*TW: blood, knife
Bringing a fallen angel through the village without prying eyes watching every step of the way was hard enough. It was even harder when Phantom insisted on saying hello to everyone he passed.
"Hello! Hi there, little one! Nice to meet you, ma'am! Isn't it a lovely morning, sir?" Phantom gleefully called out to villagers.
"Tell him to wipe the stupid grin off his face and shut up before we get into trouble," Ather whispered to Sodo.
"In a bit. He's so innocent, and it makes me want to corrupt him." Sodo replied, most likely imagining Phantom screaming his name.
Aether sighed. The holy reek still coming off of Phantom would attract the other ghouls, and he was not ready to interact with them today. Aether was due for a yearly meetup with the other quintessence ghouls, and he dreaded it. The older ghouls were known for their jealousy for the ghouls that were currently in the band, and even though Aether was good friends with most of them, he was no exception.
Copia hurried Phantom through the village, leading the way to the church. He opened the door with a key from in his robes, and told the rest of the group to wait with him as he went to get Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil.
"I like the stained glass."
While Phantom was entertained by Cirrus and Rain telling him the history of the church, Aether walked up to Mountain and Y/N. His eyes flicked down and spotted them holding hands. He hoped that Mountain and Y/N's relationship was going well.
"So what exactly happened? How did you, I don't know, disappear?" Aether asked Mountain.
"We were out for a walk, and I heard a twig snap. I told Y/N to go back and I followed, but I was caught." Mountain told him.
Aether pulled Mountain aside. Y/N went over by Sunshine and Cumulus. "Just a walk? No. . .?"
"I wouldn't dare!" Mountain gasped.
"Okay! Anyways, was Phantom at the police station?"
"Yep. As a guardian angel. He's quite young." Mountain watched Phantom walk down the aisle, marveling at the architecture of the church.
"Innocent, too. I think Sodo may have a more hands-on approach to teaching him." Aether chuckled.
"Ghouls! Out of the way!" Sister Imperator called out.
The ghouls and Y/N scurried out of the aisle as Sister and Papa Nihil made their way to see Phantom. Copia was close behind; holding a large, dusty book as well as a shoebox.
"I am Sister Imperator, and this is Papa Nihil. You must be Phantom." Sister was quick with her introduction, giving Phantom no time for a response. "Go and lay down on the altar. It's at the back of the church."
Phantom scooted onto the altar, giving worried looks towards the ghouls before he put his back down. "What- how does the ritual work, ma'am?"
A faint smile could be seen on Sister's lips; the fallen angel was very polite. Copia opened the shoebox to retrieve a vial. He handed it to Papa Nihil, and went around to light some candles.
"This will hurt, but only for a short while. Then you will forever be a ghoul." Sister grabbed the book from Copia, flipping to the right page.
"Careful, Seestor. The book is fragile," Papa Nihil warned as he opened the vial. Aether and the rest of the ghouls picked up on the scent from the vial. Blood. Papa Nihil poured a few drops onto Phantom's forehead, and drew an upside down cross with his fingers. The dark red stood out against his soft golden-tinted skin. Next, Papa Nihil took some grey powder from a bag in the shoebox and made a pentagram on Phantom's chest.
"Ghouls."
The rest of the ghouls came forward, making a circle around the altar. Aether saw Copia lead Y/N to a pew where they could sit and watch.
"Mounty, your arms!" Aether whispered as he saw him roll up his sleeves. Mountain gingerly touched them, some of the dead skin flaking off.
"Yea. I'll explain later," Mountain whispered back. The redness hadn't gone away and it hurt to rub them, but he rolled his sleeves back down to avoid being questioned.
As Sister Imperator read from the ancient book, Papa Nihil pulled a small knife from the shoebox. Aether shuddered; his tail protectively wrapping around his left leg. He only heard about this ritual before, but he would hate to have it done to him. He was all right when he got a small cut or scrape, but he became squeamish when there was a lot of blood. The ghoulettes liked to joke that he would never survive if he had periods.
"Mounty," Aether whispered, staring at the floor.
"I know. Keep looking at the floor. It'll be over soon." Mountain did his best to wash Aether with calming thoughts.
"Join hands." Sister's voice rang throughout the church. The ghouls held hands as the ritual began. "Sit lapsus angelus iste Luciferi simulacrum, Qui cecidit de caelis. Doceatur in tenebris vias sanctas nostras discat."
Aether wasn't no pro at Latin, but he was able to decipher that Sister was saying that Phantom was a fallen angel who was supposed to learn the unholy ways of his new church.
"Abstinence, do you vow to reject your previous life?"
"I do," he replied.
"Abstinence, you will be forever known as Phantom when the ritual is complete. Do you accept this name?"
"I do." Aether lifted his eyes to see Phantom lightly shrug.
"Let the unholy darkness devour your soul." The moment Sister finished speaking, Papa Nihil rose the knife. Aether stared at the floor, and willed himself not to throw up as Papa drove the knife into Phantom's chest. Phantom, shocked at what was happening, screamed and tried to squirm away, but he was held down by Sister Imperator. His cries reverberated throughout the church, and Aether felt sorry for him. Mountain sensed Aether's discomfort, and did his best to calm him down. Aether saw Mountain's tail freeze when Y/N let out a small squeak.
It ended as quick as it started. Sister let go of Phantom's shoulder as Papa Nihil took the knife out of the center of the pentagram on Phantom's chest. Blood spurted out onto the white robes he wore, and Phantom started wheezing. His skin gained a grey tint as the pentagram changed colors.
All of the ghouls waited in anticipation, but Aether still looked at the floor. Whatever color the pentagram turned represented what element the new ghoul would be. Red for Fire ghouls, orange for Multi, green for Earth, blue for Water, purple for Quintessence, and pink for Air.
"Purple!" Papa Nihil said happily.
Aether whipped his head up.
"You are a Quintessence ghoul, Phantom," Sister explained.
"Yea, but I feel weird." Phantom slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead. "I have horns! And a tail!"
"Yes. It will take time to adjust, but be careful in the meantime. Congratulations." Sister, Copia, and Papa Nihil cleaned up the altar and surrounding floor area, grabbed the book and shoebox, and went on their way. Phantom stood on wobbly legs, trying to stand up. He walked over to the other ghouls but tripped. Rain caught him, and put an arm around Phantom to support him. Sodo helped Rain, and supported his other side as they took him down the aisle.
"The Charity Club will start a collection for clothes for you. You can have some of mine after tonight," Sodo whispered in his ear.
"You gonna teach me about blow jobs?" Phantom whispered back.
"Teach? Babe, this is show and tell."
"SODO!" Swiss growled.
"I still love you more than him! I'm just helping him start his learning journey."
Aether shook his head. "Phantom, you can come back to our housing building until you have a permanent place to stay."
"Come on, Y/N!" Cirrus called out. "I'll make some food for everyone."
. . .
"Yes. Just like that. You can take more if you want. . ."
"SODO, YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE!!!" Swiss pounded on Sodo's bedroom door where he and Phantom had been for the past hour. Sodo opened the door to reveal Phantom at Sodo's desk, drawing.
"I'm teaching him how to draw." Sodo explained. Swiss peeked his head into the room. Phantom had a hot pink crayon, and he was very focused on drawing a dog. Or was it an elephant?
"You said I can have more paper, right?" Phantom asked, still focused on his artwork.
"Yep. Bottom drawer in the plastic organizer," Sodo told him.
"Want to. . .?" Swiss asked.
"With. . .?" Sodo responded.
"Why not? Kid's gotta learn."
"Fuck, you're hot."
. . .
"What's that?" Y/N asked.
I could hear very faint moans from down the hall. I didn't like to lie to Y/N, but I said I didn't know.
"Whatever. I like your room. Reminds me of the greenhouse."
I brought Y/N up to my room to show them a few books they might enjoy. They looked at the little trinkets and plants on my shelf, as well as the fuzzy blanket on the chair in the corner, and I showed them the books. They set them down on the nightstand when they saw my bat plushie on my bed.
"Awww! Did you name it?" They asked.
"This is Sparks," I told them as I handed the plushie to them. They patted Sparks, and then passed him back to me.
"I also like the leaf pillow." Before I could react, they smacked me with the pillow from my chair.
"Really? I am polite by inviting you to my room, and you hit me with my own pillow? How rude!" I said as I grabbed one of the pillows off my bed and smacked them back. We kept fighting until Y/N fell down, loosing their pillow.
"Got you now!"
Holy shit.
Their pillow went under the bed, but they pulled back a different one. I tried not to blush; they accidentally found the wrong one, but they were oblivious. I scooped them up, taking the pillow and kicking it back under the bed.
"Hey!"
"Yeah, but I won the fight." I kept my voice steady before my thoughts could be known. My tail almost betrayed me, but I slowed it down to a gentle wag.
"Fine! I have to go. See you later!" They gave me a hug, took the books, and left.
When I was certain Y/N had left, I whipped out my phone and asked Sodo if I could join them.