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-phantom !!
-no set placement
-2720 words!
- no trigger
warnings
- requested by anon !
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"aether is being replaced."
"he'll no longer be our rhythm guitarist."
"he's being transferred to another branch for the next few months, then he'll be back."
memories of the day aether announced he was leaving rushed through my mind as i stared at the alter, chanting a phrase in latin as copia summoned another quintessence ghoul—aether's brother, apparently.
mountain and i held hands as we rushed our earthen affinity into the pentagram outline that had been carved into the ground. my tail thrashed wildly as anger flooded my system.
who was aether to give us little warning about his departure from the band? how he was moving for a few months? dew was devastated, as were mountain and i, seeing as we all had been summoned at the same time.
wind blew around the room as cirrus and cumulus raised their air affinity, my hair lashing against my face as the portal to hell was about to be opened. the fire on the candles dew lit blazed brighter, the water at the base of the candles rising into the air in droplets, circling around the flames to keep them contained.
swiss and sunshine were next to copia, holding his hands to boost the power in his words, their eyes glowing gold.
then, in the blink of an eye, a bring flash shined from the middle of the pentagram and mountain pulled me close to his chest, protecting me from the sparks that flicked out from the portal.
dew rushed forward and grabbed onto the ghoul that copia had summoned, pulling the quintessence hellbeast topside, out of the pits.
as soon as the new ghoul was out of the portal, the flaming circle closed and everything went silent—the air calmed, the vines on the walls drew back, the flames died down, and the water splashed back into the basins.
mountain slowly pulled away from the hug and looked over his shoulder at the frail quintessence ghoul, aether rushing forward and wrapping a robe around his brother.
"phantom? can you hear me?" aether spoke softly, taking the small ghoul out of dew's hold. "a..aeth'..?" the new ghoul uttered, weakly raising his head to look at his brother. aether grinned and nodded. "hey bud.. told ya i'd bring you up one day, huh?" aether spoke quietly.
i stood back with mountain, watching the interaction as i leaned into my brother's body, a sudden pit in my stomach. this ghoul was scared, and desperate for comfort—of which he was getting from his brother. i could easily give comfort.. why wasn't he coming to me?
my eyes widened at my possessive thoughts and i quickly shoved them away as mountain and i were spoken to by aether.
"could you come over and ground him? he's shaking like a leaf," aether spoke, a worried frown on his face. mountain was quick to move forward, but i stepped hesitantly.
i could comfort him now.. why was i not jumping at the opportunity?
"y/n, come on," mountain said. rain grabbed my hand and led me over, placing my hand on phantom's other shoulder, pumping my earthen affinity into his hellish essence.
i made eye contact with phantom, and suddenly i wanted nothing more than to hold him close and protect him from all. i went to move forward but quickly held myself back, opting to just hold eye contact.
though, my efforts were deemed useless as phantom crawled out of aether's arms and into mine, a soft purr rumbling in his chest as he clutched onto me. my jaw dropped slightly and i looked up at copia, not realizing i had wrapped my arms around phantom, holding him closer.
"phantom," copia started, seeing my shock. "how about you let go of our dear ghoulette and we can get you settled into a room?" copia offered, reaching out to phantom. though, phantom recoiled and aether's hand shot out to grip onto copia's wrist, stopping him from moving any closer.
"do you want y/n to come with?" aether asked softly, rubbing his brother's back. phantom nodded, his timid eyes shining bright purple.
allowing phantom to clutch onto me seemed to be one of the worst decisions i had ever made. phantom was clingy and constantly seeking my approval and attention for every single thing he did on his own. of course, he went to dew and rain sometimes, but mainly he was looking for my attention.
"phantom, please," i sighed as phantom tapped my shoulder for the millionth time, practically begging for my attention. "i need to work." i said, looking at him with a slight frown.
"i know, i'm sorry," phantom apologized but continued on. "but i have a question. it's about me adjusting to topside, i promise." phantom spoke, glancing up into my eyes nervously. i nodded, waiting for his question.
"i.. why does my stomach only feel fluttery around you?" he asked. i raised an eyebrow, my heart dropping as my head started to spin.
he gets butterflies around me..?
"it's like my stomach ties up in knots and rustles around whenever i'm around you. that's why i don't make eye contact a whole lot. and my face heats up, and my tail gets all thrashy and-" phantom continued to rant about everything he felt around me.
phantom... the new summon.. has a crush on me?
"i.. i dunno," i shrugged. "there's a book in the library that explains everything about being topside to new summons. it should be there." i offered, knowing damn well i knew exactly why he was feeling what he was. "really?" phantom asked. i nodded. he grinned and hugged me, something he only did with his brother, nuzzling into my neck.
"you smell good." phantom said before smiling at me and darting off to the library. i let out a breath i didn't know i was holding, feeling extremely light headed.
swiss barked out a laugh as i finished explaining everything to him.
"no fucking way!" swiss cackled. "you've found your soulmate? do you know how often that happens??" swiss grinned widely. i nodded, covering my face as i muttered: "never."
"exactly! y/n, babe, you gotta make some moves on him." swiss grinned, pulling me into a side hug.
"imagine. y/n and phantom, power couple of the ministry—best friends, lovers, soulmates." swiss spoke dramatically, holding me close.
"satan, you're no help." i groaned, standing up from the couch and starting to pace. "he's barely acclimated to being topside and he's already feeling the bond! lucifer, swiss, what and i supposed to do? i can't get into a relationship with him! he's already overwhelmed," i ranted, my hands finding my hair and starting to lightly tug as my pacing became more dramatic.
swiss was quick to stand and pull my hands away from my hair, brushing my hair behind my horns to keep it out of my face.
"you're right, you can't tell him right now. you can't get in a relationship with him, either." swiss spoke, all lightheartedness in his voice completely gone. "but you can be there for him. i can tell you care about him, so show that. once he's ready, he'll be more assertive when he asks you about everything again. then you can tell him. then you can get into a relationship." swiss offered all of his advice. i let out a breath of relief and nodded, hugging swiss.
"thank you.." i muttered. swiss grinned,
"anytime."
phantom quickly slid into mountain's seat next to me at the dinner table, getting a low and possessive growl from my brother as he glared down at the new summon.
phantom cowered slightly and quickly stood up, rushing over to my other side and sitting in swiss' seat, the multi-ghoul chuckling and shaking his head as he walked over to where phantom was supposed to sit.
"fuckin' brat." mountain growled as he sat next to me. "sitting in my seat like i'm not her damn brother," mountain hissed. i nudged him and shook my head.
'i'll explain later' i told him through the mind link. mountain glanced over and stared for a moment before he huffed and nodded.
"y/n, you'll never guess what i did today," phantom quickly pulled my attention to him, a wide smile on his face.
normally, when he said something like that, it was completely mundane—like taking a walk, or cleaning up a closet—but i listened anyways, finding his excitement of being topside endearing.
"i went out to the woods and found a really cool boulder that looks over the river! it's like you're perched on a cliffside when you sit on the edge of it! can i show you tomorrow?" phantom leaned closer, looking up at me, his purple eyes shining with excitement. i smiled and nodded, brushing his shaggy hair out of his eye. phantom grinned happily and turned to aether, starting to whisper to his brother.
i made eye contact with swiss, getting a suggestive smile from the multi-ghoul. i rolled my eyes and focused on my food, deciding i wasn't going to talk to anyone except phantom or mountain for this meal.
at the end of dinner, i went to my room to recharge a bit, only to be followed at a distance by phantom, his tail giving him away as it thrashed against the wall, making a thump every time.
i stepped into my room and closed the door, deciding to set a boundary with the new summon. i needed my time alone, and he had to respect that.
phantom sighed and stood outside for a moment before shuffling to his room, the door closing almost silently down the hall.
i took a deep breath and began getting ready for bed, deciding that i had too much of a headache to try and stay up late.
though, as i got ready, my thoughts drifted back to phantom.
he's so new... how can he feel the bond already? maybe he didn't. maybe he was just feeling like he had a crush. maybe he didn't know that he was bonded to me by our souls, not just by our pack.
but then why would he be going after my attention? whenever i had a crush on someone in the pits i kept it to myself and kept quiet.. why was phantom so.. loud about it?
i sighed as i climbed into bed, changed into my pajamas. i laid down and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, of which it turned into a yawn. i settled into my mattress and let myself fall into slumber, trying not to think about phantom.
i was woken up a few hours later by a timid knock. "y/n..?" whoever it was muttered shyly, just barely cracking the door open. "hm?" i grunted, keeping my eyes closed.
"can.. can i come in? i had a flashback to the pit.. it wasn't a good one.." the ghoul i now recognized as phantom asked, his purple eyes shining in the dark room. i took a deep breath, annoyed by the sudden need to rush over to phantom and wrap him in a hug.
"yeah.. c'mere.." i mumbled after a moment, lifting my blankets for him. phantom quickly stepped into my room and quietly closed the door, rushing over and climbing into my bed under the covers, cuddling into me after.
there goes setting boundaries.. i thought.
"you wanna tell me about it?" i asked softly, brushing my fingers through his shaggy black hair, thinking about how someone needed to cut it into something manageable. phantom shook his head. "still freaked out.." he muttered. i nodded, holding him close.
"why come to me?" i asked gently, making sure i didn't sound like i didn't want him here, because i honestly didn't mind. "why not aether?" i continued.
"he sleeps like a rock." phantom whispered. "he wakes up in a jolt whenever we need him," i spoke, raising an eyebrow. "i'm his brother. it's different." phantom chuckled. i laughed softly and nodded. "yeah, mountain's the same way."
phantom stayed quiet, and i honestly thought he had fallen asleep, but then he said something that knocked the wind straight out of me.
"you've known we're soulmates... why haven't you said anything?" phantom asked, keeping his face buried in my neck. i paused, completely caught off guard.
he's still too new... he's too overwhelmed for this..
"i... i didn't want to freak you out," i settled on, my voice breaking slightly. "i didn't want to overwhelm you and push you away.." i continued, saying things i didn't even realize i felt for the ghoul cuddled up to me.
"were you even planning on telling me?" phantom asked, his face nuzzled against my collarbone. "eventually, yes. i wanted to wait until you were fully acclimated to being topside," i mumbled. phantom nodded, the both of us falling into silence.
after a few minutes i went to speak again, but phantom snoring softly stopped me before i even tried. i sighed softly and wrapped my arms around him tighter, nuzzling into his shaggy hair.
the next day, phantom was excitedly dragging me out into the woods and to the cliffside he had found the day before.
"you're going to love it, y/n, i swear!" he grinned, holding on tight to my hand. "ready??" he grinned as i saw a break in the tress up ahead. i smiled and nodded at the excited ghoul, holding back a surprised yelp as he took off, dragging me with him.
"phantom!" i laughed, grinning as we broke from the woods and onto the cliffside, a big rock being about 50 feet ahead.
"wow.." i muttered, shuffling closer to the edge to get a better view of the lookout. phantom grinned happily and cuddled up to my side, his arm wrapped tightly around me.
"this is gorgeous, phantom," i awed, taking in the view. phantom just started purring, his swaying tail calming and wrapping around mine.
"y/n, can i ask you something?" phantom asked, looking up at me. i looked down and nodded, brushing a strand of his hair out of his face.
"what.. what does us being soulmates mean?" he asked. "like, i know we're bonded by the universe and all, but what does it mean for.. for our relationship?" he continued, looking at me with his shining purple eyes.
i took a deep breath as i thought the question over, before speaking softly.
"i'm going to leave that up to you, phantom." i said. "i'm more than happy to get into a relationship with you, and i'll understand completely if you want to stay friends—i'm here to make sure you're comfortable in the pack and being topside. i'm not going to force you into anything just because of our bond." i explained.
phantom stared for a moment before pressing his lips to mine, his eyes fluttering shut as mine shot open in surprise. i quickly pulled away, my jaw dropped slightly as i stared at phantom. phantom's face paled and he quickly began rambling.
"i-i'm sorry! oh, satan, i shouldn't have done that. i'm stupid, i'm sorry. i wanted to love you! i-i mean, i do love you, but i wanted to prove that i love you, or- i don't-.. i don't know, i'm really sorry," phantom had stepped away and begun pacing slightly as he gripped his horns, turning his back to me.
as soon as i got over my shock, i stepped forward and pulled phantom into a hug.
"i.. i love you too.. i think.. but we still need to take this slow. you were just summoned. you haven't fully acclimated to being topside yet. i'm not going to force another level of work on you until you're settled, okay?" i spoke softly, pulling his hands away from his horns.
"you could never be work.." phantom muttered.
i stood silently, feeling my face heat up at his compliment. i hugged him tighter, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead between his horns.
"just.. let's calm it down, okay?" i whispered. phantom was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "you won't avoid me?" he asked. "of course not," i replied. he nodded slightly.
"yeah.. let's take it slow.."