Children of the Clergy

Season 1 | Episode 4 | Fratellone

Primo stared in awe at the tall ghoul that stood infront of him, now dressed in its full uniform. It wore its metalic black ghoul mask and sleek black leather robe. It also had on a black leather mantle half cape with a hood, black formal shoes, and black leather gloves. The silver Emeritus Crest hung from around its neck, glistening in the low light of the dressing room lobby. Primo had learnt along the way that this ghoul's name was Zephyr and he was a Quintessence ghoul. Like all ghouls, he had soft black skin which was slightly covered in fur, sharp canine teeth, long pointed ears with white tips, and claw-like fingers. His eyes had black scleras and slit pupils, like a cat. His personal features consisted of his pale blue eyes, which sometimes burned with blue quintessence fire, and his short silky black hair. He also had small silver horns but, considering the amount of other ghouls who's horns looked similar, that wasnt really something that made him easily recognisable.

If humans and ghouls had the same lifespans, Primo and the pack would be around the same age. However, due to the very long lifespans of ghouls, Zephyr and the others would be thought of by other ghouls as babies, not just kits.

Primo stepped back to get a better look at the ghoul. His soft blue eyes shimmered. His robe lay delicately over his thin, prestigious frame. He was beautiful. The other ghouls stood in line with Zephyr, all in their new uniforms. They looked very intimidating and Primo occasionally noticed a few Siblings of Sin, who were stood in the room with them, glancing over at them nervously. The whole room was on edge, all except for Primo. He didn't find the ghouls intimidating at all. Instead, he found them very interesting. He'd had to help them into their uniforms which, although uncomfortable at first, had given him a chance to see them a little better.

He'd noticed the long, wire-like tails they all had with thin, black spades on the end. He hadn't been able to see them underneath the long robes they'd been covered with before. Secondo had taught him about the different shapes each ghoul or ghoulette's tail had on the end, as well as their different textures, and how that helped to identify what they were: Ghouls had thin spade shapes at the ends of their tails, however, Ghoulettes had ends closer in shape to a three dimentional rumbus. All of the tips of these shapes were bright white. Fire ghouls had smooth tails. Water ghouls had silky, shinny tails. Quintessence ghouls had round scales on theirs and Earth ghouls had sharper, pointed scales. Multi ghouls tails were slightly more furry. And Air ghouls' tails were slightly longer. There were other ways to tell which element a ghoul was and that is their reaction to phisical touch, specifically how much they enjoyed being petted or scrached in different places. Primo couldn't remember all of these off by heart but he always seemed to remember that Quintessence ghouls loved being scratched under the chin, simply because it reminded him of the way cats reacted to the same thing. He, absent mindedly, lifted his hand to start brushing his fingers against Zephyr's chin but backed away when he noticed the strange looks he was getting from the Siblings of sin. He'd have to test if that way of recognising their elements was true or not later.

Primo walked back to the Emeritus Sons' Quarters, his six ghouls walking closely behind him like bodyguards. A few Siblings of Sin hurried past him in the corridors, most likely trying not to be too close to the ghouls for too long, but a few gave them strange glances which Primo was not happy that they were doing. The ghouls were still very young, considering their lifespan, so the way the Siblings were looking at them was just wrong.

He pushed open the door to their quarters and walked in. He'd expected to see Secondo sitting in his chair, reading a book as usual. But instead, the shared living room was empty and eerily quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the soft ticking of the grandfather clock. Primo glanced over at it, rereading the changed words on the era mark: Era of Prime. The title played in his head endlessly. It seemed surreal to have an entire era named after his own prepetation for a single role in the Clergy.