The Church of Ghost(Emeritus IV x Reader)

Chapter 4 - House Emeritus

A knock on the door woke me up. I turned over expecting to see my digital clock, but I remembered I wasn't at my parents home anymore. I sat up and looked at the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Cirrus. Can I come in?" the ghoul replied. I got up and opened the door. "Hi." I greeted. "Hello!" Cirrus gave a kind wave. I let her come in and kept the door ajar.

"So, before you meet with Papa, I'll have to tell you the rules." she began. I nodded, "That's understandable. They aren't too bad, are they?" I raised an eyebrow. She laughed, "No, not too bad."

The rules were mainly just to follow Papa's instructions and be careful around their newest Ghoulette, Sunshine.

     "What do you mean by that?" I asked Cirrus. "Well, to put it frankly, us ghouls originally crave blood. Sunshine is new, so she hasn't fully learned not to act irrationally, so it's best not to be alone with her yet." she answered. "What makes the rest of you safe?" I questioned.

     "We've been here for over 50 years, Y/N. We learned self control." Cirrus replied. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she must've been making some sort of "did they really just say that?" face. "I'll let you get dressed, Papa is waiting. I'll be outside of the room when you're ready." she stood up from the bed and left without another word.

     After getting ready I opened the door to my room to see her waiting like she promised. "You missed breakfast, but no worries I can make you some food after you meet Papa." Cirrus said. We then started our walk through the maze like corridors.

When we got to Papa's room, Cirrus knocked on his door. A raspy "Come in." gave us permission to enter. Papa was reading a book on his bed.

     "Papa, this is your new maid, Y/n." Cirrus introduced. He closed the book and looked up at me. "Very nice to meet you, Papa." I said, not knowing if I should bow or do some other formality. He got up from the bed and walked closer to me. His face paint was the same as the first time I saw him. Does he wear it all the time?

     "A pleasure to meet you too, dear." he took my hand and kissed my ring finger. "Well, I've got to clean the kitchen. Have fun." Cirrus excused herself. Papa went back to his bed and sat down, "You got here last night, no?"

     "I did. Did Sister Imperator tell you?" I asked. "Indeed," he paused, "I am sure you haven't seen all of House Emeritus yet, have you?" I didn't notice until now, but his eyes were different colors. "Y/n?" Papa said, snapping me out of my trance.

     "Sorry, I haven't seen much of it at all." I replied. "Well, we should get you familiarized with your environment." he stood up and walked to the door of his room, "Come, come, I shall show you around." he said while motioning me to come with him.

We began to walk around what he called home. "This is the hallway where I used to ride my tricycle as Cardinal." he commented as we walked. "Interesting." I said, not wanting him to think I wasn't paying attention. "I still ride the tricycle from time to time. It's very fun."

"That's nice." I smiled awkwardly. He's like a man baby. "You must be thinking I am very childish, which is not wrong," he began as if he was reading my mind, "But I believe you must stay in touch with your inner child. Helps with the heart, you know?"

     "Right, right. Of course, Papa." I nodded. "Yes, yes. Ah, here is the kitchen." he opened a door to a spacious kitchen. Two ghouls were washing dishes and two others were making food. "Ah, Cirrus, Aether, Mountain, Sunshine, how are you all?" Papa greeted them.

     "Very well, Papa. Is this the new maid Sodo was talking about?" one asked. "Y/n, meet Mountain." Papa introduced. I walked up to the tall ghoul, "Hello." I waved. "A pleasure to meet you,
Y/n." Mountain said. "What about Sunshine?" Papa asked. Mountain and Cirrus looked over at each other briefly.

"Sure." Cirrus nodded, putting her hand on the other Ghoul's shoulder. "Hi Sunshine." I greeted. Sunshine was clenching her fists, but managed to say a hello before Cirrus had her leave the room. "We're working on it." Mountain reassured. "Very good, very good." Papa nodded. He looked at the food that was being prepared, "What this?"

"A nice fettuccine Alfredo for lunch, Papa." he answered. Papa took a whiff of the Alfredo sauce, closing his eyes to smell it better I suppose. "Delicious." he commented. "When will it be done?" I asked. "Momentarily. Just making sure the sauce is done." Mountain replied. "Perfect. I can show Y/n the dining room." Papa said.

     We walked out of the kitchen leaving Mountain to finish prepping the food. "I believe the others are setting the table." Papa said as we walked through a lovely corridor with paintings on either side. It seemed to be a sort of gallery.

     When we reached the dining room door, the sound of bickering could be heard from the other side of the door. Papa opened the door for me, letting me walk in first. When the Ghouls saw Papa enter they immediately stopped talking. "Good day, Papa." they all seemed to say in unison.

     "Good day to you all as well. I believe some of you have yet to meet our newest house staff addition,
Y/n." Papa introduced me. "Hello Y/n." one came up and shook my hand, "I'm Rain." he greeted. "What a lovely name. Nice to meet you." I smiled. I also met Swiss and Aether.

     Cumulus and Sodo gave me a nod instead of coming to shake my hand like the others. Once that was over the food came. Cirrus, Mountain, and Sunshine each came in with dishes of the Fettuccine Alfredo, Broccoli, and bread. "Come, come. Let's sit." Papa said.

     Papa had me sit next to him as we were served our food by Mountain. The other ghouls sat down and had their food served as well. I expected them to say a sort of prayer, but they didn't. They just started to eat. I watched them eat for a bit before Papa looked up at me, "Is something wrong, Y/n?"

     The ghouls were all looking at me. "No, sorry." I said, embarrassed. I began to eat. They all went back to eating when they saw me working on my food. Occasionally, a ghoul would strike up a conversation to break the awkwardness for a bit.

     Once we all had finished eating, Papa took my hand, "If you'll all excuse me and Y/n, I have to show them the garden." I looked up at Papa, whom was looking at me. Does he want me to stand up? I looked down, pulling my hand away from him and stood up. The ghouls began to clean up the table as we left.