Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The door crashed open to reveal someone in a black robe. They look up at Dew, which shouldn't have been impossible. Dew isn't this tall, unless…

"I know where it is! I found it!" the figure cried, out of breath. The figure finally looked at Dew—

That's a human. Dew was looking down at a human face with warm brown eyes. The only thing he could see was their eyes, the rest of the face blurred like an old memory.

"Are you sure?" Dew felt himself say, "Where?" There was a sense of relief and urgency in his mind. That was Ifrit's voice, this was his memory. But who—

The human paused, brushed themself off and stood up straight, there was something they weren't telling him.

"It's uh—beneath the Holy See," they replied. Oh. Well, that plan is gone. No one in the ministry would willingly go to that place.

"That's…very far," Ifrit rumbled, displeased. Brown eyes looked down, kicking some dust at their feet, mumbling something. "What was that, little priest?" Ifrit murmured, almost as if cooing to a small child.

"I could go, I can. I will! I have to!" they urged, brown eyes flashing.

"No! I need you here!" Ifrit bellowed, but Brown Eyes didn't cower.

"You have the others! I have fulfilled my purpose here!" they snapped back, "I won't be gone forever, only a few months." Who was this human? How did Ifrit know them? What was so special that they were willing to venture into the heart of enemy territory?

"This is our only hope. If you ever want to see your mate again, you have to let me go," Brown Eyes pleaded, voice soft.

Wait…

Dew flinched awake, nearly knocking his head against the side of his bunk. He clamped down on his jaw, nausea rolling in his gut as he tried to make sense of what he just saw.

He'd seen plenty of visions from Ifrit since he'd been cast back to the pit. Sometimes they were memories from Ifrit's perspective, sometimes it was a false memory, likely a dream sent by his mate to comfort him.

But he'd never seen anyone else in the visions, let alone a human. Humans couldn't survive in the pit, it was physically impossible. So unless Ifrit had gotten out of the pit somehow, he'd just seen some random human appear in Ifrit's dream. Why would he dream of some random human? Why would Ifrit give him this dream?

It was false hope, nothing could bring a ghoul back from the pit, summonings were random. The only way to see Ifrit again would be to get cast back to the pit. Copia would never do that, would never allow it. Not when there was no guarantee they'd be alive once they got there. It would splinter their pack even further, and they were already on tour.

Dew's heart rate gradually slowed enough for him to notice gently tapping in the otherwise silent tour bus. It could only be Brother.

He was a Brother of Sin, but he had no name. He'd been with the ministry for years now, arriving just after Terzo's…departure. But it was only recently that he'd taken a more important role, as Frater's left hand. To ensure tour went smoothly, he'd been sent to aid their new Papa. Dew didn't know if Frater genuinely cared about his brother, or if Brother was some kind of spy. But he'd been nothing but kind and incredibly helpful to everyone, including Perpetua.

The only odd thing about Brother so far was his habit of getting up in the middle of the night and working away on his laptop.

It couldn't be correspondence with Frater, he often did that in front of the ghouls, sometimes letting them pop into frame or add little message at the end of his emails. He'd even extended the offer to Perpetua, but their new Papa was firm that his first interaction with his twin be face to face. But they all listened in as Brother gave reports of tour, or aided in administrative tasks.

So what on earth would he be up in the middle of the night for?

Mountain worried it was his fault. After all, Brother was quite tall, and didn't fit into the bunks, so he shared the back room with Mountain. The earth ghoul was a known clinger, and even if Brother insisted he didn't mind, Mountain still worried.

Phantom had immediately put forth that he could be writing fan fiction and didn't want them to know. When Aurora reminded the little bug that Brother was often a part of fanfic discussions with her and Tempest, he doubled down, saying that it could be, in his words, "spicy".

Dew shook his head clear of theories, and rolled out of his bunk silently, pausing for a moment.

He peered up at Brother, sitting on the couch, as expected, typing away on his computer. If he'd been writing fanfic, the light from the computer would be dim, not green. It made his eyes look weird. Oh shit, he'd seen Dew.

Before he could slid back into his bunk, Brother waved him over, only shaking his head slightly at Dew antics. Dew stood up quietly and padded over to the sofa, slipping down against Brother's side.

"Why are you awake, Dewdrop?" he asked. Dew just shrugged. He really didn't want to talk about his visions from Ifrit. He'd only ever told Aether, and the quintessence ghoul was at the ministry. Dew wilted at the thought.

They'd only gotten a few months together again after Sister died. Hell, the whole pack had thought Aether had been sent back to the pit after the first Imperatour. While Phantom had offered Aether back his position, Aether had remain at the ministry. Some kind of special assignment. He didn't say much, but Dew had seen the looks exchanged between him and Brother. Whatever Aether was doing, Brother knew what it was.

Even if his quintessence ghoul wasn't in the pit, he still felt so far away. Unlike Ifrit, whose distance made Dew soul ache. Dew snuggled into Brother side, relishing in how similar he smelled to his mate. For a human, it was odd that he smelled of sulfur and brimstone, but Dew didn't mind.

He glanced blearily at Brother's screen. It looked like google maps, but the text was in a language Dew couldn't read. What was Brother's first language? That didn't really matter now, Dew was tired again.

Dew blinked the sleep out of his eyes and realized he was back in his bunk. Brother must have tucked him back in once he was done google-mapping. The fire ghoul stretched as much as he could before poking his head out of the curtain.

Brother was still asleep in the back room. The door was open so Dew could see both Mountain and Brother sprawled out across each other like massive starfishes. Aurora had joined them at some point, and was sprawled out on top of them like a much smaller starfish.

Dew chuckled and slunk back into his bunk. It was too early to actually be awake. As Dew drifted off, a pair of warm brown eyes bore into him.

Chapter Text

"Aether!"

That was Ifrit's voice, but was Aether there? Had his mate sent him an old memory? Of happier times? Perhaps he'd just been thinking of the old memory…

Dew's vision shifted and swam, like a TV struggling to keep a signal.

Aether's face came into view, but his clothes were odd, Dew vaguely realized he wore a Sibling's uniform. Why would he be wearing that? The ghouls had their own non-tour uniforms. Unless…

Besides him stood Brown Eyes, face still blurry, form ever blurrier, confirming that this vision was not an old memory.

Why was this vision so scrambled? They were speaking but Dew couldn't make out what was being said, was something wrong with Ifrit?

Brown Eyes was speaking, but it was muffled and watery, "Convinced Sister..lend…me for…books hate me." Maybe they should be nicer to the books then…wait, how can books hate anything?

Someone was speaking again, but the words were quiet and indecipherable.

"Not…priest!" Brown Eyes yelped, loud enough to sharpen the dream for only a second, looking mildly like a disgruntled rat, Ifrit's and Aether's responding laughter was muffled and short, even through the swirling chaos of the vision, Dew could tell that Aether had noticed something behind Ifrit.

"How…" the world warped as Aether spoke, cutting off the rest of his sentence.

If a dream could make you motion sick, this is what it felt like as the view turned, but the world was too distorted for Dew to make anything out of the shape.

Wait, was someone else there?

"Long…too much…secret" Brown Eyes chimed in, Satanas , can this dream end, Dew felt like he was going to hurl, if that was possible in a vision dream memory thing.

In that moment, it was as if Satan had heard him as suddenly his vision cleared, the dream came into focus, and Ifrit's voice boomed in his ear just as he slipped away from sleep:

"No one was ever sent to the pit"

The world was cold and dark and numb. Something hurt, but Dew couldn't tell what. He clawed at consciousness, but something pulled him back down. Quintessence, some distant corner of his mind told him. Why was Aether keeping him asleep?

Wait, no, Aether was back the ministry. Doing…something. With Ifrit, who'd apparently never been sent back to the pit at all. Curse that damn woman!

Dew was on tour, with Phantom and Swiss. The pure quintessence could only be the little bug.

Why was Phantom keeping him asleep?

Dew pondered only for a second more, and gave in to the warm feeling of Phantom's magic, there had to be a reason they're keeping him asleep, and they'd let him wake eventually.

The next time Dew crawled out of sleep, nothing was there to stop him. He blinked, eyes registering nothing but darkness at first. The bus was moving. Phantom was sprawled out on top of him.

So was Aurora, and Tempest. Dew slowly realized that all the ghouls were piled onto the bed in the back. They weren't supposed to do that when the bus moved, had something happened.

Dew glanced around the room as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Perpetua was curled up the pile as well.

Even if he was new, he was still a Papa. Those who'd been left after Terzo did the same with Copia, and they'd done the same for Perpetua.

He couldn't smell Rain close. He couldn't smell him anywhere near the pile, it was like he'd never been with them. He was still on the bus, but Rain's petrichor was meshed with the sulfur he'd come to associate with Brother. Where were they?

Why did he smell blood?

Dew wracked his mind, trying to remember what had happened.

The last ritual had gone well, as far as he knew, everything was normal. The last solid memory he'd had was leaving the stage…and tripping on something? Did he fall?

How badly had he fallen that he lost memory? Had he injured himself, that might explain why Phantom had put him to sleep, explaining gaps in his memory. But why would he have kept him asleep?

Had his injury been so grievous that the ghouls disregarded one of the only bus rules that is actually enforced? Both Perpetua and Brother followed Copia's obsession with road safety.

Dew tried to get a sense of himself. His head felt fine, his mind getting clearer by the minute. His mouth felt dry, rough…had he burned his tongue on something?

He tried to remember the fall again, but the memory was fractured. But as he thought—

Something coppery had hit his tongue, it had been warm and sharp and burned him. Dew had no idea why his mind held onto that sensation but it haunted him.

Had he bitten someone? The blood wasn't ghoul blood, but why did it burn him? Human blood couldn't do that, right?

Dew tried to sit up, but Phantom's arm tightened across his chest.

"Go back to sleep," they murmured, tugging him closer.

Dew belatedly realized, as Phantom was putting him back to sleep, that his leg really hurt.

The bus was bright as Dew woke, there were also noticeably less ghouls piled on top of him. Only Phantom, a notoriously early riser, was left. Although Mountain sat beside them, awake. And watching them, the earth ghoul's face unreadable.

"The others are waiting for you," Mountain whispered, sliding off the bed with unnatural silence. Well, actually, it was quite natural for a ghoul to move about supernatural grace, but earth ghouls tend to not be as silent, given their sheer size.

Mountain carefully pulled Dew away from Phantom, "Let's let them sleep more," he whispered, lifting Dew into his arms.

Dew's leg was bandaged. There was a cast that looked more like a set of splints. What had he done to his foot?

Mountain shouldered open the door to reveal a packed bus. They all blinked, taking in the two ghouls.

"Ah! The fire ghoul has awoken," Perpetua chirped. He always said that when Dew rolled out of his bunk. There was no tension in his voice or his expression. As if nothing were amiss. Something that set Perpetua apart from Copia, he never let an ounce of worry show. But Dew could smell it on him.

In fact, the bus was saturated with the stench of worry and unease, something easily read on the other faces on the bus.

Dew spotted Rain, sitting beside Tempest, but Brother was nowhere to be seen.

"You took a tumble last night," Papa continued, "We were worried for you." He pulled out a muffin and gestured for Mountain to place Dew on the sofa. Looks like they had already stopped for breakfast.

"What happened?" he asked as Mountain set him down, accepting the muffin from Papa. It was blueberry.

"You tripped, fell hard, gave us all a heart attack in the process," Rain huffed, voice shaky. He took a sip of what was probably orange juice. "You have a few broken bones, but you should recover as long as you don't stress them." Ever the doctor he was. Rain's healing ability was stronger than Dew's had been.

Swiss ruffled Dew's hair as Mountain pulled his legs over his lap, probably to keep his injured leg out of the walkway.

"Did something happened after I fell?" he finally asked.

His question popped whatever bubble had been crafted while he'd slept.

No one spoke. Mountain tensed beside him, the hand on Dew's knee stilling. Rain, eyes closed, took a breath and held it. Aurora and Cumulus shared an uneasy glance. Swiss's grip on the armrest tightened. Perpetua braced against the counter.

Tempest glanced at him before focusing back on her tea, fidgeting with the mug.

"You uh—" she began, but Swiss cut her off.

"You put up a fight, Sodo. Like wounded animal," he stated, "Gave us a bit of scare, last night." Whatever joke the multi had tried to make fell flat.

"You're probably gonna be in a boot for awhile, but you should be fine," Mountain assured, dragged the conversation away from Dew's question.

His foot broke and he went berserk enough that they are walking on eggshells around him.

"What about the Ministry?" Dew asked. Injured ghouls never stayed, they were deemed worthless. Especially not ones that caused problems.

"Frater has already been notified of your injury and sends his well wishes."

Dew's head snapped around to find Brother stood in the doorway, tall and looming.

"If it is deemed necessary for you to return to the abbey to recover, arrangements will be made for you to stay there," he explained, his voice flat, detached, "But as it stands, you will still tour with the band."

"Are you sure—" Dew tried.

"The Ministry does not send ghouls back to the pit," Brother snapped, "There will always be a place for you."

Dew studied Brother for a moment before Mountain ruined the moment by sneezing.

"Did you just squeak?" Tempest chirped, face bright as the ghouls descended into laughter.

Dew looked back at Brother, who'd turned away, and realized what looked so wrong about him.

Brother never wore long sleeves, he always said he had nothing to hide.

Chapter Text

Dew had little time to adjust to seeing from Ifrit's eyes before the door slammed open to reveal a haggard Brown Eyes, something cradled in his arms. Nothing something, someone, who—

"They tried to send her to the pit," they panted. Brown eyes straightened up slowly, as if injured.

They hoisted whoever it was into their arms—Sunshine! They had Sunshine!

"Has the witch grown tired of traps?" Ifrit growled stepping towards the human.

Brown Eyes brushed passed him, laying Sunshine down reverently. Dew remembered how she used to look. Like most air ghouls, she'd had short curly hair that tended to float around her head like clouds. Her skin used to be a radiant golden color, it was how she got her name. But in this vision her skin was pale and sickly, her hair was jagged like it had been roughly cut or even burned.

She had blood dripping from her nose, eyes, and ears. Who had done this to her?

"This confirms my theory further," Brown Eyes huffed, "Not a single one of Sister's lackeys knew how to send her back, nearly fucking killed her…" The human looked injured, not that Dew could really see much, their form still as shapeless and blurred as ever, but something in the back of Dew's mind was telling him that Brown Eyes was injured. Ifrit could see that Brown Eyes was injured, why couldn't Dew?

"What did you do?" Ifrit whispered. The human paused,

"There was a fight. I won." they replied.

He barely had a moment to ponder more when Brown Eyes collapsed. Dew Ifrit surged forward but the moment he made contact with the human, Dew Ifrit flinched back. Something on the human burned him, what the fuck? Dew watched from Ifrit's eyes as he used the human's robe to grasp them and turn them over. Revealing blood streaming down their face from a gash in their forehead, it was smeared across their throat.

Who was this human? Why were they so willing to protect a ghoul? Dew couldn't tell if those were his thoughts or Ifrit's as the world changed. But Dew didn't wake, instead the vision continued.

Brown Eyes was still there, but in new clothes and cleaned of all blood. Sunshine was beside him, still asleep in that cot. Ifrit watched as Brown Eyes…built something?

"I've kept a list of all the ghouls you've told me of," Brown Eyes grunted as they snapped part of…whatever they were building…in place, "I doubt I've found all of them so far, and you've said you don't know all of the ministry ghouls…"

"Sister's ghoul might know of them, might even know where they all are" Ifrit suggested.

"PHiL is chained to that woman," Brown Eyes hissed, consulting a diagram, "If we wanted him to help, she'd need to be dead."

"A list, sötnos, all we need is a list," Ifrit tried but the human shook his head.

"He is never away from that witch, I don't think I can even get near him. Once we find that damn book, he's going to be the first one free," the human resolved.

"What about me?" Ifrit chuckled.

"You are not leashed to a woman who despises your very existence, you can wait," the human whispered.

The pair lapsed into silence again, allowing Dew to try and ground himself within the vision. There was so much going on—

"Jävla Hefaistos, knulla IKEA," the human swore. Wait, was that Swedish?? Dew studied their little project…it looked like a small bed frame.

"You didn't" Ifrit spoke. The human paused, looking away.

"I didn't what?"

"IKEA?"

"We are in Sweden!" the human declared, "I think it would be sacrilege if I went anywhere else. Besides, she's using the cot I brought down for you."

Ifrit stared at the human.

"Did you at least get meatballs? I know they don't make them in the mess hall."

Dew stared at the top of his bunk, fighting a sudden craving for Swedish meatballs. It was still dark out, no one else was awake yet.

Dew pondered that vision for hours until the rest of the band slowly woke up. It was like Dew was being told a story in reverse. Had Sunshine been who Aether had seen in the older vision? Ifrit had been so sure about the ghouls not being sent to the pit with Aether, but that human, Brown Eyes, whoever they were, treated it like a theory in this one?

Ifrit had mentioned Sister's ghoul. The first Multi ever summoned, he'd done interviews for the band, but after they found a brother willing do that work, some Toblerone guy, Sister had taken the multi as her assistant. Dew didn't know the whole story, but if Terzo had been right, he'd never been around the pack, and didn't have a name.

But Dew had always seen him with a red name tag on his chest that read PHiL. He's also seen Sister take the little sticker from the ghoul, but it always reappeared.

Dew shook those thought from his head as Rain pulled back the curtain on his bunk. Guess he'd spent more time thinking that he'd realized. He wasn't being kept in the back room anymore, but Rain refused to let him move back to his floor bunk.

The water ghoul in question pulled Dew from what had been his bunk and into his arms. Rain was surprisingly strong given his stature, as per usual with waters. Dew used to be the same, but his strength had been traded for speed when his element was changed.

Only some of the ghouls were awake, and those that were up and about looked half asleep. Even Papa looked barely awake as he sipped at his lukewarm coffee.

Brother sat at the table. He hadn't moved a muscle in the ten minutes Rain had attended to Dew. He didn't look sick, but the way he held himself was concerning. Rain noticed his gaze and furrowed his brows at the statuesque brother.

He watched as Rain stepped over to the man and placed a hand on his forehead. Brother barely reacted. But before Rain could say anything—

Ding!

All eyes snapped towards Brother's laptop. A sleek silver thing covered in stickers from the ghoulettes. Dew watched as Brother slowly dragged open his laptop and honest to Satan frog blinked at his email. Dew leaned in to try and read the screen—

"Storm Ghoul has recovered from his summoning," Brother announced, voice horse, "He will be joining us on tour." Wait—

"Swiss will return to the Ministry upon Storm's arrival," he continued. Swiss stared, his face a mixture of shock and resignation. Brother passed his laptop to the multi, "Frater wishes to speak with you."

Swiss took the laptop gently, and slipped into the back room. Brother stood from his chair, swaying as he stood, and made his way off the bus.

It was awhile after Swiss left for the backroom, one that was filled with silence. Dew could tell that Tempest was excited for Storm, there was always a kinship between ghouls summoned at the same time.

But Swiss's departure cast a shadow over her joy. Even if Aether and Cumulus were still around, it wasn't always that way. Even if Dew's vision were true, he still didn't know where Ifrit was, and it was clear that they were still hidden away.

He still hadn't told anyone. How could he? If his visions were false, Dew would never forgive himself for telling them.

It was silent for a long while. It was silent even after Swiss left the back room for the outside.

The silence irked Dew so much he eventually tugged on his boot and marched himself outside. Some fresh air would do some good, Rain would agree.

Dew wandered around for awhile, just exploring when he picked up on voices right around the corner. Swiss and Brother, probably talking.

"—zo, he's alive," Swiss gasped, wait who was alive? "Aether found him in a chamber in the bowels of the library, behind some red door," the multi continued. Dew held his breath.

"So that's what was behind that door," Brother mumbled, Swiss sputtered at him.

"You found the door and didn't think to open it? From what I heard, it was a pretty significant looking door," he hissed. Dew heard a small scuffle, Swiss must have shoved Brother. The gravel crunched again, likely as a result of Brother shoving Swiss.

The multi ghoul hadn't really been able to rough house like he used to with Aether, the other ghouls being either too small or not really interested. Brother, on the other hand, enjoyed the activity, sometimes even winning their little scraps.

"Everything contained below the main library burns me, I wasn't sure I would survive opening a door in a library full of books that hate me," Brother snapped, although his tone was a bit humorous. He should form a club with Brown Eyes for people who are hated by books. It should be a book club…

"Fair," Swiss mused, then took a sharp breath, "well, he's alive but not awake. There is something else, a ritual circle, Aether sent over pictures but—"

"Do you need something Dewdrop?

Dew rounded the corner, doing his best to not look guilty, "Ah, no. Just…wanted to check in on Swiss. See how he's doing with all…the stuff?"

Swiss chuckled, stepping towards him to ruffle his hair, he still had to get used to it being so short. "I'm alright, Droplet. I should probably be checking in on you!" he assured, sweeping Dew off his feet, leaving Brother behind. He was still wearing long sleeves.

Chapter Text

"Goddamn fucking books!" The door slammed open to reveal a pissed off Brown Eyes. "It's like they can sense I shouldn't be here, fucking burning me!"

The human's hands were red and raw, small blisters dotted their skin like they'd touched a hot pan. Had the books in the library really burned them? Dew had never heard of them doing that.

Wait, why shouldn't Brown Eyes be here?

"Well, do you really need to read all of them? Certainly you can just look through an inventory list?" Ifrit questioned. Dew remembers him vowing to never step foot in a place a boring as a library. Well, good to know Ifrit has never changed, otherwise he'd know that—

"The library is entirely uncatalogued, there is no inventory list," the human grumbled. It was true. Dew had once wanted to read something, anything, to kill the boredom of quarantine, but nothing was in order. It wasn't even all in languages he could read.

"I can't possibly spend all of my hours in the library, I have chores to do!" Brown Eyes huffed, flopping down dramatically across from where Ifrit was sitting. The edge of a spell circle peaked into view briefly. That must be how Ifrit is trapped…wherever he is.

"Isn't there a catalogue? There must be an inventory list, especially for the upper levels," Ifrit crooned. Brown Eyes sighed, flopping back onto the floor.

"There is no inventory. There is a small section with recreational books that someone logged years ago," they explained, "But that section is only a small shelf near the main door and the log is entirely on paper."

"Well who manages that log?" Ifrit chuckled, amused by the sibling's ire.

"It's managed by the few siblings that use the library, there is a reason no one goes into it! It's three floors and Satan knows how many catacombs of uncatalogued, unorganized literature in probably any language known the man!" Brown Eyes whined from where they lay sprawled on the floor.

"Maybe you could propose a project to Sister? She likes you doesn't she? Maybe she'd appreciate someone willing to sort the library?" Ifrit suggested. Brown Eyes paused, contemplating the fire ghoul's words.

"That could work," they mused, "I do have my own little…group that could work with me." Wait, was Brown Eyes the sibling who'd started the Library project all those years ago? Was this vision so old that it was before that project started?

"Remind me, sotnos, how big is the library?" Ifrit asked,

"The main library hall is a 3 stories of uniform shelves, to identify, catalogue, and sort all of those would be a massive task, even with a team of siblings," Brown Eyes lamented.

"Well I suggest you get started," Ifrit crooned, slightly delighted by the misery of the human, "I know you have friends who could help."

Brown Eyes groaned into the floor before glaring at Ifrit, their brown eyes burning into Dew's memory. They squinted and sniffed, as if contemplating something.

"There is a new brother in my dorm, a tall thing," the human mumbled, "He has a computer we can use."

"How tall?" Ifrit asked, lowering himself to look Brown Eyes in the face. The human's breath fanned Ifrit's face. Dew felt it. The human smelled of fresh dirt and old books.

"Almost as tall as that earth ghoul, but not as tall as me," the human murmured, flopping onto his back.

"You are just like Dewdrop, always rolling about and flopping around dramatically," Ifrit chuckled.

"Yeah well he's got a point, floor time is peak!"

Dew briefly lamented the loss of floor time due to his injury before Rain helped him out of the bunk. Some of the ghouls were awake, some weren't.

Brother had yet to wake up by the time they stopped to meet up with Storm Ghoul, but Rain had assured them that he'd just exhausted himself with the beginning of tour. Dew knew he was lying.

"Sister Athena should arrive with the next ten minutes," Perpetua announced as they all piled off the bus. Dew had a strange feeling that Brother should have been the one to say that, but he wasn't awake yet.

They'd stopped at a rest stop with picnic benches for this. Rain and Mountain, ever the mother hens of the group, had put together a lunch for them all. Cirrus and Tempest sat near edge of a veranda, enjoying the wind. Phantom, Swiss, and Aurora had tried to play Uno but the two air ghoulettes kept messing with the deck, much to the amusement of Perpetua.

Brother never left the bus.

The sister who'd accompanied Storm wore the same informal priest's uniform that Brother wore. She even had the same crest inked onto the white collar. Dew had been seeing it around the Ministry for years, but he never knew what it meant, other than identifying a sect of siblings within the Ministry.

"This is Sister Athena," Perpetua chimed, "She works with Aether in the library."

Storm Ghoul was lovely, settling in to the group with ease. They managed to eat lunch all together before anyone left.

"Swiss has been assigned a duty back at the ministry, and will likely be very busy," the sister, Athena, explained. Dew could almost imagine Brother saying that. Explaining things is usually his job.

"Good luck, you're gonna need it," Storm chuckled as Swiss groaned, flopping onto the picnic table dramatically.

"With what exactly?" Aurora asked, flopping down beside the multi.

"The library. Apparently, Aether has taken charge of the effort to catalogue the library and I'm be deputized to help," he whined, picking at a cracker before eating it.

"When are they going to be done? Hasn't it been years?," Cirrus groaned, earning a gentle shove from Rain.

"You just want to read Twilight, again!" he teased, "But it is true, anytime I've tried to find medical texts, I find nothing. It's—"

"Completely undocumented, according to Aether," Swiss sighed, "From what I've heard it's turned into quite the project over the years."

"What is so important that they need you for it?" Tempest asked, "Why so late in the project anyway?"

"Quintessence ghouls can read any language," Swiss explained, "Aether has a massive team of siblings already, but they've moved down into the catacombs, and are starting to find dead languages."

"Ha ha! You're gonna be covered in book dust for months!" Phantom cheered, poking Swiss's side.

The multi scrambled away for a moment before charging at the younger ghoul. Dew snickered as Phantom got hiked up into the air by his ankle by a much taller Swiss.

"This is normal, just a bit of fun," Cirrus assured Storm as the quintessence ghoul shrieked, swinging at Swiss's knees.

"And once tour is over, you are going to be joining us!" the multi joked, much to the horror of the still dangling Phantom.

"All of you will likely be joining that task," Perpetua added, looking mildly amused, "As once the books are catalogued, they must be re-shelved."

A collective groan at the thought of library duty sounded from the group. Any task that required ghouls and siblings to work together was a massive one indeed.

"Everyone in the Abbey has already been doing shifts at the library," Storm added, sniping a corn chip from Tempest. "According to Aether, this project had started out as a search for a specific book years ago."

"Isn't that how Aether met Brother?" Dew asked. He remembered Aether introducing them to Brother, who had been sitting on a counter, hunched over a laptop, surrounded by paper lists.

"Yeah, Brother is pretty tech savvy so the original sibling in charge brought him in to digitize it all," Mountain added from beside him, "He's only on tour with us because he managed to train his own little team with the log."

"Where is Brother?" Sister Athena asked.

"He's sick, nothing major, just needs rest," Rain assured her.

"Ah, well he'd tell you all to get back on the bus," Sister Athena chuckled, "You guys have a tight schedule to keep."

All the ghouls collectively scrambled to check a watch, but no one wore a watch. It was usually Brother who wore one.

They bid Swiss a goodbye, with Aurora and Phantom pouting the most over his departure as Storm laughed at the quintessence ghoul's impending misery. He certainly fit right in to their little group.

It was quiet by the time Tempest caught Dew half hanging out of his bunk. She huffed a laugh at Dew's grabby hands but hoisted the water ghoul into her arms. He trilled as she draped him across the sofa.

They lounged in silence as the bus carried on around them. Dew tried to enjoy it but there was a question in his mind that wouldn't go away.

And Tempest was the most likely to tell him the truth. He loved his pack, but they cared too much about him.

"What happened after I fell?"

Tempest went still, even her hair, normally floating about, paused. She looked at him, unsure of herself.

"You bit Brother," Tempest sighed.

Dew stiffened, her words settling over him.

"I what?"

"I don't know why the other ghouls are keeping it a secret from you," she whispered, "But you went feral after you fell. Brother was the first to reach you and you bit him! You wouldn't let go."

Dew had bitten Brother. And now he was sick. Whatever else Tempest said went unheard.

Dew ignored the pain in his foot as he scrambled for the back room. Somewhere along the way, Tempest must have picked him up, as he was practically handed to Mountain, who'd be awake next to a sleeping Brother.

Dew pulled at his sleeves, the first revealing nothing but pale skin.

But under his right sleeve was a bit wound on his wrist, inflamed and swollen. The imprints matched Dew's crooked teeth exactly.

Chapter Text

Gills!

Dew was breathing through his gills again! He felt his hands move up to his neck, feeling out the fluttering slits on his neck. They felt different than he remembered, was this not his memory.

Dew blinked in the water, the light was far above, how deep was—

What the fuck is that!?

Something darted up from the depths, how fucking deep was this? Was he in the ocean? No, this was freshwater, he would taste salt if—

Oh

There was a ghoul in front of his face, a water ghoul, with deep dark eyes and webbed ears. He'd never seen this water ghoul before…

"Calm, brother, breath," the ghoul purred, holding on the Dew's face. Wait, brother? Who's memory was this?

"I'm in a fucking lake!" Dew cried, that…that was Brother's voice, was this Brother's memory?

"Yes, you are, quite observant, this one," the ghoul deadpanned. Dew, or rather Brother, floundered around for a bit more, before his panic seemed to abait. Dew recognized this water, this was the Ministry lake.

"I've…I've heard stories about you," Brother mumbled, small air bubbles escaping his lips. Dew had too, stories about a monster in the depths. No, not a monster, a ghoul. Terzo had always insisted this…

"We don't have time for stories, brother," the ghoul replied, "You have a tome to find."

"A tomb?" Brother sputtered, the ghoul rolled his eyes,

"No, a tome! Like a spell book!" he sneered.

"I…don't work in the library! I work in grounds keeping," Brother countered.

"Well, it's not in the library!" the ghoul huffed.

"Then…where is it?" Brother asked.

"I don't know," the ghoul snipped. Dew felt as his, Brother's, face scrunched up.

"Oh well that's helpful," he snapped, oh this was definitely Brother.

"But there is a journal that will tell you where it is," the ghoul chirped.

"And where is the journal?" Brother tried, Dew could feel his own patience wearing thin.

"In the library," the ghoul cheered, clearly delighting in the annoyance.

"I don't work in the library!" Brother cried, arms waving about, albeit sluggishly, in the water.

"Will you let me finish?" the ghoul snapped, all sign of amusement fading. Dew didn't know this ghoul, who were they?

"There is a set of journals kept by my first papa, Primo. He wrote in those journals the location of the tome, and how to get there," the ghoul explained, tone urgent, "I know the journals are in the library, somewhere, you have to find them, but you can't let Sister know!"

This ghoul was one of Primo's ghouls? How was he still on earth?

Brother coughed, choking on the water.

"You should head back to the surface soon," the ghoul urged, "Your gills will close once you get there."

"What about the bends?" Brother asked. Dew could tell he was deep, going up to the surface too quickly could kill the human. The ghoul in front of him thought for a moment before drawing something on Brother's neck. Dew could feel it tickle.

"This sigil should keep you safe, it will wash off in a few days, now what have I told you?" the ghoul demanded.

"Uh…find Primo's journals in the library without letting sister? which sister?" Brother asked. How old was this vision that he didn't know Sister Imperator?

"Sister Imperator, start over," the ghoul hissed.

"Uh okay…fancy spell book hidden away, find location in Primo's notebook, find notebook in library, don't let Sister Imperator know," Brother rattled off, Dew could feel his lungs struggling. Humans weren't meant to have gills.

"Good, now go!" the ghoul shouted as he shoved Brother up towards the light. The water rushed around Dew's face as Brother was catapulted back to the surface.

The vision faded as Brother hit sand, choking on the air as the gills in his neck slowly closed.

Mountain wasn't there when Dew awoke. He must have tucked Dew into Brother's arm after he'd worn himself out.

Dew only vaguely remembers crying before sleep claimed him.

He blinked in the darkness, sleep fading as he registered Brother's neck right in from of his eyes.

There were grooves on his neck. Gills.

So it had been Brother's memory. The ghoul had warned Brother about a tome, was this the same tome Brown Eyes spoke of? Was the tome why Brother was on tour with them? To help Brown Eyes, whoever they were, find this tome?

How had Dew seen Brother's memory? That should only be possible with bonded mates or—

Oh. The bite.

Dew gently wrestled out of Brother's hold to study the bite. It refused to heal, and it looked more infected than normal, but—

Dew had claimed Brother. The ghoul felt it deep in his soul, somehow, he'd claimed Brother as pack.

But Brother was human. Dew wasn't sure if a human could survive a ghoul bite. He remembers Rain telling him that sometimes humans couldn't even survive a bite from other humans. Dew had bitten him and now he was sick.

Dew sat over Brother, still asleep, watching the human breath. It was weak. Dew didn't fight the tears again. He merely watched as the dropped onto the bite, wetting the skin. That couldn't be good for an open—

The inflammation around the bite marks faded as tears collected on Brother's arm. The marks themselves didn't go away, but they seemed to finally seal up. It would scar.

Dew held his breath as Brother stirred, blinking hazily up at Dew. He had a loopy grin on his face. He mumbled something Dew couldn't quite hear.

"What?" Dew asked quietly.

"Frit always called you his Waterlily," Brother mumbled, sleep mostly asleep, "He never liked how you healing only worked when you cried."

Even when he'd been a water ghoul, Dew's gift of healing was it's strongest when he was at his lowest. Rain theorized that it was the only reason he'd survived the element changed. Wait—

How did Brother know Ifrit?

How did Brother know Ifrit well enough to know that Dew was his mate?

Maybe…maybe it had been Brother who told Brown Eyes about the tome, Brown Eyes worked in the library right? They'd been the sibling to start the whole endeavor. Maybe that's what the cross on his collar meant. Athena wore it too. Maybe that cross meant—

Dew shook his head. Those were thought for when he was fully awake, not still crying over his new human pack mate.

Rain slipped into the room as dawn peaked through the curtains. The water ghoul looked from Dew, who had dried tear streaks down his face, and Brother's healed bite. The water ghoul smiled, and curled up next to Dew.

It was awhile before anyone spoke. Brother remained asleep.

"You didn't make him sick, Dewdrop," Rain assured, "Any infection from the bite would have caused blood poisoning. He's got a respiratory infection." Dew looked at him, he wanted to believe that, but—

"And what caused that?"

"Believe it or not, leaving the Abbey," Rain chuckled, "I've heard Brother has been at the Abbey for years, working in the library. His lungs probably aren't used to fresh air, especially from climates so different from home."

"They why are you letting him stay sick?" Dew grumbled, surely Rain could fix him.

"Because his respiratory system would just fail again," Rain explained, brushing back Dew's hair, "He needs to get better on his own or he'll just keep getting sick." Dew huffed, slumped back against the water ghoul.

"So just a skill issue?" Dew chuckled, still staring at a sleeping Brother.

"Yeah, he'll be fine soon," Rain huffed, "Now come on, we are almost at Merksem."

Chapter Text

"Who gave that mark to you?"

Ifrit spoke first in this vision, and Dew instantly noticed the marks on Brown Eyes' skin. The sibling looked down, observing a winding ivy tattoo that crawled up their arm. Dew knew that tattoo, where had he seen that tattoo?

"I met a ghoul in the forest," they began, unsure, "I think he gave it to me?"

"What?"

"There was another ghoul, just like last time," Brown Eyes explained. Last time? When was last time? "Trapped in a place no sibling goes—"

"What did you find this time?" Ifrit sighed, why was he so rude to Brown Eyes. Dew remembers him calling the human sotnos, hell he begged the sibling to stay in the first vision. Was this vision older? Closer to when they'd just met?

"The ghoul in the forest was trapped in a spell circle, just like yours," the sibling continued.

"The first ghoul wasn't—" Brown Eyes cut him off.

"I think they were, though. That one was just on the ceiling underneath the floor, if you look hard enough you can see it," the sibling urged. Ifrit sighed, seeming more flippant with the human that in past visions.

"So three ghouls trapped in spell circles. What is powering them?" Ifrit retorted, "That is how magic works, priest." That is how spell circles work, something would have to be powering them and who ever made them couldn't just use the trapped ghouls as a power source.

Using someone's soul as a power source for a spell circle enabled that being, ghoul or human, to manipulate the spell circle. If Ifrit, and whoever else they were talking about, were powering their own traps, they'd easily be able to just get out.

Wait, why'd he call Brown Eyes a priest?

"Not a priest," Brown Eyes countered, dark hair falling just short of their eyes, "And you missed the just like yours part, the spell circles were all identical, like they were all the same spell." Dew had never noticed the sibling's hair before, usually because all that Ifrit acknowledged was their eyes.

"That's where my afternoon got stranger, mist—"

"What?" Ifrit stuttered. Dew remembered the story of Mist ghoul…

"Huh?" Brown Eyes just looked at Ifrit, confused.

"Mist?" Ifrit whispered, her name rolling of his tongue reverently. She was the first ghoulette summoned, Terzo had loved her greatly.

"Yeah, a thick mist rolled in," Brown Eyes continued, oblivious to Ifrit's internal conflict, "Which isn't possible with the weather, it felt…like anguish and…this is gonna sound stupid."

"Say it anyway," the fire ghoul urged. Brown Eyes took a breath

"It felt like the mist was speaking to me, warning me," they revealed. Dew remembers the mist on the Abbey grounds. It always felt like someone crying out for help. He hadn't felt the sensation of it since his transformation, but Dew knew that Rain could feel it.

"About what?"

"About something in the heart of the Ministry, something tying everyone together," the sibling continued, "And I think the warning has everything to do with the spell circles."

Dew watched Ifrit's view darted down to the spell circle at his feet, and read the ghoulish words engraved on the edge. They all seemed like normal spell circle stuff, except for one word.

But it wasn't written in normal ghoulish, it was written like a title…or a name.

Chain.

Was there ever a ghoul named Chain? Dew didn't know all of the ghouls ever summoned, most of the names he does know come from stories told by Terzo, had Terzo eve spoken of a ghoul named Chain?

"What are you thinking?" the sibling asked, bringing Dew back to the memory.

"Mist," Ifrit trailed off.

"What about the mist?"

"My first earth ghoul was named Ivy," Ifrit said, studying the tattoo still marked upon Brown Eyes' arm. "And you've found a ghoul trapped in a grove of ivy."

"Ivy trapped in ivy," Brown Eyes muttered, "that's definitely the same cruel irony with the bell tower."

"Terzo, my Papa Emeritus, spoke of his first ghoulette named Mist," Brown Eyes stared at Ifrit in almost horror as he spoke, "And you claim to have been warned by the impossible mist that covers the Abbey grounds."

"The mist could be her," Brown Eyes murmured, gears turning in their head.

Neither Ifrit nor Brown Eyes spoke for awhile. They just stared at each other. Dew observed what Ifrit saw of the sibling. They were tall, and wore the robes of a new sibling, with a plain black clerical shirt and black pants. No robes, stoles, or veil. The cross Dew had seen on the sibling's collar in previous visions was missing.

The sibling's voice broke through Dew reverie just before he woke.

"What if there are more ghouls still on Abbey grounds?"

Dew blinked awake carefully, still star fished on top of Mountain, who was still fast asleep. Brother was as well, tucked into Mountain's side.

Dew would have liked use both of them as pillows, as he usually did, but Rain had told him that he couldn't put more pressure on Brother's ribs. His breathing was still shallow from being sick, but he was slowly getting better.

After having thoroughly made fun of Brother (seriously, who gets sick because his lungs got too used to book dust and stale air?), the ghouls were very careful around him. He was still sick, but at least he didn't sleep through the day anymore.

A loud sneeze startled Dew enough that he flinched and slipped off of Mountain and onto the floor.

"Holy fucking hell, Mountain, warn a guy," Brother mumbled, also picking himself off the floor from where he fell.

"Dew's hair got in my nose," Mountain grumbled, blinking awake, "Come on, let's get up, I think we might be the last ones asleep." Brother groaned, but pulled himself up to stand regardless. Mountain, without saying a word, pulled Dew up and tossed the small ghoul over his shoulder.

"Haha, look at you, little fiery sack of potatoes," Brother cooed as they exited the back room.

"I think he's just one solitary potato," Aurora chirped, "Much too small to be an entire sack." Their little trio wasn't the last awake, as only Aurora and Phantom were out of their bunks. Perpetua was also out of bed, but judging the the way he frog blinked at the coffee machine, he was not fully awake.

"Oh har har, very funny," Dew snapped playfully, "If I'm one potato, you're only half a potato."

"You are both two halves of the same potato," Mountain grunted, setting Dew down beside the air ghoulette, who set about fixing Dew's long hair. Dew settled back, this little routine of theirs was nice. Reminded Dew of a time centuries ago in the Pits, back when Dew was still a water ghoul and barely more than kit.

"What about potatoes?" Phantom asked, pulling his headphones, "Are we having potatoes? For breakfast?" He seemed confused but hopeful.

"No, Tom, we don't have hash browns," Brother sighed, sounding like a half hearted harmonica note, opening his laptop, "I wish we did, I could definitely go for some hash browns."

"Whatcha doin?" Aurora asked, peering obnoxiously close to Brother's laptop screen, and having to blink at the bright light so close to her eyes.

"Computer stuff, Roars," Brother rasped, gently pushing her head back. The ghoulette rubbed her eyes, something that always alarmed Phantom. The ghoul in question whined at Aurora, gently trying to pull her hands down. The poor quint, even with the quintessence eye from Aether, Phantom could never quite get over the mental damage done by being blind.

"I'm fine, Tom," she assured, cupping the ghoul's face, "Just looked at the screen too closely."

"Don't keep rubbing your eyes, it will make it worse," Phantom worried, satanas he looked so young like that. Dew's memory of the freshly summoned Phantom clutching his face in agony swam to the forefront of his mind.

Brother reached over a tugged Phantom closer, and the quint ended up tucked carefully against Dew. The quint was purring in no time.

He relaxed for the moment, relishing in the mini pack pile. Then he spotted something inked on Brother's arm. Just above the bite, was a leaf.

An ivy leaf.

Chapter Text

The faint scent of alpine air and fresh grass brought Dew into the memory. But Mountain is nowhere in sight.

"You smell of another ghoul," Ifrit growled. He was right, even within the memory, Brown Eyes smelled of a very familiar earth ghoul.

"Am I not allowed to be around them?" Brown Eyes deadpanned. Ifrit just huffed. Brown Eyes continued, "I've been working alongside the earth ghoul, his name is Mountain."

"I know his name," Ifrit growled, "he was one of my earth ghouls." Mountain had been a rock for Dew during his transition, and even if he didn't see it, the earth ghoul was a point of stability for Aether too. It was the three of them against the world after Ifrit was banished.

"Really? I thought they got all new ghouls for each papa," Brown Eyes quipped, the curiosity and innocence genuine. It caught Ifrit off guard, he sputtered to correct the sibling.

"No, that would be much to complicated," Ifrit grumbled, "Tell me, who are the ghouls now?"

"Well Mountain is still the earth ghoul," Brown Eyes rambled, "And I know the quintessence ghoul, Mountain calls him Aether, he always looks at me funny, I think I pissed him off…"

"He can likely smell the divine in you, priestling," Ifrit mumbled.

"I am not a priest, never have been!" Brown Eyes snapped, "Do you want to here about the ghouls or not?" Ifrit huffed.

"Who is the fire ghoul?" Ifrit asked.

"He hangs around the green houses often, but I always catch him staring at the lake," Brown Eyes replied evenly, "A small ghoul, Mountain called him Dewdrop."

The world tilted as Ifrit fell to his knees at the revelation. Because Dew's transition had happened after Ifrit's departure, he never knew the hell his mate endured.

And now Dew wasn't even the one to tell him.

"Ifrit, are you alright," Brown Eyes worried, kneeling before Ifrit, eyes scanning the ghoul.

"Dewdrop was my water ghoul," Ifrit rasped, clawing at the tile floor, "It would seem they elected to force an elemental transition rather than summon a new fire ghoul."

"What?" Brown Eyes asked, voice strained with horror. Ifrit gagged, the air around him warm.

"Water ghouls are rather easy summons, it's why the ministry has had little problem replacing them," Ifrit murmured, as if trying to shake his own horror away, "I heard stories, of when the first quintessence Ghoul vanished. They took their water ghoul, Delta, and forced his element to change from water to quintessence and summoned a new water ghoul.

Brown Eyes mumbled in shock and disgust.

Something cold touched his hand.

Brown Eyes. They'd taken hold of Ifrit's hand. The sensation was cold and smooth, but felt so utterly human. For someone as tall as Ifrit, their hands were much smaller.

Ifrit let the sibling hold on, honing in on the sensation. Their hands were lightly calloused, there was still some dirt under their nails from whatever work they did in the greenhouse.

"I…imagine it was worse for my mate," Ifrit hummed, Dew could feel his mate's heart calming. Satanas, Dew missed him.

"Worse?"

"Fire was the element opposite of his own," Ifrit explained, steadying himself, "I can't imagine the transition was all that pleasant to begin with—"

"I know little about his transition, but he is, for lack of a better work, fiery," Brown Eyes hummed, "Whenever I see him, he's energetic. Rather content to light a fire under someone's ass for a laugh."

"He was…always a bit light that," Ifrit chuckled mournfully.

"He burned me once, I don't think he even realized," Brown Eyes mumbled. Those words rattled Dew enough that he began to wake.

Had Dew really burned a sibling? He knew his fire had been less controlled after his transition, and he knew that Aether and Mountain had suffered from it, but he was sure he'd never burned a human.

The curtain to his bunk shot open, letting light coat his still half asleep form, and startling him fully awake.

"Come on, Dew, Lake day!" Phantom cried, sprinting off the bus.

"Huh? Don't we have a ritual tonight?"

"Dew, the decision to cancel the ritual was made days ago, Papa told us after the ritual in Munich," Cirrus chuckled as Mountain pulled Dew from his bunk. The earth ghoul set him down in the booth, and tossed his swim shorts at him.

"In my defense, there was a lot going on," Dew huffed, tugging on the shorts under the table.

"And now we get a lake day," Rain cooed from behind him, pulling Dew's hair back to braid it.

"I can braid my own hair," Dew grumbled.

"I know," Rain replied, weaving strands of Dew's hair into a meticulous braid. Dew sat in silence as Rain worked, watching Brother type away at his computer. He was chatting with someone, if the pauses were anything to go by.

"All set, Dew," Rain chirped, "Your hair is awfully long, Brother." Dew grinned at the mischief in his voice as Brother snapped up to look at Dew in mock horror.

Brother was not successful in getting away from Rain, forced to sit on the end of the dock as Rain pulled his hair into a braid. It was nearly as long as Dew's, but it looked rather shaggy, like he's grown out a much shorter style and never got it trimmed.

Rain finished off Brother's braid with pink ribbon and promptly shoved him into the water.

Dew cackled from where he sat half submerged in the shallows as Brother scrambled back onto the dock to get at Rain. Tempest sat beside him as they watched Brother hoist the water ghoul over his shoulder and jump into the lake.

"I'm surprised you've waded this far in," Tempest began softly, watching the other ghouls mess around in the water.

"The idea that fire ghouls can't go in water is a myth, they just aren't good swimmers," Dew mused, "I tend to not go in deep anymore because my body is not longer designed to dive deep."

Tempest hummed, confused.

"Rain can dive fairly deep with no trouble," Dew explained, "He can breathe through his gills, his eyes are shielded from water, his body can adjust to the pressure. I used to be, but now I've only got my gills."

"You can still use your gills?" she wonder. Dew nodded,

"Not well, I can't open or close them on my own. I have to fully submerge to open them, and then I have to hold my breath to close them, I don't do it often." Tempest just hummed, splashing the water with her hands.

While she seemed like the more confident of their new summons, Tempest was hesitant of the water. Air ghouls never spent much time near the rivers in the pit, and if she did, those rivers were often near boiling unless you swam deep, something that wasn't actually possible for air ghouls. It's entirely likely that she doesn't know how to swim, unlike Storm, who is currently playing games with Aurora in a much deeper section. Tempest dug at the sand on the lake floor, pulling a handful out and letting it fall back in.

"The lake at the abbey doesn't have sand," she mused. Dew nodded. The abbey lake gets very deep very quickly, and most of it's depths is lined with rocks. There are quite a few caves in there. And where the lake meets land, the shore is mostly dirt that is constantly damp. So Tempest has, until this point, never touched wet sand.

"Temp! Come here!" Storm called out, drawing the attention of the two ghouls, "Rory found glass rocks!"

Tempest stood but paused, hesitant to wade further then her knees. Dew pulled himself up, and took her hand, pulling her gently into the water.

"You are an air ghoul, Tempest," Dew grinned, "You'll float whether you want to or not." She clutched onto his hand as they swam out, the rocks tied around her ankles barely weighing her down enough. It was a trick Cirrus had found to allow the air ghouls to actually swim. Otherwise, they tend to just float horizontally, especially high altitude ghouls like Cirrus and Cumulus. Tempest must be holding her breath to float this much, as a mid-altitude ghoul, she isn't nearly as buoyant. Dew briefly wondered if Tempest had ever gotten caught in a whirlpool in the pit, it could explain why she was so hesitant with the water.

"This is a lake, Tempest," Dew assured, "The currents here are mild, human children can best them." Tempest looked at him for a moment, as if trying to gauge his sincerity, before letting go of her breath, sinking just a bit.

By the time they'd reached, the other air ghouls, Aurora and Storm looked annoyed, staring at the very shiny rocks on the lake floor.

"We can't swim far enough to get them," Aurora pouted and Dew burst out laughing. He prompted got splashed by Cirrus, and in his efforts to avoid it, let go of Tempest. Thankfully, Mountain was standing on a tall rock, and caught the floundering Tempest before she panicked.

"Sorry Tempest," Dew called. Tempest caught her breath before she grinned at Dew.

"You can make it up to me by getting the rocks," she called. Oh she was clever. Aurora and Storm looked at him hopefully and Dew just had to give in. Mountain tossed him a pair of goggles and Dew tugged them on before diving.

It took a few seconds for his gills to open up, but the lake water felt glorious. It tasted of iron, but that never bothered him. Dew picked up the shiniest rocks he could to bring back up, stuffing them in the pockets of his swim shorts. He'd managed to get a few before a shadow crossed over top of him.

Dew whirled around to find Brother giggling as he as tugged on Phantom's ankle, his laughter watery as the quint floundered. Phantom attempted to get back at Brother, but the human swam away too quickly.

Dew resurfaced as Phantom chased Brother back towards the dock, away from their group. The air ghouls cheered as Dew produced a variety of shiny rocks from his pockets.

Dew settled against Mountain again, his gills just below the water. He missed swimming. Dew nearly fell asleep against Mountain, but Cirrus tapped him gently, stirring him from sleep.

"We should head in soon, unless we all want to get stuck stinking of lake water tomorrow," Cirrus hummed, and Aurora groaned, obviously enjoying lake day.

"We can go swimming back at the Abbey before the North American tour," Cirrus promised, tugging Aurora back towards shore. Storm swam on his own, but Tempest still clung to Mountain.

"Hey, Dew," Mountain called, "Brother and Rain are still on the dock, can you go get them?"

Dew nodded and swam over to find Rain scolding a rather haggard looking Brother as Phantom panicked beside them.

"Gills don't make you suited for water," Rain chided, trying to calm Brother, who just continued hacking, "You're lucky whoever gave you these changed your respiratory system, or you'd be in a lot more trouble."

Dew popped up onto the dock beside Brother and gently pressed his hands over the human's gills, ignoring Rain's protest.

"Hold you breath, they'll close in a bit," Dew assured, willing some of his fire to heat his hands gently. In his experience, gills close faster when they are dry. It took a few seconds before Brother gasped for air, taking in oxygen the normal way.

"Since when did Brother have gills?" Phantom hissed, "Humans don't just have gills!"

"The ghoul in the lake gave them to him," Dew replied, not even realizing the weight of his words until Brother looked at him, shock evident on his face.

"Dew," Rain began, "What do you mean the ghoul in the lake?" Shit.

"The Abbey lake is home to a water ghoul," he said, as nonchalantly as possible, "I only meant him once, when I was very new. The ghoul had been there for ages, long before the Ministry." A lie. Brother knew he was lying. For a moment, it felt like Brother could see all of his secrets.

"How do you know that the lake ghoul gave them to him?" Phantom asked.

"I told him," Brother rasped, "I wanted to know if it was possible I could still use them."

"Except you never followed my instructions to close them," Dew chided as Brother stood, picking up the fire ghoul.

"And you probably shouldn't have put such a strain on your lungs, so soon after being sick," Rain scolded, tugging Phantom along.

"So I was right, humans don't normally have gills!?" Phantom joked, voice cracking.

Brother chuckled, gently bumping the quint, "No, Tom. Human's don't normally have gills."