𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐰

You Wear the Crown

If you hate me after this chapter, it's not my fault and also I'll still love you don't worry, stay safe!

A few times during the night, Phantom wouldn't wake up.

Whenever this happened, Dew would panic, trying to shake him awake, calling on Aether to give him back some of the pain, praying to Lucifer to please don't let the new bug die.

This was the latest of these times, and it was taking longer than usual for Dew to get through the thick haze of pain and manage to wake up Phantom.

"Phantom, please," Dew shook him desperately, his voice rising. "Please, fuck, if you don't wake up right now. . ."

Phantom cracked his eyes open, coughing when he tried to sit up. "You'll what? Kill me?"

It was meant to be a joke, but they sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Dew nearly crushed his rib cage with the force of his hug.

"When he comes back," Dew whispered in Phantom's ear, breath tickling his neck. "I need you to run."

"No! I'm not leaving you," Phantom jerked backwards, hitting his head on the wall behind him with a resounding crack. "It's my fault you got in this mess, I don't want to be a—" he stopped himself from continuing the sentence, but coward repeated in his mind, bouncing off of the corners and filling it with a cacophony of shame.

"I'll follow you, I'll be right behind you, but he expects me to be hurt and so I can take him by surprise. Just promise me you'll run, please?"

Coward, coward, if you run you'll be a coward. "Promise you'll come after me?"

Dew nodded, and Phantom nearly dove into his chest. "I promise, little bug," Dew whispered into Phantom's hair. There was only one problem now.

Without Void being dead, Dew wasn't allowed to leave. If he broke his unholy swear, he'd be cursed to a slow, painful death. He'd have to figure out something else.

There was a noise in the hall, and Phantom jerked away from Dew like he'd been burned, hissing when pain exploded in his chest. He still wasn't fully healed, and although quintessence ghouls heal fast, it still wasn't fast enough.

"Oh, Starlight. . ." Void sang, stepping into the room. Phantom sat up straighter, hiding his pain and watching as Dew slumped against the wall. "I see you couldn't figure out how to get your magic back, how sad. My deepest condolences."

"You don't sound sorry," Phantom glared at Void, disguising his wince with a growl.

"My love, have you forgotten the rules already?" Void stopped with the fake friendliness, his voice dropping dangerously low. "Don't disrespect me was always rule number one, and if you break it, I'd have to punish you. Do you want that?"

Phantom curled up against the wall, all his bravado gone when Void raised his hand. Coward. Dew needs you, you can't back down now. Phantom let the leftover foreign quintessence spark along his arms, drawing Void's life force away from him. Funny, he could never do that before. "I'm leaving, and I'm taking Dewdrop with me. You'd do well to stay out of my way."

"The hell you are," Void snarled, ripping Phantom away from the wall and slamming him back into it with backbreaking force. "Rule number two, starlight. 'Don't ever talk back to me or go against me.' Or have you really been away from me long enough to forget?"

"Leave me alone," Phantom groaned, trying to get his arms out from Void's grasp.

"I guess I'll just have to make you remember. I'm sorry, my love, I really don't want to do this, but you've given me no other choice."

Phantom was unable to resist as Void pulled out a knife, tracing his collarbones and cheekbones with the razor-sharp blade. "P-please, I remember the rules, I'll be g-good, just—"

Void smiled and dropped him to a boneless heap on the ground. "I'll be back, if he's not healed by then," using the knife, he gestured to Dew. "There will be consequences."

Before Void could shut the door, Dew lunged at him, uncurling his legs from where he'd been hunched over on the ground and going straight for the throat. He knew he would never be able overpower Void, but he hoped he could hold him down long enough for them both to escape.

Void growled and flipped them both over, dragging his claws along Dew's abdomen, the burn and subsequent coolness along his skin a true sign that he'd drawn blood. Dew fought against Void's grip, but it was futile. He screamed as Void dug his talons into the fresh cuts, tears streaming down his face.

It didn't take long for Dew's hands to be pinned above his head and Void's lips to curve upwards in a deadly grin. "I've got you now, brother, what are you gonna do?"

"Run!" Dew screamed, momentarily confusing Void before he looked up and realized Phantom had crept towards the open doorway. He lept off of Dew and tried to lunge towards the little ghoul, but Dew grabbed his leg, sending him flying to the ground. "Run, bug, please."

Phantom hesitated for a split second, battling with his options, and like a true coward, he ran.

•.•.•

Rain was on a rampage.

There was blood everywhere. He wasn't even able to catch his breath before his instincts were leading him towards another sibling or townsperson.

The urge to sink his fangs into something was getting harder and harder to curb, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop. He would lose the last thread of control he'd so carefully woven over the last years of him being at the ministry.

His claws hadn't been enough to quench the growing thirst deep in his gut, though, and the rational part of his mind was slowly, oh so very slowly, giving way to the part of his head that screamed "HUNT HUNT HUNT".

He stopped in the woods, the running water of the stream nearby the only thing keeping him grounded. Another wave of overwhelming hunger sent him to his knees, and he feel even further forwards, clawing the fresh dirt and bringing the aroma to his nose. "Please," his voice was weak, torn apart by the growls he'd been emitting non-stop. His gut twisted when he remembered everyone he'd killed. "Please."

He didn't know what he was begging for. Forgiveness? The lack of emotion that the other ghouls in hell seemed to have an endless supply of? More? More blood, more pain, more delicious screaming.

Rain stumbled to his feet, the smell of blood leading him away from the fresh claw marks in the dirt. He heard Cirrus calling his name, but ignored her, instead heading towards. . .

Fuck, that smell was familiar.

Sister Evelyn. What the hell was she doing out here, he'd warned her. He to—

Rain fell to the ground again, but this time it wasn't because of his undying hunger, no, this time it was. . . What the fuck had he just tripped over?

The haze blanketing Rain's mind dissipated in seconds, and he realized that there was blood on his hands, on his mouth, on his clothes.

He looked down to see what was on the ground, and realized it was a humanoid lump in the dirt, covered partially by foliage and river water.

"Huh. . . ?" Rain knelt to the ground, flipping whatever — or whoever — it was over to see it better. "Oh fuck."

The lump was Phantom.