It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Seventy-Two: Past Fears

"Did you really have buddies when you were in hell?" Mountain asked Sodo as they sat in the waiting room. Sodo looked at him confused, "What?"

"Back at that church. You said you had buddies," Mountain said. He and Sodo were the only ones in the waiting room. Everyone was taking turns in seeing Swiss. Mountain seemed to be the only one he had trouble believing was real. Sodo still refused to let Ember see him, regardless of how passive he was with the others. He didn't want to risk Swiss snapping and taking it out on his mate. Now with her finally carrying his kit again. He didn't want to risk losing another one.

Sodo was the only one, besides Ember, who hadn't gone to see Swiss. He knew how it felt when your mate didn't want to be around you. He wasn't about to let Mountain go through it alone. He answered with a small laugh, "Fuck, no man. Water ghouls aren't known to be aggressive. But the fire ghouls from where I came from, shit, they were bad. Had I been born a fire ghoul, I'd probably be worse than I already am."

Mountain let out a small laugh, "So what would you have done with that pastor?"

"There's still a universal sign in my ring of hell for those who need to be punished. The fire ghouls and the quintessence ghouls would take care of them each time. I would've just burned that sign onto him," Sodo responded. Mountain looked at him, "You never talk about the part of hell you came from."

"It wasn't a good one. I'm surprised that there were even any water ghouls there," Sodo responded. Mountain then got curious and asked, "Which part of hell did you come from?"

Sodo sighed. He really hated talking about where he came from. It was the one reason no one knew where exactly he came from. Sure, he would lie and say a colder circle, one where water ghouls were more common. But no one ever asked if it was true. He told Mountain, "If I tell you you can't tell anyone. I don't want anyone looking at me differently."

"Yeah, of course, I won't," Mountain promised. Sodo looked at his hands as he said, "The inner circle of the Seventh Circle."

"What the fuck?" Mountain asked, "Why are there water ghouls there?"

"It was me and maybe a handful of others. As... redundant as it may sound, it really was hell down there," Sodo said. Mountain looked over at him and said, "Sorry man. Glad you're up here with us."

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I've got Ember, I have a kit on the way, I have you guys, I'm fine. I'm happy," Sodo told him. Mountain felt a small smile ghost his lips, "What was that?"

"That I have you guys and I'm happy?" Sodo said confused. Mountain shook his head, "No, before that."

"I... have Ember?" Sodo said, just as confused. Mountain pushed Sodo's shoulder saying, "Embers pregnant?"

Sodo's eyes widened, realizing he had just let it slip once again. He cursed, "Fuck, we aren't telling anyone yet and I keep forgetting none of you know. I'm used to telling you guys everything. We were gonna wait until Swiss was back and he was okay. We didn't want to make it seem like everything was okay when it wasn't."

"When did you two find out?" Mountain asked. Sodo leaned back in his chair, telling him, "The day Swiss went missing. Originally we were gonna wait until we got confirmation from the doctor, but even when we got that, we still felt it wasn't the right time to tell any of you. But, clearly, I suck at not telling people. I already let it slip to Ifrit earlier. Now you know. And that's everyone who knows."

"Is that why you told Ember not to see Swiss? You're scared he'll hurt her?" Mountain asked softly. Sodo turned to face Mountain and said, "Look, I know Swiss would never hurt Ember. Not on purpose. I know that. But in the state he's in, I don't want him to freak out and accidentally hurt her. I've lost three kits already. I don't want to lose this one."