Hearts of the Lonely (Reader x Mountain Ghoul)

38- An Eventful Halloween

"Dad!" Terzo gasped. "I'm sorry- I- I have to-"

"Go," you told him.

Terzo ran up the steps and reached his father. You saw Copia on the side of the stage, and he ran out as well. A few men in black uniforms ran to Papa Nihil's side and began checking his vitals, and Sister Imperator ran up the center aisle of the church. One of the men stood up and whispered something to her. Her spine stiffened, and she went over to the ghoulettes' platform to get a microphone.

"Papa Nihil has passed."

The crowd gasped, murmured, and few screams were heard.

"And I must announce that there will be a new Papa Emeritus. Tonight."

Taking this as his cue, Copia came over and moved to the center of the stage. As he did so, a few Sisters brought robes and little jars of face paint. Sister Imperator snapped her fingers and looked at the ghoulettes. Cirrus and Cumulus awkwardly played some piano music. The rest of the ghouls joined in, not knowing what to do as the men took Papa Nihil offstage, Terzo and Sister Imperator followed them, and the Sisters dressed up the new Papa Emeritus.

Copia's new outfit included skull face paint and blue and gold robes. The Sisters next to him knelt down and kissed his hands. The rest of the congregation, still shocked by previous events, started to clap and kneel on the cold, stone flooring.

"Uhm- thank you. I think we should all head home, now."

. . .

"The first thing he said as Papa was 'we all should go home'? Not anything cool?"

"Sunny, his dad just died like three minutes before."

"Yea. . ." Sunshine thought about it as she held Aether's hand. A whimper came from the other side of the room, and she turned to see Phantom shivering.

"I'll get it." Aether got up and covered him with the blanket that fell on the floor, and kissed his masked forehead. He waited until Phantom was sleeping soundly before he went back over by Sunshine.

"He is getting better, though. His nausea and upset stomach stopped a while ago."

"Should I wake him up? He's going to be pissed if he finds out he missed his first ever Halloween party."

"Will there be candy?" A weak voice asked. Phantom opened his eyes and stretched his arms.

"You can only have a few pieces," Aether told him.

"Can I get up and see everyone?"

"Aeth, if I help with the stuff in the kitchen and the last decorations, would you be willing to get him cleaned up?" Sunshine got up from her spot on the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"Sure. C'mon, bud." Aether went over to Phantom, picked him up, and carried him upstairs to his room. Sunshine smiled as she saw Phantom hugging Aether, with his tail curled around Aether's leg.

. . .

"What are you supposed to be?" Sodo asked.

"A superhero!" The child responded.

"Ah. You want this icky candy bar or a super fun whistle that you can show off to your friends?" Sodo knelt down and showed the kid his options. The child thought hard. Finally, he made up his mind.

"Whistle!"

"Ah, ah, ah! What're the magic words?"

"Please and thank you!"

Sodo smiled as he gave the kid the whistle.

"That makes twelve pissed-off parents in an hour. New record." Sodo thought, grinning.