A. Emeritus

Chapter 22

With a jolt I wake at the sound of my door closing. I sit up and see my large suitcase sitting beside my door, ready to go. Sighing, I stumble out of bed and use my spare hairbrush to brush away the bedhead. As I walk by my window I notice the sun hasn't even risen yet. Rubbing my face I walk over and look at my sunglasses, I put on the pair Gizio got me for the beach and slip them on. Being too tired to make a decision, I grab as many pairs of sunglasses as I can hold comfortably in both hands and throw them in my backpack. Topping off the look with my wide brimmed hat from the beach, I grab my bags and trudge out into the hall. Only to return and slip my black mary jane flats on.

Each step down to the common room is punctuated by a loud THUD as my suitcase hits the stairs behind me. One of the ghouls meets me at the bottom and slaps the brim of my hat down into my sunglasses; it's definitely Ember.

"You're fucking loud." He says, taking my large suitcase and carrying it over by the others. I walk over to join them, and get handed a bottle of water by Quintessence.

"Are you guys traveling in full uniform?" I ask, and take a drink. Quintessence nods before pointing toward the top of the stairs. Even Papa is in full uniform.

Papa joins us and explains the traveling plans for the day.

"You will be broken up into groups to keep from getting lost. Special, I want you to keep track of, Aster, both fire ghouls, and Quintessence. The rest of you will be with me." He motions for us to follow and we move as a group toward the front doors. Since it's so early no one in the compound seems to be up at the moment.

We make it outside with no one to stop us, and begin to load our things into the minibus to get to the airport. As Fire takes my suitcase and hoists it to Quintessence in the bus, I see Gizio making his way down the front steps. I place my backpack and hat on the ground and run over to give him a hug. He wraps his arms around me tightly the second my body collides with his.

"Be safe, Piccolina. I'm going to miss you so much." He tells me as he places his hand on the back of my head and pulls me closer into him. "I want you to at least text me everyday. You hear me?" I nod against him and smile. "If I don't get a text one day, I will be on the next flight to you." He says in a serious tone.

"I'll text you everyday, I promise." I pull away and lift my sunglasses. Gizio wipes my tears away, and hugs me one more time. "I'm gonna miss you so much."

"You'll start having so much fun you won't even have time to miss me, Tesoro. And don't forget you'll have Ember there to keep you company." He reminds me and wipes my tears that continue to fall. With a gentle push I'm ushered toward the bus with Gizio following close behind. I turn for one last hug and Gizio places a kiss on my forehead.

"I expect just as many tears of joy when you see me again." Gizio chuckles and motions for me to board the bus.

Before I can hesitate and try to change my mind I feel a couple pairs of hands grab me and pull me into a seat. Special and Ember hold into me until we are halfway down the mountain.

"You guys can let go of me now." I tell them as I pull out of their grip. Ember puts his hands up.

"Hey, we couldn't leave until you sat down." Special says leaning back in his seat.

"I'm not doing this without you." Ember says, hands still up. As I turn around to talk to Special, I feel my hat get placed on my head. With a quick glance I see Fire give me a thumbs, and I turn to Special.

"Why is everybody in uniform? I feel underdressed."

"Do you think the Catholic pope dresses down to travel?" Papa says from the seat beside Special. "By traveling in our uniforms people know we're above them and should be treated as such." He states before turning his attention back to the window.

"Did you bring a book for something for the plane?" Special asks me. I shake my head, and shrug. "You should get one at the airport." He recommends. "For now you should sleep. It's a long way there." Before I can argue about sleeping, Special runs his hand down my face and I feel my body collapse against Ember's.

I'm shaken awake by Ember who shows me his passport and boarding pass.

"There's a name on my passport." He says as he holds it a few inches from my face. I pull my head back to read what they put for his name. -Emilio Cante-

"You know you need a name to travel internationally, right? That's probably the name they registered you under when you got here." I push his passport back and feel a hand hit my right shoulder. Quintessence hands me my own passport and boarding pass.

"Don't lose it." Before I can respond, Special holds his hand over the back of the seat.

"I'll hold onto your guys'. I don't want you guys to lose them or leave them somewhere. Ember and I hand him our boarding passes, which he tucks into his robes.

We soon arrive at the airport and quickly get unloaded. After more struggle than what was probably necessary, I manage to get my carry-on bag to stay on top of my large suitcase, then run to follow Special as he leads the four of us into the airport and toward the check in. The massive amounts of line dividers come into view and Special stops abruptly. After a quick look at the boarding passes he leads us into one of the farthest off lines. He hands me and Ember our boarding passes and stands behind us to assist while we get our luggage checked and have our boarding passes checked.

"Is this your first time in first class?" The lady checking my information asks. I stutter in response. I had no clue we were booked for first class. Special quickly steps in,

"She's a nervous flier, we thought it'd be best to get nicer seats to keep from bothering others if she gets too worked up." He explains. The lady looks a little confused and hands my stuff back.

"Are you her father?" Special nods, places his stuff on the counter and puts his checked luggage on the low shelf thing for it.

"The church has put her under my care." He says blandly. His boarding pass is processed and the lady explains how to get to security. Special takes my hand and leads me to the side by Ember to wait for Fire and Quintessence. "Just to let you know, we'll probably be taken to a separate place for security. Our uniforms attract more attention than you'd think, and not all of it is good."

At security we're led to a side section where Special explains that they're wearing religious clothing. The guards have them remove their grucifixes and go through the scanner like that. I was instructed to remove my shoes and go through the scanner while they checked my bags. With security done we find the book store and I pick out a book that came out a few years before, but hadn't been translated into Italian until the previous year. Ember also picks a book and after purchasing them we head to find the gate.

Special calls our timing impeccable, as we arrive after Papa and the rest, but just before our boarding group is called. 

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Holy shit, I swear I'm still alive. I got some major writers block and finally finished the chapter I was writing. The past few months where these last couple chapters were released have been kinda hectic. I will (un)fortunately have more time to write, not that I hate writing. I just went from a full time job to a part time job, and now have more time to dedicate to planning and writing.