Chapter Text
Phantom loved their older brother. The young Quint looked up to Aether like he was the Anti-Christ himself, and it wasn’t for no reason. Aether was a fine specimen of a Quintessence Ghoul, one of the strongest in the ring of Hell they called home. His light grey skin always had a faint purple glow to it, and his horns were a hypnotising shade of indigo with entire galaxies swirling inside of them. His tail was thick and strong and the spade was solid enough to cause a lot of damage, something Phantom enjoyed watching when the two brothers went on Hunts together.
Phantom themself weren’t anything special by Quintessence standards. They didn’t have Aether’s glow, their horns were plain dark violet and their tail was skinny and weak. They had scarred the left half of their face during training, leaving a pale, almost white, patch of skin amidst the usual grey, continuing up to a large patch of white hair in the otherwise raven black curls and left them with partial blindness in their left eye. But that didn’t stop Aether from loving his sibling any less. Aether never expressed the guilt he felt for that, having Phantom try something they weren’t ready for, but the little Bug insisted, and Aether’s one weakness in this hellscape was his little brother. Phantom and Aether only had each other after all, their parents being long gone and no pack to be a part of.
So the two Quints lived like any other Hellspawn. They lived in a small homestead with a room each for their nests (even though they rarely slept apart), an outdoor fire pit, a water well nearby and a small stone shack that protected them from the tumultuous elements of the Pits. They woke up when the infernal fires ignited in the morning and went to sleep when they dimmed. During the day, they would do their chores, maybe go for a hunt every now and then, and train. Aether didn’t have much more he could learn, so he worked on refining each one of his skills while Phantom watched in sheer and utter adoration. Aether would train Phantom of course, giving the younger Quint the education that Aether had received and more.
“That was so cool!” Phantom practically yelled after watching Aether take down a hellbeast for their meal that night.
“Shh, Bat, you’re going to give us away!” Aether lightly scolded, smiling at his brother’s excitement.
“Sorry! But it was awesome! We couldn’t see where it was, then you spun around and went kapow! And it tried to ram you and went like that, and you spun around, and you did the thing then splat! We have dinner for at least a few nights!” Phantom reenacted with all their enthusiasm and dramatic gestures.
“Maybe next time, you can join. You need to start hunting properly soon, learning how to track and take down a foe, and not just those little imp rats. If not for food then for when something comes by the house.” Aether said with a bit more sincerity.
“I always ask that! But you get carried away and do it all yourself!” Phantom pointed out and stuck their forked tongue out to Aether, “Fuck, you’re bleeding, did you know that?”
“Language!” Aether scolded, but looked to the nasty gash over one side of his arm, dark purple blood running over his large bicep, “Ah fuck.” He mumbled.
“Language!” Phantom said in their best impression of Aether.
“Now, listen here you little shit-“ Aether laughed, swiping at the mess of raven and white curls on Phantom’s head, but the little Quint ducked out of the way and phased to the top of a nearby rock face.
“Again?” Aether asked bemused at his brother’s usual escape, ripping part of his shirt to wrap over his arm.
Phantom shrugged before phasing back down to Aether.
“Just about the only thing I can do, let me live!”
“You’ll learn.” Aether said with sincerity, “You’re only 13, you have plenty of time.”
“I know,” Phantom kicked a stone around by their feet, “but you’re so cool and powerful, and I’m just me. I’m not like you.”
“You’re not me. That’s right.” Aether said, fixing Phantom’s shirt and tidying their hair from around their horns, “You’re Phantom. You’re my baby brother. And you can be better than me if you believe in yourself even half as much as I believe in you.”
“I’m not a baby! And I don’t know about that. I just want to make you and Ma and Pa proud. But it’s all so slow, and you weren’t. I feel like a runt.” Phantom mumbled.
“Just by us taking care of each other, and helping each other, we are making Ma and Pa proud. You never fail to make me proud to be your brother, Bat. And you are certainly not a runt. It took a long time for me to hone my powers as well, but soon you will too. I know it.” Aether assured.
“I hope so.” Phantom perked up, “I want to be able to read minds like Pa could, and have Ma’s weird prophecy thing. Or get those purple strings like you have, and heal people.”
Aether smiled before putting his hands on each of Phantom’s shoulders and ducking down to their eye-level, “Quintessence is a big world. We’re not like the other Elements. We have access to the very fabric of reality itself, everything in its purest form. It takes a lot to be able to learn how to work with that, even further, to get it to listen to your every whim and word. You already know how to phase, how to tap into people’s emotions. Your senses are incredible-“
“Except for my eye.”
“- and you are the kindest ball of energy I have ever known. You can be one of the best Ghoul’s Hell has ever seen. You just have to believe in yourself the way I believe in you, okay?” He put one hand on Phantom’s scarred cheek.
“Okay.” Phantom mumbled, “I love you, Stardust.” They said a bit louder.
“I love you too, little Bug” Aether returned, placing his forehead on Phantom’s own before the brothers shared a tight hug.
The two brothers stayed there for a while inhaling each other’s familiar scents. To Phantom, Aether smelt like sweet meats and ozone. Aether recognised Phantom’s scent as cocoa and a crackling log fire, the underlying Quintessence signature of ozone licked away there too.
“Come on,” Aether broke the silence, “we need to get home before something else smells this hellbeast.”
Despite Phantom’s skinny frame, they were very strong and could easily help Aether lift the beast into a makeshift sled and they took turns dragging back to their stead. They laughed and talked the whole way back and for every time that Aether ruffled their curls, Phantom swiped up at the back of Aether’s head, not having any hair to return to action. Their home was just coming into view when Aether suddenly stopped, his tail wrapping tightly around Phantom’s waist forcing them to stop with the mild discomfort.
“You struggling with this?” Phantom teased, but immediately their face dropped when they saw their brother.
Aether was hunched over, the ropes of the sled forgotten as he grasped at his chest, breath coming too quick and shallow. His skin was pale to the point of rivalling Phantom’s scar and the galaxies in his horns were colliding and exploding in a frenzy. The blood that was still dripping down his arm was glowing like the rest of Aether. But it was more than his usual glow, it was like his eyes had been replaced with the infernal fires themselves, lighting him from the inside out.
“Aeth?” Phantom asked, scared beyond words as they reaching for their brother but a hand thrust out and stopped them, the tail dropping immediately as well.
“Fuck, I- AGH!” He screamed, keeling over and making Phantom flinch back and tears brimmed their eyes.
“Wh- what’s happening?” They begged, not even needing to use what powers they did have to sense Aether’s pain, confusion and terror.
“Th- think I’m being su- summoned.” Aether strained, every tendon and muscle flexing as his very being was being pulled through dimensions.
Phantom had only heard of Ghouls being summoned, they didn’t know it was a real thing, let alone ever actually witnessed one.
“Can’t g- go. You’ll be al- alone.” Aether wheezed, claws and tail embedded in the ground, resisting the pull as much as he could, silently begging it would pass.
“I- I’ll be fine. I’ll learn. I’ll find a pack. Maybe get a hellhound.” Phantom suggested, slowly nearing their brother, doing whatever they could to comfort his anguish.
“Need to teach you. Pr- promised Ma and Pa I’d pro- protect you.”
“I’ll be fine.” Phantom repeated, their small hand reaching Aether’s cheek as they crouched down, “Go. Serve our Lord. I’ll find you if I ever get summoned.”
“Can’t leave you.” Aether repeated.
“You’ll always have me. I’m your little bug. Your baby brother.” They leaned their forehead against Aether’s own again.
“I- AGH! Fuck!” Aether gasped for breath, “St- stay strong. I love you, Bug.”
“I love you too, Stardust.”
With that, Aether was suddenly gone. Phantom’s tears rolled down into the large Quintessence symbol left burnt into the soil below. They fell to their knees and sobbed freely, feeling so incredibly alone without Aether’s scent, not even being able to feel the presence of his soul anymore, a gaping hole left in their heart. The infernal fires dimmed as Phantom curled into a ball over the symbol, desperately inhaling what was left of Aether’s scent.
Phantom didn’t know how to hunt, how to cook their meals properly, track down something for food. Sure they had watched and helped Aether plenty, but they had never been told how.
“What am I meant to do without you?” They pleaded to the air, claws digging into the soil as if Aether would be right there and it was all some cruel joke.
Phantom knew that Aether didn’t have a choice, but they still felt angry. The anger at Aether soon turned to anger at themself. Maybe if they were stronger, they could have stopped Aether being summoned, the two brothers would be able to live their whole lives in Hell together or find a way to get summoned at the same time. Why was Phantom so weak? No one had ever let them believe that, not their parents, Aether, no one. But they couldn’t help but feel utterly helpless as they broke down over the symbol which was all they had left of their brother.