a/n: huge thanks to @0_mackie for the request!
today's crossover is the much awaited
slipknot x ghost!
in this one, y/n is a quintessence ghoul
Occasionally, when a ghoul has been overworked and needs a break, they can retreat to one of the rooms in the summoning and magic practice floor to have an elder ghoul guide them through a meditation or cast a spell for a deep rest.
Since Secondo has worked you quite a bit this month, your friends Aether and Cumulus told you to try out a meditation with Boulder, an elder earth ghoulette that specializes in adjusting energy and guiding meditations. You took the advice and you've been meditating with Boulder for a few hours now.
Suddenly, you get a weird feeling in your spine. You brush it off, thinking it's some of Boulder's earth energy. Oh, but it's escalating into an ache. It kind of hurts.
You hiss in pain as the ache strikes right at the base of your neck.
"Boulder," you mutter. "Is it supposed to hurt?"
"It depends on how stressed you are," Boulder simply replies, not opening her eyes.
Suddenly it feels like something is gripping your ribcage and it's pulling you through the floor.
...
"Hey, shut up, Paul, this is just for shits and giggles," Sid laughs. He may or may not be a bit intoxicated. The DJ snickers to himself as he and Corey spread ketchup in a summoning circle on the kitchen floor.
Paul is not on board with this idea. He wants to go home and lay down, but Shawn and Sid called him a loser and wouldn't let him leave Corey's house.
"Alright, incantation time!" Sid googles a demon summoning incantation. His search has so many misspellings that it's a combined effort from Mick, Jim, and Corey to complete the google search and find an incantation.
The men all gather around the circle and begin to mutter the incantation. The ketchup glows a little bit after a few verses.
Uh oh, this is actually real.
"Come on, come on," Sid mutters under his breath once the incantation is done.
"Argh," something groans as the circle releases a burst of blinding light and a wave of force. When the men open their eyes again and adjust, they see a demon crouched on the remnants of the ketchup circle.
"Whoa," Sid's eyes widen. "You're a demon."
...
The silver mask covering your face turns to the man and a bit of fear strikes him as your purple eyes glow.
"How?" you whisper.
Everyone in the room is speechless. You have no idea how 9 complete strangers just summoned you, the 9 strangers in question also have no idea how you're real, it's all just kind of an unexpected shitshow.
"Are you a demon?" another man asks.
"Ghoul," you simply reply. "How did you summon me? You're not supposed to be able to do that."
You stand up, prompting the rest of the men to stand and examine all of your ghoulish features: your tail, claws, helmet, and horns.
"You're amazing," the first man says. "I-I'm Sid."
"Thank you," you look away. People don't tend to call you amazing. Granted, that probably is because the people you're always around aren't amazed by ghouls.
You're still wearing the meditation tunic and pants set with a cloak hanging over your body and now stained by the remnants of the burnt ketchup on the floor, and it's getting quite hot.
"How did you do this? Summoning a ghoul is usually difficult for even masters of magic," you inquire.
"It was all Sid's idea," one of the men replies. "Frankly, we're all surprised something even happened."
"Well that's inconvenient," you cross your arms. "I don't know how to get myself back."
"Awesome," Sid hums.
"I'm not your hostage," you scoff at him. "I just need time to figure it out."
"Okay then," Sid raises his hands in defense.
"Can any of us help you?" another one asks.
"You can introduce yourselves to me so I know who you are."
"Oh, I'm Paul."
A shorter man next to him tells you he's Joey. Then Jim, Corey, Mick, Sid (again), Chris, Craig, and Shawn. They let you sit down on the couch and offer you food and drinks while Sid picks your brain.
"Y'know, we wear masks too!" he smiles, giving your helmet a little tap. "Whoa, that's actual metal."
"Metal plated, but yeah," you nod. "Why do you wear masks? Do you have a weird job too?"
"I'd say so. We're a band called Slipknot."
"That sounds familiar...did you not just release an album?"
"Yes! It's called All Hope Is Gone." You nod. "Why do you wear masks?"
"Ministry regulation," you answer. "Usually ghouls wear suits too, but I'm doing a five day long meditation, so I'm in different clothes."
...
The night passes with some conversation, and by about 2am, you fall asleep on the couch. You wake up to Jim making breakfast. No one else is around, so you quickly pull your mask back over your face before stalking into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Y/n," Corey smiles. "Did you sleep okay?"
"My back hurts a bit, but that's par for the course for sleeping on a couch, I suppose," you shrug.
"Are you hungry? I can make you something."
"Oh, please and thank you."
You share a nice breakfast with Corey before a hungover Sid shuffles in. Sid is shocked that you're both not a weird drunk dream and still around. He assumed you would have teleported back to Sweden by now, but no.
Corey lets you use his phone to call the Ministry, where Rain picks up.
"Hey, Rain," you greet. "So listen, I got summoned."
"I noticed," the bassist chuckles.
"You wouldn't be able to get together a few ghouls and siblings to summon me back, would you?"
"I gotcha, but the ghouls are pretty busy getting yelled at by Secondo."
"Oh fuck off, who pissed him off this time?"
"I'm sworn to secrecy, but I can say that it may or may not have been Dew and Aether."
"Sounds about right," you roll your eyes. "What's my ETA gonna be then?"
"Shouldn't be too long, maybe an hour?"
"Alright. Thanks, man."
"You got it, darling."
When you hang up, both Corey and Sid are smirking at you.
"What now?" you scoff.
"Is that your ~boyfriend~~~?" Corey teases.
"No, he calls everyone darling," you shrug. "Now keep me entertained for an hour."
"I mean...it's pretty early for that, but I'm down," Sid remarks.
"Not while you're hungover."
Sid groans in pain and rubs his temples as he walks to the living room and flops on the couch. You follow him, concentrating some earth energy into your hands before you approach him and rest your fingertips into Sid's forehead. You ease the energy into him to alleviate the pain and a bit of the hangover.
"Whoa," Sid's eyes widen. "That was cool, I, uh, thank you."
"You're welcome," you smile a bit. "If I knew more pain relief aids I'd help you out more."
"No, it's okay. That was amazing. Are you sure you can't stay with us?"
"It would be nice, but I have my duties to attend to."
...
An hour later, as promised, a summoning circle appears around your feet and you feel a familiar ache in your spine.
"It's time, guys," you call to your companions.
"Wait, wait! Hold on!" Sid barrels at you and hugs you. "It was great to meet you, Y/n."
"It was good to meet you too, Sid," you hug the DJ back. "Take care, alright?"
In a few moments and a flash of purple light, Sid is left alone in the living room.
....
huge thanks for this request, 0_mackie!!