Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aeon felt cold, the type of cold that gets into your bones. He felt as if he had been submerged into an ice bath with no way to escape. He tried moving his limbs, tail and all but found them stiff, almost frozen in place where he was stuck on the cold hard stone that he now lay upon, curled up. He manages to open his eyes to find unlit candles surrounding him, smoke pouring off of them as if they had just all been extinguished all at once. Looking further ahead, he finds large, dark figures standing over him.

"Ah, another successful summon" an italian accented voice came from behind him

Aeon can move his limbs a little now and with much struggle, he slightly turns his prone body to face the voice, resting most of his upper body weight onto his forearms and turning his head the rest of the way. He looks up to see what looks like a pope, dressed in royal blue papal robes, with striking skeletal face paint. Aeon looks on in fear.

The pope starts to walk over to him, stepping over what looks like a pentagram drawn on the floor. Aeon feels more terrified the closer he steps.

"How do you feel little ghoul? are you alright?" the dark pope addresses him, still approaching. 

Soon the pope reaches Aeon and crouches down, kneeling beside him. Aeon can now see that the pope was holding something, it seemed to be a black cloak.

"Hello little ghoul. I am Papa Emeritus IV but you can call me Copia. If i may ask, what is your name?"

Aeon doesnt answer, too terified by the man now kneeling next to him, afraid that this man is going to hurt him.

"He asked you a question" a harsh voice comes from behind him, making him jump, curling more into himself.

The pope, Copia, Aeon now calls in his brain, gives a harsh look at whoever said that but doesn't address them. Instead, he places the cloak over Aeon, giving him some warmth.

"It is alright little ghoul, you don't have to speak until you are ready" Copia reassures him. "but, I think we should get up off of this cold floor, don't you agree?" Copia holds a hand out to Aeon

Aeon places his hand in Copia's and after much struggle, makes it onto his feet, slightly wobbling. Soon, he gains his balance.

"Alright, lets get out of here. It is very cold" Copia holds his hand and leads Aeon up a large flight of stairs, getting brighter as they make their way up. Aeon can hear multiple other sets of footsteps behind him, but he is too scared to turn around. Soon they reach a large door, stopping at the top of the stairs as Copia fiddles with a key. Copia pushes the door open after it is unlocked and Aeon shields his eyes from the harsh light.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I probably should have warned you of how bright it might be" Copia apologies.

Aeon looks at Copia with a questioning look, almost as if all this time Aeon hasn't been able to understand them, just hearing noises come out of their mouth but still able to hear their tone. Copia doesn't see this expression and keeps leading Aeon down multiple winding hallways until they reach somewhere near the back of the church. Copia leads Aeon into a door and waits for the others to enter before closing it. Immediately, the robed figures tear off their robes to reveal a pack of ghouls.

Aeon immediately shies away from the pack, wanting to run from the obviously stronger ghouls but he doesn't know where to run. He is nowhere near his pack, he can't call out to them, can't smell them anywhere near here. He has nowhere to go.

Copia pulls Aeon in the direction of another hallway, not noticing his panic, and leads him down the hallway. The walls are lines with doors, all with a plaque that has strange symbols on each of them, nothing that Aeon could recognise at least, until they arrive to a room with a plaque with no symbols. Copia opens the door and leads Aeon inside.

"This is your new room, I hope you like it" Copia says to him in a kind tone "I would really love to stick around and explain more but I am afraid I'm too busy right now and I must leave. Ci vediamo presto!" And with that, Copia turns and exits Aeon's new room and shuts the door.

Aeon Immediately tries to stop Copia from leaving but it is too late, the man has already left. Aeon starts to panic. He doesn't know where he is, why he is here, why he is so close to another ghoul pack that isn't his own. He can't even escape, not without the ghoul pack knowing. Aeon curls onto the floor, crying himself too sleep.

It has been three months since Aeon arrived and he still doesn't know what to do. In that time he was given this strange object that had strings that make noise when you plucked them. He had no clue what to do with it and that seemed to make the others angry so he pretended he did so he doesn't feel their wrath. He was forced to wear these tight fitting clothes and a heavy mask that impacted his vision. It was never explained to him why. His only saving grace is that he has been able to learn some words, and what they mean.

Most days he stays in his room, not knowing what to do in between practice sessions. He didn't eat when the others did, instead finding bit of food and stashing it in his bedroom, too afraid that the others will steal it. He couldn't understand that the other ghoul pack wouldn't hurt him.

One evening, Aeon sneaks out to the kitchen to take more food to stash.

"What do you think you are doing" and angry voice comes from behind him

Aeon jumps in the direction of the voice, startled that he heard no one approach. He turns to find the small fire ghoul, one of the angriest in the pack and the most terrifying.

"I asked you a question" The fire ghoul keeps making noise in an angry tone, scaring Aeon.

"Are you even listening to me?" The fire ghoul gets even angrier as he approaches Aeon, making Aeon walk back, hitting his hips on the counter.

"Fo-ood" Aeon says in a croaky voice, he isn't used to actually speaking

"Food? oh, so you're the one who has been stealing all the snacks" The fire ghoul says in an annoyed tone. "Why?"

Aeon makes a confused noise. He can't just explain to this ghoul that he is too afraid to eat food with them because he thinks they will hurt them.

"St-stash.. in... n-nest" Aeon finally croaks out.

"Stash in nest? you are telling me that you steal all these snacks, just to stash it in your nest?" The fire ghoul keeps questioning him

Aeon just nods

"Well fucking stop it. These aren't your snacks so stop fucking stealing them" The fire ghoul walks closer to Aeon, almost touching him "and stop it with the stuttering, its annoying"

Aeon just nods, the only words he was hearing was 'not your snacks'. Aeon quickly runs from the fire ghoul back to his room and quickly shutting the door. He makes it over to his makeshift nest, quite a pathetic one in Aeon's opinion. He only had two blankets and one pillow to work with but he tried his best. He lifts one of the blankets too check on his food stash. There isn't enough to even last him a week but if he rations hard enough, he can make it stretch. Aeon curls up in his little nest, and falls asleep.

It has been five days since his last solo encounter with the fire ghoul. Today is a practice day, or well, was a practice day. The actual practice has ended and while all the other ghouls are resting and talking with each other, Aeon is just standing there. He doesn't know how to interact with this pack he barely knows so he simply doesn't, he waits until Copia formally dismisses them from the practice room.

"you know new guy, you still haven't told us your name?" The male mutli-ghoul addressing him out of the blue, startling him.

Aeon just makes a questioning noise to the multi ghoul but still doesn't give his name, too afraid of these ghouls to tell them.

"How about a nickname instead?" The multi ghoul continues "What about Phantom? since you always seem to hide in the shadows"

Aeon started to think. He really liked the name Phantom, it was a name he thought was easier to pronounce "Phantom" he says slowly "Phantom!" he says, with more energy this time, showing the other ghouls he does like the name.

"Then it's settled, Phantom it is!" The multi ghoul agrees

Phantoms tail wags a little, showing his excitement. He has never had a nickname before, unless he counts 'kit' but every ghoul in their life gets called 'kit' at least once. Before he knows it, Phantom lets out a scraggly purr, it keeps breaking in parts but it has the spirit. He closes his eyes in happiness.

Unknown to Phantom, all the other ghouls turned to look at him, concern now in their eyes. One of the air ghoulettes get up and approach him and goes to cradle Phantom's face with her hands. Phantom opens his eyes and looks at her.

"Kit?" She asks

Phantom has never felt such gentle hands on his face before, even through the mask, he purrs even harder, pushing his face into her hands, trying to get closer to her and completely ingnoring her question.

"Phantom, are you a kit?" the ghoulette tries again

Phantom looks into her eyes and nods. After the confirmation, Phantom just nuzzles harder into the ghoulette, causing her to pull Phantom into a tight hug. Phantom's tail goes crazy and he purrs even harder.

While still hugging Phantom, The ghoulette turns to her pack, a look of worry of her face.

"He is just a kit" Is all she says

Everyone jumps a bit and looks to the door as Copia enters the room again.

"Alright everyone, practice is over-" He finally looks up, seeing Phantom uncontrollably purring into Cumulus's arms but also noticing the worried look on everybody's faces.
"Oh dear, something has happened. Hasn't it?"

Chapter Text

Aeon woke up feeling warm, maybe a little too warm. Scratch that Aeon was boiling, he was all hot and sweaty and super uncomfortable. He felt like he was being sufficated under a hundred blankets. He decides to open his eyes to figure out what was happening and once he did, he was only a little terrified.

He was in the pack nest. Not his pack's nest, no, he was in the band ghouls pack nest, surrounded by all of them some even laying on top of him. Aeon would tell you he was only a little scared but deep down he was panicking. Why was he here? How did he get here? He doesn't even remember falling asleep, let alone stumbling into their pack nest.

His panic must have traveled through his scent and alerted one of the ghouls. The small water ghoul, 'Rain' Aeon's mind supplied, woke up and just stared at him and Aeon could only stare back. Rain was one of the ghouls laying on Aeon, his head on the quintessence ghouls chest so he would have easily been able to smell the scent change.

"Phantom, you're awake" Rain gives him a small smile "what are you worried about?" he continues.

Aeon would love to answer him but he doesn't know the words. He knows he should know this new language by now, even though it has only been three months, all the others make it seem like he should know it. He gets even more worried, wanting to answer Rain's question, but worried that he will get yelled at for speaking Infernal.

"Hey, whats wrong? was it something I said?" Rain spoke quietly, worry seeping into his own scent.

Aeon quickly shakes his head no, letting out a little trill to let Rain know he has done nothing wrong. Rain hears the trill and smiles.

"Then what happened?" Rain asked patiently, waiting for Phantom to get his words together.

"D-don't.. know.. w-wo-ords" Aeon struggles to get out, wishing that he could just speak Infernal to explain everything.

"Don't know words?" Rain gives him a puzzled look before coming to a sudden realization "You don't know English?" Rain quickly, but softly asks.

Aeon lets out a little, happy chirp. Finally, someone is understanding what is wrong but Aeon goes from happy to worried really quick when he notices Rains expression.

"You have barely been able to understand us this enitre time. All this time, we thought you were just ignoring us, but really, you couldn't understand us" Rain has silent tears running down his face "I am so sorry Phantom" Rain pushes his head back into Aeon's chest.

Aeon starts to panic for a second time. What did he do wrong? Did he hurt Rain? The others will hurt him if they wake up and find Rain crying. He needs to do something fast, so, he does the only thing he can think of, he concentrates his quintessence into calming Rain down. Soon the flow of tears stop and he can hear Rain's breathing begin to calm.

Aeon opens his eyes, even though he doesn't remember closing them. Now he can see that Rain is calmer now. He starts up a scraggly purr, even worse now because he is tired, which makes Rain laugh a bit. The two of them start giggling at the ridiculousness of Aeon's purr until Aeon's stomach lets out a large rumble, startling the both of them.

"You must be really hungry. C'mon, lets get some breakfast from the kitchen" Rain begins to stand, somehow not disturbing any of the other ghouls, and then helps Aeon to stand. They make their way out of the pack nest and down the hall, straight to the kitchen, Aeon's hand being held in Rain's.

Once they reach the kitchen, Rain lets go of his hand and goes to the fridge, leaving Aeon to stand at the entrance of the kitchen by himself. Rain keeps looking through the fridge as Aeon fiddles with his hands.

"How does bacon and eggs sound?" Rain says, looking over the door of the fridge to look at Aeon.

Aeon snaps his head up, looking to Rain. He must have a puzzled look on his face because Rain continues,

"Bacon and eggs?" Rain asks again.

Aeon looks even more puzzled now.

"How else can I explain this" Rain says to himself "Meat and..." Rain tries to think of another word for eggs, but he doesn't need to.

"Meat!" Aeon says happily, tail wagging slightly.

"Bacon and eggs it is" Rain says as he takes the packet of bacon and the carton of eggs out of the fridge and sitting them on the counter. 

Aeon waltzes over to both of the packets, just staring at them. Rain goes around the kitchen, finding a skillet and comes back over to Aeon who is still staring at the packets of food.

"We need to cook them" Says Rain, placing the skillet onto the stove top and turning it on. "We use this, it's called a skillet, and we place it onto this, a stove top, to heat up the skillet, and that will let us cook" Rain patiently explains to Aeon and Aeon just nods to him, quickly understanding what is happening.

"Now, when I put the bacon on, it will make a loud bubbling noise but don't be afraid, it wont hurt you ok?" Rain warns Aeon before he does anything.

Aeon just nods, then gestures to the bacon in a 'picking up' and 'placing' motion.

"You want to put it in?" Aeon just nods "Ok, but you have to put it in quickly" Aeon nods even quicker "Alright, whenever you are ready" Rain patiently says.

Aeon picks up a slice of bacon, holding it over the pan, close to the surface, and letting it drop. It starts to let out a loud bubbling sound that startles him and he jumps back a little.

"Its ok Phantom, that's the sound I was talking about" Rain calmly explains "but you did such a good job!" he praises.

Aeon lets out a scraggly purr, the second one this morning, and seems content at the praise.

"If you want to, you can go sit on one of the chairs that are at the kitchen island and watch me cook" Rain says, pointing to some stools that are close to Aeon.

Aeon sees them and walks over to go sit down, content on watching Rain cook.

While Rain is cooking, the multi ghoul that gave Aeon his nickname, Swiss, comes walking down the hall and to the kitchen. He seems half asleep and doesnt even notice Rain or Phantom until he stops in the kitchen entrance and looks around, finally noticing he is not alone.

"Oh, hey Rain, hey Phantom" He greets them both "Whatcha cooking Rain?"

"Bacon and eggs, Phantom wanted meat and I don't think he knows what eggs are" Rain explains, eyes not leaving the pan.

"Sound good. Wait, Phantom doesn't know what eggs are?" Swiss tries to clarify.

"Well he might, but he definitely doesn't know what the words 'egg' means in English" Rain gives him context.

"Doesn't know it in English?" Swiss pauses to think "Wait, you don't mean...?" Swiss gives a confused noise.

"Yes, I do mean. Phantom doesn't know English" Rain now looks to Swiss, a worried expression on his face.

While Rain and Swiss are talking, Aeon can only think of how good the room is smelling thanks to rains cooking. He can feel his mouth watering and his tummy rumbling even more. Aeon cant wait to have the warm food.

Soon, a plate is placed in front of him, but before he can dig in, Rain stops him.

"You cant eat it straight away, its very hot" Rain warns him.

Aeon just tilts his head.

"its hot, it will burn your tongue. Swiss, how else can I explain this?" Rain turns to Swiss

Swiss thinks for a minute before saying "Calidus" to Phantom, to which Aeon immediately nods his head and sits back, waiting for the food to cool.

Eventually, all three ghouls start eating their breakfast and making small talk. Well, it was mainly Swiss and Rain talking, but Aeon was listening.

After breakfast, Aeon feels the most content he has in a while, simply just basking in the warm, full feeling he hasn't felt in a while. He stays like that for a while, Rain nor Swiss wanting to disturb him. Abruptly, that calm is ended by Sodo, clearing his throat from the kitchen entrance.

"This is cute and all but what about the rest of us" Sodo says before gesturing behind him to all the other ghouls, now awake.

Aeon has a feeling this is going to be a long morning.

Chapter Text

"So you are telling me, that this entire time, you haven't known a word of English, and have spent the last three months learning by yourself" Sodo sits on the adjacent lounge, his left hand pinching his nose bridge in frustration.

After breakfast, all the ghouls led Aeon to the lounge room to question him on what he does and doesn't know. Thankfully, all the ghouls switched to speaking to Infernal so Aeon could actually understand what they were saying.

"Yes, I didn't know any English, I still don't really." Aeon quietly replies.

"Before we question him too much" Swiss interrupts "Phantom, what is your name?"

"Oh, its Aeon, but honestly, I really like 'Phantom' as a nickname so you can keep using that if you would like" Aeon replies to Swiss with a small smile on his face, to which Swiss just gives him a double thumbs up.

"Ok, that doesn't matter" Sodo butts in "What does matter is how did a fucking kit get summoned. Isn't it almost impossible to do that?"

"'Almost impossible'" Mountain speaks for the first time, or at least, the first time Aeon has heard. "Kits can be  summoned but only if their dam or sire has already been summoned before them. Even then, its pretty rare to summon a kit straight out of their pack nest and by the position you were in Phantom" Mountain looks over to Aeon "My guess is that you were in a deep sleep"

"Yeah, I was dead asleep" Aeon sheepishly replies.

"But that still doesn't explain much Mountain, If Phantoms dam or sire is already summoned, where are they? Shouldn't they have been able to scent Phantom?" Sodo starts to get even more frustrated.

"Just because they may have been summoned, doesn't mean they would be at this church. If they haven't scented him yet, it either means they aren't here or that they haven't been close enough to scent him" Mountain gently replies, trying not to set off Sodo.

"If they have already been summoned, it would only be my sire" Aeon quietly adds, to which all the ghouls turn to look at him in a confused expression. Noticing all the eyes on him, Aeon adds "I never knew my dam, she abandoned me with my sire when I was born. I don't even know if she would be alive. But I know my sire was summoned to somewhere, I remember him running to the pack nest and giving me a quick hug before saying he will be back as quick as he can" a small tear starts to run down his cheek at the memory.

Cumulus doesn't say anything, just hops up out of the adjacent couch and walk over to Aeon, giving him a firm hug. "No dam should do that to anyone. I'm so sorry Phantom" is all she whispers to him as she hold him.

"It's ok Cumulus, my tears for her stopped a while ago. The only thing I am upset about is my sire never came back" He whispers back.

Cumulus gives him one final squeeze before walking back over to her spot of the couch.

"So, now that we know it's most likely your sire who was summoned, what does he look like? He could be in this church" Mountain quietly addresses Phantom.

"He is big, tall, and I don't mean that from my perspective as a kit. He towered over most of my other pack members. If you never saw him use his quintessence, you would think he is an earth ghoul with how large he is" Aeon explains with admiration in his eyes before quickly adding "I obviously didn't get those genes"

"That's all you can give us? he's 'big and tal-" Sodo starts to sarcastically reply.

"Actually Sodo, that does surprisingly help" Mountain interjects "We do know a quintessence ghoul who is 'big and tall' and could have absolutely sired a kit without us knowing"

"huh? Who? Aether definitely does not have a kid and if he does how are we going to contact him? he is currently in a different church, in a different country doing fucking taxes" Sodo grits out

"Not Aether" Mountain still calmly replies "Think" He tells Sodo

Sodo doesn't answer him, he leans back into the back of the lounge, deep in thought. After what feels like a couple minutes, but was in fact only one, he looks straight at Aeon, a look of shock on his face, before bolting up and pointing at the poor kit

"There is no fucking way Omega has a fucking kit!" Sodo snaps his head to Mountain "Tell me, tell me there is no way he has a kit!" Sodo exclaims, not believing Mountain

"Do you know any other quintessence ghouls could rival the size of an earth ghoul?" Mountain simply asks, smiling slightly at Sodo's outburst.

Sodo just looks between Mountain and Aeon, a look of shock on his face. All the other ghouls start giggling, including Aeon, seemingly amused by Sodo's mini breakdown. Soon, Sodo just steps backwards into his spot on the couch, head in his hands, eyes staring at the floor.

"What do we do now?" Sodo asks in a surprisingly quiet voice.

"Well surely you are planning on letting Aeon see his potential sire?" Cirrus answers.

"Of course we are!" Sodo replies "But how? do we just rock up to the infirmary and go 'Hey Omega, Copia accidentally summoned your kit straight out of your pack nest and he has been here for three months already. Oh yeah, we also treated him like shit'" Sodo mocking replies, earning a slap on the head from Cumulus.

"No need to be so sassy Sodo, but yes, I think we should go to Omega as soon as possible. The reason he probably hasn't been able to scent Phantom yet is because of all the chemicals in the infirmary. If Omega finds that we have been keeping his kit away from him, oh well, I don't really want to think of how protective of a sire he can be" Cirrus explains, her voice becoming tense at the thought of how destructive Omega could be if he finds out his kit has been kept from him.

"So... does this mean a field trip to the infirmary?" Swiss breaks the silence.

"Yes, I think it does" Mountain replies, a smile on his face "Its still before noon, so that should mean that Omega isn't on his break yet, which for us means that if we start traveling now, we should be there in time to see him" Mountain starts to stand before a cough interrupts the ghouls

"Hello little ghouls" an Italian accented voice comes from behind them. Copia must have entered when they were all still talking "I hope I'm  not interrupting anything, I can't actually understand you right now, you all know I need to work on my Infernal."

"Its okay Copia" Rain replies to him in English "We just found out some... troubling news about Phantom" He says with the end of that sentence sounding like a question.

"Troubling? oh dear, is Phantom alright? does he need help?" Copia starts to worry

"He is all ok C,  he is just..." Swiss looks around to the other ghouls, he doesn't know if he should break the news.

"We just recently found out that Phantom, or Aeon because that is his given name, is still a kit, and for the past three months he has barely been able to understand us or why he is here" Mountain composedly tells Copia "And before you start to worry, we think we have already figured out who his sire is. We think it is Omega"

"Okay, I am going to need to be filled in on a lot more information before the day if over, but, if you think his sire is Omega than what are you all still going here! hurry up, get to the infirmary before he goes on break" Copia says with a big smile, his hands doing a 'shooing' motion

All the ghouls quickly get up off the lounges and make their way out of the ghoul dens, straight for the infirmary. A loud banging can be heard as the heavy doors close, leaving Copia by himself.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten so cocky with my summons, something bad was bound to happen eventually" He says quietly to himself "I should have just left it at Aurora but no, I just had to summon another one"

Chapter Text

"What if Omega isn't my sire" Aeon starts.

All the ghouls moving towards to infirmary, slightly scaring the siblings of sin walking the hallways because its rare to see all the ghouls traveling together unless it is a practice day. Halfway through the walk, Aeon becomes worried, worried that he is getting his hopes up on finally being able to see his sire after all these years.

"What if we are just disturbing the poor ghoul and he doesn't even have an interest in kits" Aeon continues.

"Well, we can't all be in the infirmary, so how about I go in, ask Omega if he even has a kit, and if he says no, we haven't disturbed him that much" Mountain patiently says to Phantom.

"I really like that idea" Aeon agrees

"Then it's settled, that will be the plan" Mountain sedately accepts Phantoms answer.

The rest of the walk is in silence but not an uncomfortable one. All that could be heard through the hallways was eight different footsteps. Soon, they arrive at the entrance to the infirmary. Following Mountains plan, all the ghouls stand on the opposite side of the infirmary doors, giving enough room from the door just in case an emergency happens. The ghouls wait there as Mountain enters the infirmary and closes the doors behind him.

"Do you really think this 'Omega' is going to be my sire" Aeon turns his head to Rain, who is standing on his left.

"Honestly, I don't know but what I will tell you is that even if he isn't, we wont stop until we find him for you" Rain sympathetically responses to Phantom. Aeon gives a small smile to him.

All the ghouls stand there for a minute, then two minutes, then five minutes. In this time, quiet tears start to run down Aeon's cheeks, accepting the fact that they probably haven't found his sire and that they are here for nothing. They all stand there, the other ghouls starting to comfort Aeon, Sodo hugging his side with his left arm before a booming voice can be heard.

"WHERE" is what they hear, making them all jump, before they hear stomping footsteps coming closer to the infirmary doors. Whoever is coming sounds very angry.

The infirmary doors slam open, showing who was approaching, and subsequently opening the doors. To the other ghouls it's just Omega, a very pissed off Omega, but it was him nonetheless. To Aeon though, it was his biggest wish coming true. The reason he cries himself to sleep at night, the reason he sits in his nest all alone, thinking what it would be like to be young again, sitting in his sires lap. The reason why he thinks even after all this time, he wasn't worthy enough to be this ghouls kit. And he has just been here, all along.

Aeon can't even get the words out, instead, the lets out a large trill, one only kits use to call to their parents. He runs over to his sire, hugging his torso, letting out the largest crackly purr, tears running down his cheeks. His tail is going crazy. He keeps trying to move impossibly closer to his sire, constantly wriggling. Aeon can't understand why his sire isn't reacting the same way until-

"Is this some sick joke Mountain?" Aeon stops.

The rest of the ghouls freeze, not expecting that sentence to come out of Omega.

"What? No, Omega, why would I joke about something like this?" Mountain asks in an offend tone.

Aeon looks up from where he is hugging his sire. Stepping back a little, trying to gauge his facial expression.

"Well right now this looks like some sick joke. I thought you said there was a kit, possibly my kit, but instead there is this" Omega says, looking down to Aeon and gesturing to him.

At first he tries to gently pushing Aeon off, then a bit more forcefully.

"I'm only going to ask this once" Omega finally addresses Aeon "Let. Go. Of. Me"

Aeon takes a few steps back, bringing his arms and hands close to his body, ears down as far as they can go, tail hanging loosely behind him. Aeon tries again, letting out a quieter trill, but still with the same meaning-

"STOP." Omega takes a deep breath "Oh look at you, the new summon figured out how to make kit noises, so lucky for you." Omega harshly sneers to Aeon, turning to address Mountain "I thought you were more civilized than this Mountain but instead, I see you are having a go at some pranks with this shitty little new summon. You and I both know that pranks are meant to be funny for all people involved, not gets the hopes up of a sire who got forcefully summoned away from his kit, ONLY TO RIP THOSE HOPES TO SHREDS!" Omega turns around, heading back in the doors of the infirmary "I don't want to see any of you near this infirmary ever again" And with those departing words, Omega closes the door with another slam.

Aeon just stands there, head pointed to the ground, tears rolling off of his cheeks. The others stand there in shock. Mountain standing there in anger, looking like he is ready to head back in, before Aeon puts his hand out, stopping him. Instead, Aeon hugs Mountain, shoving his head to nuzzle the larger ghouls stomach, sobbing. Mountain just bends down to pull Phantom into a tight hug, not letting him go.

"Please Phantom, he is just stressed, he hasn't seen you in a long time and he can't scent you ri-" 

"He doesn't want me. My sire doesn't want me." Aeon says, in too calm of voice for the situation.

"No Phantom, I promise he wants you he ju-"

"Let go of me" Phantom says, again in a calm tone. Only now has Mountain realized that Phantom has stopped hugging him.

Mountain steps back but before he, or any of the other ghouls can say anything, Aeon bolts down the hallway. Swiss immediately runs after him, not letting his shock keep him frozen. The others just stand there watching Aeon run.

Aeon keeps running, needing to get out of this place immediately. He would have been fine if he found out that Omega wasn't his sire, that means he still could of had a chance of meeting him again but instead, Omega was his sire, and he abandoned him.

"Aeon... please... stop.. running" Swiss tries to talk as he attempts to keep up with Aeon

Aeon can't hear him, the only thoughts running through his mind are that both his dam, and now his sire, have abandoned him. Soon Aeon reaches the back door of the church and body slams the door open, not caring about the pain. He immediately sees the edge of the forest that surrounds the ministry and runs as fast as he can to it, needing to escape from everything.

Swiss, although he tried his best, couldn't keep up with Phantom after that last dash and falls to his knees, panting into the soft grass. He gazes up one more time to see Phantom enter the forest. He grits his teeth and pins his ears back, a feral look forming on his face, his glamour slipping slightly.

"I'm going to fucking kill that bastard, I swear to Satan. No one who is willing to abandon their kit is allowed in this church. I will make sure of it"

Chapter Text

He was running but he didn't know where he was going, all he knew was he had to escape. His knees were scraped up, pants ripped from the countless times he had fallen. His arms stung in pain, palms full of gravel and the muscles throughout his forearm stinging in time with his heartbeat due to the countless times he had tripped and caught himself before his face hit the ground. He can't hear anyone behind him, whoever was running after him seemingly had given up.

Stumbling through a clearing, Aeon had thought he finally made it out of the forest but he was wrong. A small pond sits just in front of him. It isn't deep, barely two meters wide and covered in algae and other plant life. Aeon finally decides to take a rest. He collapses by the pond and tries to clean out his hands, distracting himself from what happened earlier. His arms hurt, his legs are burning and the end of his tail stings. Did he step on it while running? maybe, Aeon can't remember much, everything is like a fog in his mind. He looks up, the sun starting to set and the sky becoming a mix of purples, pinks and oranges all blending together like a watercolour painting.

'Had I been running for that long?' Aeon thinks to himself 'No way, it was only midday when we went-' Aeon stops thinking about it, shaking his head and drying off his hands on his shirt.

He sits there until the sun sets, the moon casting a cool glow on the young ghoul. Curling in on himself with his head resting on his knees and his arms securely wrapped around his legs. His tail curls around him as the night starts to get colder but he doesn't move, doesn't even go to try and find shelter. He sits there, mind completely blank staring at the water because of the fear of what could happen if he starts thinking about the infirmary scenario again.

A twig snaps behind him and Aeon jumps, thinking it could be another ghoul to try and drag him back but it isn't. A small deer trots into the clearing and walks over the the pond. Aeon stays completely still, not wanting to spook it and more importantly, not wanting to get hurt. He has never seen a deer this close before. Mountain has told him stories that they are quite skittish creatures but Aeon can't be too sure.

Soon the deer leaves and Aeon is left with his thoughts again. A breeze comes through the clearing and Aeon shivers. Younger ghouls can't thermoregulate as well as mature ghouls, often running on the cooler side because naturally they should still be with their family pack and still in the nest. 

'My pack...' Aeon's mind starts to wander again 'my sire... I thought he loved me. I know I was born weak... a runt but he always said he loved me, that my dam made a mistake in leaving me, that I was the best kit he could have asked for. Was it all a lie? was he just riding the high of his parental hormones and the moment he could leave he did? Maybe it wasn't today he abandoned me, maybe it was all those years ago but he just couldn't have the heart to tell me. Maybe that's why he reacted so harshly, he must have thought I already accepted that he abandoned me and didn't want to deal with me anymore' Aeon starts to sob, the thoughts going through his brain too much for his heart to handle 

'He did it so violently though, acting like it was all a big prank... maybe he forgot about me. Maybe he had another kit and that's why he got his hopes up. Maybe when Mountain told him they found his kit he was expecting a different one' Aeon hides his face in his knees, snot and tears soaking into his pants

The only sounds in the forest are the ones Aeon are making. Whimpers and sobs of abandonment as Aeon's mind finally decided he has thoroughly been abandoned. He falls backwards into the soft damp grass, one last final call of true heartbreak ripping out of his throat fills the air. He has no idea if any other ghouls heard him, if he is even close enough to any for them to hear but it doesn't matter. As he lays back he feels numb, like a part of him is truly gone. He still feels the connections to the band pack but his family pack ties are completely gone. He has no one, no one he can truly trust anymore. Why would he? both his sire and his dam abandoned him. Something must be wrong with him for that too happen right? He's just a runt, a small little weak kit.

A stronger breeze flows through the clearing as Aeon is weeping in self pity, causing his smaller frame to start to constantly shiver. He still doesn't move though, still trying to wrap his mind around why everything that happened today even happened.

'I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Why would he want me after all this time? I'm just a runt, a stain on his powerful legacy. He was probably hoping I would have just been abandoned by the family pack after he left so he wouldn't have to care for me if he was ever sent back to the pit' Aeon's tears start to slow, a sort of numbness taking over his emotions. He can't bring himself to care anymore, this is the way things are now.

Aeon stands from his place beside the pond, looking around to see if there is anywhere that would be warmer. He spots a massive tree but more importantly, there is a hole at the roots. Aeon carefully makes his way over, just in case anything else has decided to sleep under this tree tonight. He glances in. There is nothing in the tree and no sign that anything has been in it for a long time. Aeon crawls in and notices whatever dug this out must have been big because he fits quite comfortably in it. He decides to not waste anymore time and curls up in the fetal position to sleep, praying that he has a dreamless night.

He can't sleep. Laying there for almost and hour and he still hasn't fallen asleep. He's cold, definitely tired but his body just wont shut down. After at least two hours of just laying there Aeon decided that it would not only be safer to try and make his way back to the ministry, it would also be warmer. Would he have to potentially see his sire that just freshly abandoned him? yes, but Aeon decided that that would be better than potentially freezing out in the open. He needs to prove he is useful, he can't be useful if he is dead.

He crawls out of the den and stretches. He lifts his nose and tries to smell any clue that would lead him back to the ministry. The cold air as he breathes in causes him to sneeze. He can't smell anything. 

'How far did I run, surely it can't be too far right?' Aeon starts to panic.

He starts running off in the direction he thought he came from. Soon enough his run slows to a walk, his exhaustion catching up to him.

'What is the point in running, I'll get back there eventually. Why would I want the prospect of seeing my sire-... my ex-sire even sooner.' Aeon slows his pace to a walk, his ears pinned back and his tail tucked between his legs. 

'I don't have a family pack after all but I can still be useful. I'm a band ghoul, I was summoned for a reason and if I don't fill out my contract to the best of my ability I'm going to be even more useless than I am now. I can't afford to be sent back to the pit, I won't survive it' Aeon starts to have an apathetic approach on life, truly believing that he must obey in order to survive

'What do I do once I get back there? Do I pretend nothing happened? If I stay too caught up on this the others will get annoyed, I can't afford to be annoying' Aeon starts to spiral again

Walking through the forest, Aeon stumbles upon a path, the same one he ran down to escape the ministry. He follows it again, hoping soon that he will reach the ministry. He doesn't know if he can handle the cold much longer.

"I'm going to fucking kill him" Swiss growls as he prowls back to the ministry. 

He slams open the back doors and they slam against the walls. Any other day Swiss would be able to control his strength but not right now, not when he's planning a murder.

He stomps through the ministry, trying to find Omega but he doesn't have to go far. All of the band ghouls are still standing in front of the infirmary and by the sounds of it, Mountain is inside screaming at him. If it wasn't for Omega's small rebuttals, you would have thought Mountain is screaming at Omega's unconscious body with the amount of threats spewing out of his mouth.

Swiss stomps past the other ghouls before any of them can stop him and this time slams the infirmary doors open with his full strength, causing everyone inside to stop and look at the noise. Swiss doesn't give Omega any time to react before he pounces and attacks him, sinking his claws in and going almost feral. Being a multi ghoul in the pits made him very good at surviving, and an even ruthless fighter.

He doesn't get very long though before Mountain pries him off, but not before he gets a good few more bites in. He flails around like a maniac in Mountain's grip before finally settling down. Blood coats his claws and drips from his mouth.

Omega is surprisingly still standing although it's clear he may be out of commission for a while. The bites and scratches are deep and despite being a ghoul, will still need some time to heal.

"Swiss, what the-" Mountain starts up but Swiss interrupts

"I'm going to kill him!" He snarls, voice full of venom

"Stand down!" Omega tries to gain control of the situation but Swiss continues

"You are fucking scum, how dare you abandon your kit!" Swiss starts to thrash again

"SWISS!" A voice calls from the door, full of commanding power

Mountain, Swiss and Omega look to the door. It's Copia and he very much doesn't look happy at the situation.

"Not only do you run off, you slam two doors and attack a fellow ghoul. What has gotten into you?" Copia starts to soften as he walks over, he doesn't like yelling at his ghouls that often

"That *thing* is no fellow ghoul of mine, not after what he did to Aeon" Swiss tries to tone down his anger, not trying to direct it at Copia

"How do you know that name?" Omega harshly butts in

"How do you fucking think you dick, that was the kit you just fucking abandoned!" Swiss' anger starts up again

"What are you talking about? don't you lot call that one Phantom or something?" Omega presses

"Phantom is his nickname, he wasn't able to tell us his true name when he was summoned because he couldn't speak English" Mountain answers as calmly as he can, only being just slightly less pissed that Swiss

Omega's eyes widen, like he is only just now understanding the situation. He sits down on an empty bed with a vacant look in his eyes. The blood from his injuries keeps bleeding but he doesn't bring himself to wipe them. It's finally sinking in what he just did. If Phantom, or Aeon as he now knows the ghouls real name, is truly his kit then he just did something unforgivable.

'Who am I kidding, that is my kit, my baby boy, my little Aeon' Omega thinks to himself as he starts to sob

Swiss eventually calms down and Mountain lets go of him, sensing that he isn't going to attack Omega anymore. After a moment of silence, Copia pipes up.

"You three, my office, now" Copia then turns to leave, leaving no room for argument

The three ghouls follow Copia in silence, with Mountain staying back for a second to tell the other band ghouls to head to the den for the night before catching back up with the small group.

Copia and the three ghouls enter the office and close the door. Copia sits down at his desk and the room goes silent. It's clear he is trying to figure out how to word whatever it is he wants to say.

"Is Aeon your kit Omega?" Copia decides to ask bluntly

"I didn't think it was him-" 

"Is he your kit, yes or no?" Copia cuts him off, not leaving any room for bullshit

"...yes sir, I am almost sure that Aeon could be my kit" Omega answers weakly. Never in his time at this ministry has Omega sounded this defeated, like a child who knows they're in trouble

Copia nods silently trying to gague his next words

"What do you mean 'could be?'" Copia asks for clarification

"I... I couldn't smell him so I couldn't gauge his scent. You know that the chemicals in the infirmary mess with my senses and so unless I have been out of it for a while I go nose blind" Omega explains

"Where is Aeon now?" He asks the three ghouls

"Somewhere in the forest, he bolted and I couldn't catch up to him" Swiss answers

"How could you let him run to the forest!?" Omega snaps at him

"How could you abandon your kit?" Swiss hisses too him

"Enough!" Copia snaps and the two ghouls stop "Enough with the bickering. A lot of things have been said today and we don't need anything else to go wrong." Copia groans and sits back in his seat, looking at the ceiling

The sun starts to set, casting a warm glow in the office. Omega glances out the window and too the forest, knowing his kit must be in there somewhere cold and afraid and it's all because of him

"Stop looking so guilty, you abandoned him now you have to deal with it" Swiss says unsympathetically

Omega puts his head down, looking like a kicked puppy. He can't even bring himself to think of a rebuttal. Swiss is right, he did say those words and he did thoroughly abandon his kit.

"How was Aeon able to be summoned in the first place?" Copia cuts through the silence

Swiss goes to answer but Omega explains instead "His dam abandoned him when he was young, making me the sole parent. As you know, kit's can only be summoned when either their dam or sire has been previously summoned. What isn't that well known is the reason why it is rare is because... it normally means the dam or sire who was summoned is their only remaining parent. Since Aeon's dam left when he was so young, and coupled with the fact I got summoned a few years later, I'm honestly surprised he wasn't summoned sooner... at some point throughout the years and seeing all those new summons... I thought he was gone"

"So what you are saying is, you thought he had already passed? Didn't you leave him with your old pack?" Mountain interjects

"I did but... they were more on his dam's side than mine. Constantly told me I was wasting my time taking care of a runt instead of making a new stronger kit to take over the legacy. After a while I assumed they must have kicked him out, not wanting to take care of a random kit who had none of their parents left" Omega explains

"Well, he *is* alive and we don't have time to sit around moping about everything you did wrong. He is out in the forest and it's going to be cold tonight. What do we do?" Swiss, once again, offers no sympathy and gets straight to the point

"Mountain, would you be able to find him?" Copia asks

Mountain nods "I would be able to if Swiss shows me what direction he ran off in"

"Well, it's settled. Mountain and Swiss, you two go find Aeon, and Omega you can go clean up your wounds. Does that sound like a plan?" Copia decides

"Yes sir" all three ghouls say in unison

"Alright, hurry up. The sun has set and-" A loud almost howling like sound cuts through the ministry. A sound so full of anguish and despair you would be lucky if you didn't hear it.

Omega's eyes widen. That's him, his little kit. What isn't known anymore is if Aeon still thinks of him as his sire.

Chapter Text

It was starting to get very cold now. The breeze picked up, shaking the branches of the trees high above and swooping below onto the path, the path Aeon... no... the path Phantom was walking on.

'Walking' was a stretch. He was more hobbling down the path, tail tucked in between his legs in a vain attempt to keep it warm. The cold was making the pain in his tail worse. He knows realistically that it's probably just bruised but the chilling wind makes it feel like it's broken. Pain keeps shooting up his back making the hobbling even more painful.

His arms were freezing, the thin t-shirt he was wearing providing no insulation at all. His hands are even worse. Each time the breeze flows over the scrapes it feels like needles piercing into his muscle. He crosses his arms and shoves his hands under his armpits, wincing as the fabric touches the wounds but after a few moments calms down.

He distantly chuckles to himself. If he was an air ghoul he wonders if he could control this breeze, see if he could send it upwards off the path or even make it warmer. He starts to daydream as he hobbles, wondering what life would be like if he wasn't a quintessence ghoul, or at least not a runt of one.

Would his sire actually love him? Would he be as powerful as him? Maybe if he wasn't a runt his dam would have stayed. Maybe if he was born correctly he would be able to control his quintessence perfectly like his sire can. Deep, powerful magick that can create and destroy, heal and hurt, defend and attack.

He is broken out of his daydreaming as he hears calling from in front of him but even with his enhanced hearing he can barely make out the words, the breeze drowning them out. His pace picks up a little, his baser instincts taking over slightly, wanting to seek the comfort of another ghoul to keep him warm.

The more he hobbles, the more he can hear the voices. It sounds like Mountain? maybe Swiss? He doesn't know. His mind gets more foggy, his vision getting blurry. Where was he going again? He doesn't know. Hes so cold he just wants to curl up on the ground and sleep the cold away. He doesn't even notice as he collapses onto the gravel path and curls up, trying desperately to keep what little body heat he has left.

Just as he looses unconsciousness he lets out a chirp, hoping it was loud enough for whoever was near him to hear it. As his eyes close he hears footsteps. They sound like they are running towards him. He knows he should probably be scared in case it's a threat but his body had betrayed him already and passes out just as the footsteps get closer.

Everything goes black, the only thing his body knowing for certain is how cold it is. That's where it all started and, potentially, how it ends.

He honestly wasn't expecting to wake up. He still hasn't opened his eyes, hasn't even tried moving his limps. He just basks in the warmth, a warmth that he hasn't felt in what feels like forever. He finally opens his eyes and realizes that it's dark. At first he is confused, he thinks he can see a sliver of light but he can't be too sure. The more his mind awakens the more he realizes that he is under a pile of blankets, the same blankets the the pack nest has. He looks around to see that is so warm and notices not one, not two but three hot water bottles surrounding him. They are warm but not as warm as a freshly made one, leading him to think that they could be at least a few hours warm. 

He stretches under the blankets, flexing his fingers and stretching his legs. As he goes to stretch his tail a pang of pain shoots up the length of it but it's not as bad as it was. He soon claws his way out of the blankets, starting to find it hard to breathe.

His eyes take a while to adjust to the light but once they do he notices no one else is in the room.

'Weird' He thinks 'Has no one been using the nest while I'm in here?'

He stretches some more before getting up. He sees that he has been changed to some pajamas. His favorite ones to be exact. A simple flannelette pair with a bat print all over it. He looks to his hands and sees that they are clean and almost healed.

'How long was I out? Surely not too long right? Maybe they just got sire- I mean, Omega to use some of his quint energy' Phantom corrects himself in his head

He walks out of the room starving. He's going to find some food before finding the rest of his pack. Walking to the kitchen is suspiciously quiet, like no one is in the dens at the moment. Once he enters the kitchen he makes some toast, one of the few things he can make consistently. He looks to the calendar and notices that it's a band practice day.

'Shit! Why didn't they wake me up?' Phantom quickly eats his toast, bolts back to his room and gets dressed.

He near sprints to the practice room. He can't hear them playing yet so maybe he got here just in time. He doesn't even bother knocking as he opens the door looking flustered.

"I-I'm really sorry I'm late guys, it wont happen again!" He panics

"Phantom!" some of the ghouls exclaim, the others just staring at him in shock

"What? Did I do something wrong?" He starts to panic even more

"You shouldn't be up, you still need to rest" Swiss comes over and checks him over, making sure he isn't hurt

"I'm fine Swiss, you don't need to act like a worried dam" Phantom tries to joke

"You don't understand Aeon-" Swiss starts to say before being cut off by Phantom

"Phantom" he says sternly

"W-what?" Swiss asks in confusion

"My name is Phantom, please don't refer to me by that other name" Phantom says more quietly, feeling slight ashamed for his prior sternness

The room goes dead silent.

After a while, Swiss starts back up again

"We are going to open that can of worms at a later date, for now Phantom, you should still be resting" Swiss says in a more stearn voice

"I'm fine, I swear. I just got a little cold-"

"It wasn't a little. You have been asleep for the past three days" Swiss reveals

"... What?" Phantom asks in a quiet voice

"I will explain, let's just sit down first, okay?" Swiss guides him over to some seats and the other ghouls start to crowd around them, even Copia is keeping a close eye on Phantom to make sure he is alright

"How about you explain to us what happened then we will explain what happened after we found you?" Mountain gently encourages Phantom

Phantom nods and quietly starts to explain what happened in the forest. The running, the bruises and scrapes, the coldness, the howl of agony

"I'm really sorry if that annoyed you guys-" Phantom tries to apologize 

"Don't, you have nothing to apologize for" Swiss sternly but gently doesn't let Phantom feel guilty for the pain he was in

Phantom stares at him for a second before nodding and continuing his story. He explains the den, then the fact that he left it to come back to the ministry

"I eventually found the path but by that point I was so cold. I heard someone but I couldn't make out the words. Before I knew it everything went black and then I woke up in the nest" Phantom finishes explaining 

"So I'm guessing stuff happened after that?" He asks Swiss

"A lot happened after that" Swiss confirms "Where do I even start?" he groans to himself

"So, after you ran and I lost you I came back to the ministry. Long story short Mountain, Omega and I ended up in Copia's office and we had a... discussion" Swiss starts to get angry even thinking about it so Mountain takes over

"It was getting late and right as we were about to look for you... you howled, or more so screamed. That's when we realized that we needed to find you quickly. Swiss showed me which direction you ran off in and we followed your scent. We just kept walking deeper and deeper we didn't know if we would ever find you. We couldn't run to find you because if you needed help we needed to conserve our energy. It just kept getting later and later and we honestly thought..." Mountain stops, collecting his emotions

"We lost track of time and when the breeze picked up that's when we started calling out. We kept following the path hoping you were still on it. All we heard up ahead was a thump and a chirp we thought-" Mountain loses his composure and starts tearing up

"We thought you were gone" Swiss continues for him

The room goes silent once again as Phantom digests what he is told

'I almost died' Phantom realizes to himself

"I had to use what little part of fire ghoul in me to keep you warm as we carried you back. The problem was since I have such little control of each element the wind kept fueling the fire and soon Mountain and I had to take turns holding you which probably added to the stress of your body"

"Once we got you home we got you back, your sire-"

"Omega" Phantom interrupts

"Omega" Swiss corrects himself "used his powers to heal your cuts and scrapes. He couldn't do much about your temperature and just said to keep you warm and that's when we put you in the nest. We changed the hot water bottles every 5 hours to make sure you stayed warm."

"The nest smelt like you guys hadn't been in it" Phantom voices his observation, wanting an answer as to why it was the case

"We were going to stay with you just in case but in the off chance we disrupted you we just stuck to changing the hot water bottles" Rain pipes up this time "We wanted to make sure your body wasn't under any unnecessary stress" He explains

Phantom nods to the explanation "And what about Omega?. Did he... care at all?" He asks quietly

The ghouls look to each other, wondering how they should explain it.

"I barred him from seeing you at this current moment" Copia chimes in

"What?" Phantom asks, shocked

"I barred him. He wasn't allowed near that part of the ghoul dens. Even though he has explained why he did what he has done, and the fact that he very much wants to talk to you, it would not be in your best interest right now, especially after what just transpired" Copia answers quite rigidly, like he's also trying to convince himself that this is what needed to be done

Phantom sits there for a while, trying to digest everything. He almost died, his actions almost caused Swiss to overheat, Omega wants to talk to him. It is all too much for his brain and Copia can see it

"Why don't you all go rest, si? We can practice another day, for now, just enjoy each others company" 

The ghouls agree with Copia and they all lead Phantom back to the ghoul dens, straight to the peck nest and they all rest.

Copia stays in the practice room for a little longer, going over everything in his mind.

"Why can't Sister Imperator deal with this? Who am I kidding, she probably would have just sent Phantom back to the pits with no notice. No, I need to keep this out of her radar, she can't know about any of this"

Copia turns and leaves the practice room, set on making a cup of coffee to aid his troubling thoughts.

Chapter Text

"Please Copia, I need to talk with him." Omega begs to Copia in his office

"For the last time, my answer is no. Give him more time" Copia answers calmly but you can tell he is starting to loose his temper

"You can't keep me from my kit!" Omega's temper starts to rise as well

"For the last time, no" Copia snaps

Omega lets out a ferocious growl and stomps closer to the desk, slamming his hands down in the intricate wood veneer. He breaths heavy, his control over his temper starting to wane.

"You have taken so much from me already, do you find joy in taking away everyone who I love?" Omega brings his face closer to Copia

"I had nothing to do with what happened that day and you know it, stop directing your anger at me" Copia sneers

"When? when will you let me see my boy?" Omega growls lowly as he speaks

"When he is ready" Copia stares Omega dead in the eye

"Why is it you who gets to decide that?" Omega questions him

"Because I am Papa and currently, I see you as a threat to one of my ghouls" He answers coldly

"A threat!? you consider me a threat to my own kit, my own flesh and blood?" Omega bares his teeth, his claws digging into the desk and leaving deep scratches

"How could I not?" Copia barks out a laugh with no humor behind it "You have completely broken that boy. He rejected his given name, only going by Phantom now. He will only refer to you as Omega, completely given up on using the name 'sire' for you. All he does is eat, sleep, and practice. He doesn't do anything for himself anymore, wanting to prove that he is 'useful' because he has somehow gotten it in his brain that he will be sent back to the pit if he isn't. He's starting to reject affection from anyone for what I can only guess is the fear that they will leave soon eventually. Because you couldn't wait two fucking seconds for your nose to clear you have well and truly broken your kit emotionally."
"How did you not notice it was him visually? surely you remember what your kit looked like. Not to mention, even if by somehow he was a random kit, why would you reject them anyway? There are a lot of ghouls here who see you as a sire figure and you haven't rejected that so why him?" Copia verbally pummels him, explaining just how bad things have gotten with Phantom and just how shitty his behavior has been

Omega's claws detach from the desk and he stands up in shock. His ears pin back as he looks at Copia in an 'are you serious?' manor. After a moment of silence he finally realizes how much he fucked up. How traumatized his little kit must be. How much he traumatized his kit.

Omega quietly turns and walks out of the office, not saying another word.

"Where are you going?" Copia asks angry but confused

Omega stops at the door and turn his head slightly. "I... need some time alone" He says in a quiet voice before leaving

Copia shakes his head and gets up to follow him. As he steps out of the door he looks to see where Omega went but can't even hear footsteps, let alone see him walking down the hall. It's like he completely vanished.

"Shit, I should have gone easier on him." Copia whispers too himself "I'll see if some of the other ghouls can find him later. He's probably just went to the infirmary" Copia walks back into his office and sits down to keep going through his paperwork

"Have you seen him?" Sodo asks

"No Dew, I haven't. You already check the infirmary?" Alpha responds

"Of course I already checked there, it's the first place we all checked" He groans, hands running down his face as he sighs

"Well, he's either in the infirmary or in his room, he doesn't go anywhere-" Alpha cuts himself off, like he's remembering something

"What?" Sodo presses

"His mental state before he vanished, was he in a fight or something else?" Alpha asks surprisingly quietly

"I think he and Copia had a fight, why?" Sodo asks, not catching on

Alpha takes a deep breath in and contemplates how he should explain. He puts his head down and in the quietest voice Sodo has ever heard 

"Check the morgue"

Sodo's eyes widen "No, you can't mean-"

"I do, now get there quickly before he does anything dumb" Alpha turns away and walks deeper into the ghoul dens

"Wait, where are you going? shouldn't you come help?" Sodo slightly chases after him

"If what's happening is what I think is happening then we don't need a repeat of last time" Alpha growls as he successfully walks away

Sodo stands there for a minute before sprinting to find the others. He spots Mountain and Rain talking to a sister of sin and doesn't apologize as he interrupts

"you two, with me, now!" He commands quickly

"Why, what's happening-" Rain tries to ask

"No time, follow me" Sodo runs off again and the other two ghouls, sensing the urgency, run off to follow him as well

Mountain and Rain very quickly figure out where he is running off to and start to pick up their pace. 

Sodo bursts through the doors that lead into a long hallway. The morgue is kept in a more secluded part of the church, one reason being for hygiene and the other to try and dissuade anyone from being in there. You can't 'accidentally stumble into the morgue' you have to purposefully go and find it.

All three ghouls run to the door at the end and as they go to open it they find the door is locked. Rain starts to speak up but his words are drowned out by Sodo melting the lock completely before kicking the door open.

He immediately spots Omega laying under the casket of Terzo, Papa Emeritus III. He is curled up like a cat. One mourning the loss of their person. He is barely moving, barely breathing. Sodo calmly but quickly walks over and lays down beside him.

"Omega? can you hear me?" He tries

He spends several minutes trying to get his attention. It's strange to see such a normally large and intimidating ghoul almost peacefully sleeping but anyone who knows Omega and his past knows what is going on inside his brain is anything but peaceful.

"W-what's wrong with him?" Rain quietly asks Mountain

"He's... mourning again. Last time this happened, we almost lost him" Mountain solemnly answers

"What do you mean 'lost him'?" Rain has an idea but doesn't want to say it out loud

"At first he tried to use his quintessence to resurrect Terzo... then when that failed, he turned his quintessence against himself, trying to make his mind forget everything, bring it back to the day he was summoned... he almost died" Mountain explains quietly

Rain stares at him in shock. It's incredibly hard to kill a ghoul, being a subspecies of demons and all, but in rare circumstances it can be done.

"We need to get him out of here" Sodo pipes up "he isn't responding. His eyes opened but it's like he's completely catatonic"

Mountain nods and walks over. Although Mountain is slightly taller, Omega is still a lot heavier so it takes a bit as he picks him up. He carries him on his back, Omega's head slumped into his shoulder

"Should I take him to the infirmary or-"

"No! Take him to the ghoul dens. Sure he may get set off with the scent of his pack but it's a lower chance than all those chemicals" Sodo harshly explains

"What is happening? why would his own pack set him off?" Rain questions, getting ticked off at being left in the dark

"I'll explain while we walk" Sodo answers, his head bowed to the ground like he really doesn't want to explain what happened with the previous Papa and just how much it affected his favorite ghoul

The three ghouls start walking. It takes a while for Sodo to gain the courage to talk

"... when I said 'pack' I more so meant Alpha will set him off" Sodo quietly starts

"Why specifically Alpha?" Rain is once again confused

"They... they both had this running thing of who could get Terzo's attention the most, who could have him the most flustered. They were good friends, hell, sometimes we thought they had taken each other up as mates. They were close, real close" Sodo pauses

"When Terzo started showing more attention to Omega, Alpha got jealous. He started acting out, wanting Omega's attention to be on him. When Terzo was forced to step down as Papa-... no, when he was fucking *murdered*, Omega went off the rails. They had developed such a close bond that we think somehow Omega had made a faux mate bond with Terzo."

"Alpha was pissed. He was pissed that someone who he considered very close wouldn't confide in him, wouldn't seek comfort in him so he attacked Omega. He called him weak, a terrible mate, he said it's no wonder when he was summoned he didn't smell like he had a mate. That he was a failure. Instead of reacting Omega just took it. Obviously now those two have made up, kind of, but those words still hurt."

"With him being in that mental state again, It's possible that all those memories will come back and he may get stressed out but it's still better than the alternative. If we were to take him to the infirmary he may get set off by the chemicals since I know they keep some of the embalming stuff up there."

"So, when did he try to... erase himself?" Rain asks quietly

"After the fight with Alpha. He locked himself in the morgue and tried to do it. That's why I melted the lock straight away, I was afraid he was doing it again" 

"I get that he's being affected by this too but... Isn't this a bit much? just because of what happened to Phantom?" Rain tries to not sound like a dick

"I understand what you mean but he's had a tough life. His original mate left him, he had to leave his kit who, from what it sounds like, he didn't think would survive with his original pack. His faux mate dies, his one true friend turns against him. He was stressed when he first saw Phantom, his brain was full of chemical scents so he couldn't even tell what he did wrong. His kit now rejected him... he has no one" Sodo tries to put it in a different light

"What about his band pack? Didn't you say he and Alpha made up? what about the others?" Rain presses

"Only he and Alpha still talk... the others don't agree with how close he got with a human, saw him as weak"

"That's bullshit!" Rain exclaims

"It is but it's just how it is" Sodo answers curtly

"Hey, can one of you get the doors? I'm gonna take him straight to Alpha's room, he has the bigger nest" Mountain pipes up

"Yeah, of course" Sodo jogs in front and starts to help Mountain with the doors, leaving Rain walking behind the both of them

"Do we tell Phantom about this?" Rain asks both of them 

Mountain and Sodo share a look.

"... Not unless it gets worse" Sodo answers

The three walk in silence as they enter the ghoul dens, thankful that no one is in the common room. They start the trek to the deeper parts of the dens, hoping that they made the right choice.

Chapter Text

Phantom, Aurora, Cirrus and Cumulus were all cuddled up in the ghoulettes joint nest. While the rest of the band ghouls were on a 'mission' for Copia, the mission being trying to find Omega but they didn't explicitly tell Phantom that, the ghoulettes suggested they watch a movie in the mean time.

They had just gotten to the midway point of some children's movie Phantom couldn't remember the name of when Copia knocks on the door and slowly comes into the room. He sits on the very edge of the nest as to not disturb any of the ghouls.

"How is the movie going?" He asks in a soft voice, not wanting to speak over the movie

Cumulus finds the remote and pauses it so Phantom can speak.

"It's good" Phantom says with no little interest, like he hasn't really been paying attention to the movie

"That's good. Have you eaten anything? surely you had some popcorn while watching" Copia presses gently

"Yeah, I have had a couple of pieces" Phantom smiles

"He almost ate the entire bucket" Aurora gins to Copia

Phantom stutters before his cheeks flush in embarrassment, like he was trying to hide that fact from Copia

"Don't worry little ghoul, I do the same when it's pack movie nights. Swiss and Sodo always bicker when they think each other ate the bowl but in reality it's me who does it" Copia smirks, trying to keep the conversation light-hearted

"R-really?" Phantom chuckles, feeling less guilty about eating the popcorn now

"Really" Copia smiles to him, happy that he got a chuckle out of the broken little ghoul

"I should probably leave you all to the movie. I was just coming to check how you were all doing" Copia gets up and goes to the door

"Papa, can you wait a bit?" Phantom gently calls out

Copia turns around and smiles to the ghoul "Of course, did you want to ask a question?"

"What are the other ghouls doing?" Phantom tries his luck at getting some more information

"Well, they are on a *very* important mission for me but nothing to worry about, they are completely safe-" Copia tries to keep up the lie before he gets cut off

"What are they really doing?" Phantom gives him these sad puppy eyes and Copia's lie starts to crumble

"I-I... w-well... you see.." Copia stutters out

"Phantom, I think it's best if you don't find out-" Cirrus tries to be the voice of reason

"No! Ever since what happened you have been treating me like I'm weak, like I can't handle what's happening around me. Where are the others?" Phantom gets frustrated and snaps, looking Copia straight in the eyes

Copia's resolve crumbles and he looks to the floor "Your si-... Omega and I got into a disagreement. Some things were said and while I think he needed to hear it I was very harsh to him. After he left my office he... vanished. I know he doesn't get set off easily but I just sent the other ghouls to go find him. Nothing too crazy"

"What was the disagreement about?" Phantom's frustration dissipates. This is the first he is hearing about Omega after what happened four days ago

"He wants to see you, for what I can only guess is to apologize and explain. I told him that I don't think that's what you need right now so I told him no" Copia can't look Phantom in the eye

"...Shouldn't that be my decision?"

Copia feels like crying then and there. That had been the basis of their own argument, the fact that Copia is making that choice and not Phantom. To hear Phantom break down all his logic with one simple question is making him doubt his actions

The ghoulettes and Phantom can see Copia's change in attitude, they can even sense it to a degree. Phantom gets up and walks over to hug Copia, his arms lightly wrapping around him.

"I'm sorry" Copia whispers "I thought I was doing what was best" He apologizes

"It's okay, I just-... I want answers. I may not see him as my sire anymore and I may never forgive him but I just want to know what happened" Phantom hugs just that bit tighter "A part of me is so angry at him for what he did but another part is so happy I just get to see my sire again" Phantom starts to cry and the ghoulettes come over and guide him and Copia back to the nest.

"No more serious talking, movie time" Cumulus shoves them down in the middle of the nest and turns the movie back on.

Copia and Phantom stay next to each other till the end of the movie. As the credits roll no one speaks. The ghoulettes don't because they are trying to see who was credited for some of the characters but Phantom and Copia don't because they don't know how to address the situation.

Footsteps can be heard from outside the door and about to walk past the door. What sounds like labored breathing as well as a few choice curse words can be heard as whoever is walking by seems to be straining themselves. Copia gets up and goes to investigate.

He makes sure the ghoulettes and Phantom are comfortable as he gets up. He sees Aurora move over to fill what was his spot in the nest and curl up to Phantom.

He opens the door and sees Rain, Sodo and Mountain "Oh, it's you three. Did you find-" His words get caught in his throat as he sees Omega being carried by Mountain

He bolts out of the room and into the hallway, gesturing for Mountain to put Omega on the ground. Mountain does without much convincing, getting too tired to take him all the way to Alpha's nest.

"What happened to him? Why is he unconscious?" Copia babbles out, his stress returning with full force

The ghouls don't speak for a while, silently looking at one another.

As Phantom is laying in the nest he sees Copia bolt from his spot at the door and into the hallway. Peaking his interest, Phantom starts to get up. He moves faster as he hears the word 'unconscious' being thrown around.

He accidentally steps on Cumulus's tail and quickly apologizes before continuing to make his way to the door. He's looking back at the nest as be begins to speak

"What's happening, Copia sounds..." His words die off as he turns his head to look into the hallway, seeing his sire slumped on the floor

Everyone stands still for a moment, not even the ghoulettes are speaking. The only sound that can be heard is that of Phantom's breathing, which is just getting heavier and heavier.

"W-what happened? Is he okay? He's not dying right? He's gonna be okay?" Phantom starts to hyperventilate.

Everyone thought the next time Phantom saw Omega it would be met with a blank expression. Purely a meeting so Phantom could get the information he wanted and be done with his sire that treated him that way. What no one was expecting was not with genuine concern. Despite everything that has happened, seeing his sire in that state has made Phantom momentarily forget everything that has happened. He feels like a poor defenseless kit as he can do nothing to help his sire.

"He's okay" Mountain tries to calm him, seeing the panic attack about to happen to Phantom

His words do nothing as something in Phantom snaps and he drops to the floor and curls up next to his sire, bumping his head on his sire's chest and letting out broken little chirps. He spends a couple of minutes trying to get him to wake up, his little kit noises getting louder and louder. When he doesn't react he looks to Sodo with wide puppy like eyes, full of grief

"What's wrong with him?" he chokes out

Sodo looks to the floor. Instead of addressing Phantom, he addresses Copia "He was in the morgue" He says simply

Copia's eyes widen "...no" he says while shaking his head and putting is hands over his mouth, trying to convince himself that it can't be that bad, that the argument couldn't have caused something so drastic

"He's telling the truth" Mountain backs Sodo up

"What does that mean? Why is no one answering me?" Phantom quietly speaks up but everyone ignores him

"You did a good job bringing him here, which room were you going to take him to?" Copia asks the ghouls

"Alpha's, he has the bigger nest and the best relationship with Omega" Mountain answers

"guys" Phantom tries again

"Good good. The quicker we get him there hopefully the sooner he will recover" Copia nods to them

"Guys!" Phantom raises his voice

"I just need a breather, carrying him all that way has made me so tired. Maybe we could get Alpha down here and help bring him back?" Mountain explains

"GUYS!" Phantom shouts from his place on the floor

All four heads snap to him and even the ghoulettes poke their head out of the doorway, finally deciding the situation is serious

"What is wrong with him? why won't he respond?"

The ghouls and Copia don't know how to explain it to the little kit

"Didn't you say he wanted to see me? why won't he react" Phantom starts to whine

"What happened to my sire" his voice cracks as tears start to fall from the kits face. 

He curls up tighter next to his sire and hugs him tightly. His tail curls around him. He won't let anyone take his sire away, not again, not ever.

Chapter Text

"So you're telling me that none of you can separate them?" Alpha asks, staring down at the small kit who is grappling onto his sire like a lifeline

"No, we can't. We tried for twenty minutes to separate them but Phantom keeps zapping us with quintessence when we get close to him" Swiss growls, agitated

Alpha shakes his head and growls. He steps closer to the two ghouls, fulling planning on scruffing Phantom and getting it over with. He gets close and sure enough Phantom goes to zap him but Alpha pushes through it and grabs the back of Phantom's neck. He is momentarily startled before he starts to kick. Alpha doesn't give him any time to get too violent before lifting him up by the scruff and let him dangle in the air. Instincts take over and Phantom and he curls up slightly, tail tucking between his legs and his ears pin down

"Alpha-" Mountain starts but Alpha silences him with a growl

"Take Omega to my nest, I'll make sure this one doesn't bother you" Alpha says, stepping aside

"You know that's not what he's getting at" Swiss growls to him, getting defensive

"I don't care what he thinks. This is working" Alpha sneers

"It's wrong and you know it!" Swiss continues 

"He wants to act like a poor defenseless kit, he's going to be treated like one" Alpha tries to defend himself

"So making him completely submit is the right thing to do? Are you hearing yourself?" Swiss gets more and more agitated

"What is happening in here?" A new voice chimes throughout the room

Everyone's head spins. It's Sister Imperator

"Sister! It's nothing" Copia tries to stand in front of her to hide her view

"Copia. Move" She says sternly and at first he doesn't move, choosing to stay in front of her. After a minute though the look he is getting from her is too much and he reluctantly moves aside

"Put the boy down" She says to Alpha in a commanding tone to which Alpha does.

He, surprisingly, gently places him on the ground and it only takes a few seconds for Phantom to snap out of it and try to crawl back to his sire. Sister Imperator doesn't try to stop him, instead choosing to stare and gauge the situation.

"Is this a repeat of last time?" She refers to Omega

"Yes ma'am" Mountain quietly replies 

Sister Imperator nods and walks over to the two ghouls. She stares down at them for a second before going to grab Phantom. The others go to warn her how temperamental he is right now but she already has a grip on his arm. Nothing happens. She drags him slightly away from Omega but not to far.

She is silent before speaking up "Is this ghoul your sire?" She asks in an even tone

Phantom slowly look up to her and doesn't react at first but after a minute, slowly nods

All the ghouls in the room see this and they don't know how to feel. Omega had rejected him, he rejected Omega, why is he now saying he is his sire again?

"Are you sure?" She asks him

"Yes, he's my sire" Phantom says with a broken voice

Sister Imperator nods and tosses Phantom back near Omega

"Take both of them back to Omega's room" She says while staring to walk away "And don't even think of separating them, I don't want to loose two ghouls over some petty squabble" She leaves the ghouls dens and everyone is left silent

Mountain is the first to move, noticing Omega seems a little more awake. The commotion with Sister Imperator bringing him out of his mind

 "Hey Omega, why don't we get you and your kit to your nest" He says quietly

"Not my-" Omega starts to say before Phantom's whining gets too loud

Omega bows his head and a deep rumble stirs in his chest, calming Phantom down. He let's Mountain help him up and once he is steady on his feet he picks Phantom up. Mountain guides the both of them to Omega's room to make sure he doesn't fall at all. He opens the door and in no time Omega collapses into his nest with his kit in his arms. Mountain closes the door as to not disturb them and leaves quickly.

What he comes back to is all the ghouls staring at him, wondering if he got any more information out of Omega.

"They seem to be fine" He mutters "He isn't a danger to his kit" He mainly says to Copia and Swiss

"And you" Mountain turns to Alpha and towers over him "You force a kit into submission like that again and I will make sure you will never be able to have any yourself"

Alpha for one of the first times in his existence is slightly on edge from Mountain "But he-"

"'But he' nothing. What you did was unacceptable and you know it. Only a dam or sire scruffs their kit, not some random ghoul. You may have been with Omega in the past but it gives you no right to treat Phantom as your own, Omega has never explicitly told you that. Did you even know he had a kit?"

"I did, he told me almost right away, wanted to know if I was the type of ghoul to off a kit that wasn't biologically related" Alpha growls but looks to the floor

"And are you?" Swiss interjects

"what? NO! fucking of course not. I'm an asshole but I would never do that!" Alpha looks at Swiss with what could only be described as a horrified expression.

"Well, at least you aren't as bad as I thought you were" Swiss mutters

Alpha growls, trying to get out of the conversation "Are we done here? I have things I need to do"

Mountain nods and waves him away, going over to Swiss and the rest of the pack. No one speaks as Alpha leaves back down the hallway.

"Why didn't Phantom lash out at him?" Cumulus asks once they are left alone

"What?" Rain asks

"You know, when he was scruffed. Normally after that happens by a ghoul who they don't know a kit will lash out. He didn't" She points out

Cirrus nods along "It's almost like he saw Alpha as some kind of parent but that's the first time they have met, isn't it?"

"To my knowledge it is" Copia answers

"What was that whole thing with Sister? Why did she come in like that?" Swiss asks

"I truly don't know..." Copia says with worry

What was she doing? Why did she come down here? She never comes into the ghoul dens

The pack is left standing there as they all go over what has happened today. Over their conversation, they don't hear a door opening. Specifically Omega's door.