my feet since I was still half asleep. Sister Imperator had a firm grip on my wrist as she dragged me through numerous hallways, gaining many strange looks from others wandering the halls. We passed by a small window, where I saw it was at least 9 in the morning. I looked behind me and saw Sodo in a similar situation, just being dragged by another sister. His mask was slightly lopsided, probably by his hair and him not having enough time to situate it right under the mask. Since neither of us had the time to even put the balaclava on, our mouths were perfectly visible.

Once we were inside Sister Imperators office, they stood Sodo and I next to each other. Sodo took the time to try and fix his mask without taking it off, considering we were in front of a Sister of Sin. Copia was already in the office, guilt written in his face as Sister Imperator started to speak, "I'll address the issue at hand in just a moment. Right now I'd like to address the two ghouls sharing a room, without masks for that matter."

"In my defence, Sister Imperator," Sodo started with a formality I didn't know he had, although I'm sure he was definitely throwing sarcasm in there as well, "I wasn't exactly expecting to be rudely awoken so early in the morning, much less have company. You did barge into my room haphazardly, knowing we are free to be without our masks in front of other ghouls and in our own rooms."

"Don't get smart with me now, Fire," Sister Imperator warned. I spoke next, "I was simply told there were no other rooms ready for a fire ghoul and I was roomed with him. Besides, of it were my choice, he wouldn't have been an option."

"Glad to know that other Fire. However, you shouldn't even be here," She threw at me. Sodo threw me a glance, his eyes basically warning me not to comment. I threw his warning to the wind as I said, "I'm not sure what you'd be expecting, considering a fire ghoul summoning spell was cast. Were you expecting a water ghoul? Or perhaps an Earth ghoul?"

"I don't appreciate your tone, Ghoul," She told me. Sodo couldn't keep his mouth shut this time, "And I don't appreciate being woken up early and dragged through the entire church in sweats, yet here we are."

"Okay, I think we should skip over this and get to the matters at hand," Copia interrupted, stepping forward. Sister Imperator turned to him and said, "Don't get me started on you. I told you you could summon a ghoul. I specifically told you not to summon a Fire Ghoul."

"I believe your words were, 'Yes, fine. Summon another ghoul.' Specifics were not discussed. I summoned another ghoul and the others seem to like her. She's a good fit," Copia reasoned. Sister Imperator walked around her desk, pulling out a book as she flipped through the pages on it. I bit my lip with anxiety, hoping that she doesn't decree my getting sent back.

She soon stopped turning the pages, pointing at something as she said, "Rule number 354, line 6."

Copia came over and read the rule and said, "One mustn't summon a ghoul for their own gain."

"You summoned her for your own gain, am I right?" Sister Imperqtor challenged. Copia shook his head, "No. I summoned her to help with the band and take stress off one of the other ghouls. She's been here one day and Swiss already seems much less stressed."