Aether’s Goodbye 1

Aether’s Goodbye 1

I’m sorry, but if I cry, u cry with me.

Aether and Sodo.

That night was not illuminated by the moon, there were no stars to decorate the sky, everything was much darker than usual... but it was not only the sky above the abbey that was dark, but also the inhabitants of the same. The day had come, a day that among all the Ghouls and Papa included, they hoped had never come; a few days earlier, the supreme powers of the Ministry announced the expulsion of one of the Ghouls, for no apparent reason, which destabilized the members even more.

Aether was in his room, he hadn't touched anything, and he wouldn't have done so, he would have left everything like that, with the hope of a change of heart from the upper floors, a change of heart that however never came. His ears were down, his tail wasn't twitching like it used to do, he was simply breathing heavily, hand in hand and playing with his fingers, trying not to give any weight to the strong lump created in the pit of his stomach. In an attempt to take a deeper breath, a tear escaped from his eyes, falling on the back of one of his hands, it was then that all his willpower, not to cry, collapsed on him.

The sound of the wooden door made him raise his head and look from his hands, someone had knocked on it, and from the way of knocking, he already knew who it was.

—Come in— he said, quickly wiping the tears off his face with the backs of his hands, and then turning his attention to the door.

Aether looked at the Ghoul, and the Ghoul looked at Aether, a look that barely lasted a few seconds, but seemed to last forever. The intruder walked towards the Ghoul of Quintessence, who looked away, returning it to his own hands. Swiss sat next to him, and placed a hand on his back, making his friend burst into tears again. Quickly the Multi-Ghoul held him close, failing miserably in his attempt not to cry himself.

—I don't want to go away Swiss— he sobbed into his friend's chest, trying to stay calm.

—We don't want you to go either,—he replied, trying to comfort Aether.

For Swiss, seeing Aether in this way was a blow to the heart, the two were the "life" of the group, always cheerful and smiling, always running and jumping through the corridors of the abbey and even on the stage itself, and from there to a few hours, his partner would no longer accompany him through all this. After a couple of minutes, Swiss spoke again, this time however about the reason for his visit.

—We can't find Sodo— he said, looking at a fixed point on the wall behind Aether. The other raised his head, wiping the tears from his eyes again, looked at his friend without understanding, before speaking again.

—What do you mean?— he jumped up from the bed, waiting for an answer.

— Nobody saw him again after this morning at breakfast, he was supposed to help me with something, but he didn't show up — he said, getting up, showing his concern, since it wasn't like Sodo to stand a friend down — I asked the others to help me look for him, but there are no traces, maybe you know where he is.

Aether nodded his head, looked around one last time and then began walking with long strides towards the door. He greeted Swiss with a nod, and then ran along the endless corridors of the abbey.

He knew perfectly where he was, or at least he hoped it was there, Aether ran along the stairs, until he reached the top floor of one of the towers, he then stopped in front of a closed door, to which access would be denied, but which he and Sodo had visited countless times. Still breathing heavily, and trying to restore calm to his chest, Aether looked around, before grabbing the handle and opening the door. When he entered he looked at every corner of the room, realizing that the window had been opened; an attempt at a smile took possession of him, he had found it.

The ghoul approached the window, climbed over it with rather agility, remaining on a ledge of barely 20/30 centimeters, carefully traveled a few meters before arriving at the place. He grabbed the wall with his hands, and then pushed himself with his feet, to be able to climb onto what would have been the roof of that room.

And there he found him, Sodo, the little fire ghoul, who arrived only a short time after him, with whom he immediately created a bond, a bond different from that with the other ghouls, a bond that went beyond friendship, Aether found him he loved, Sodo loved him, and that made them so special to each other.

The little Ghoul looked up, similar to Aether, his ears were low, the thing was resting on the tiles of the roof and his gaze was sad and dark; his hair wasn't as shiny as usual, but was completely dull, almost grey, compared to the platinum blonde that characterizes him.

Aether walked towards him, then sat next to him, Sodo quickly crawled onto the legs of his companion, who felt his eyes watering again as he noticed the sobs of the smaller boy against his chest.

—Please— he whimpered —Don't go, Aeth, don't go— he gripped the fabric of Aether's shirt in his fist, letting out even heavier sobs against him.

—Babe is not my choice— Aether lightly gripped his tight hair in her hands, while with the other she rubbed his back, with the only attempt to try to calm him.

—I can't be here without you— He looked up at his face—I don't want to be here without you. He added immediately afterwards.

Aether felt something break inside him, he had never seen Sodo in this condition, to tell the truth, there were very few times he had seen him cry, but this time it was different, decidedly heartbreaking.

He grabbed the smaller boy's face with both hands, then left a tender kiss on his lips.

—We'll never see each other again, right?— Sodo asked, tears flooding his eyes again.

—Absolutely not, and I promise you this, no matter where, no matter how and no matter when, I will meet you again one day, either up here, or down there, but I will meet you again— he whispered on the lips of the fire ghoul, who was looking at him fixed in the eyes, and who concluded it all by assaulting the lips of the larger ghoul.

—I love you— they whispered involuntarily in unison, which made both smile on each other's lips.

The time had come, everything was ready now, the altar where Aether's body would be burned, it was already ready, just like the altar where his body would be rebuilt, in the underworld. The first to approach was Quarto, who simply apologized to him for not having managed to make everything go differently. Aether responded with a warm hug, whispering thanks in his ear.

Later the Ghoulettes arrived, with sparkles in their eyes they immediately hugged Aether's torso, who wrapped his arms around them and left a kiss on both of their heads.

—We'll miss you a lot...— they whispered, looking at him from below, with slurred words, the fault of the magic that created the situation.

—You too—he replied in an almost inaudible tone, before they walked away, allowing the remaining members to say goodbye to their friend.

Mountain came forward after them, even though he was still a little tired, he hugged Aether, giving him a warm hug.

—You're the one with the right head, please take care of them, the responsibility is yours now— the Quintessence ghoul whispered to him.

Aether and Mountain's relationship was that classic relationship that didn't need to be nurtured day by day, a look, a nod was enough for them and they already understood each other perfectly, it was this that made their friendship so solid. The two greeted each other with a mutual "I love you", and then gave way to Swiss.

Swiss, his companion running through the corridors and jumping on the stage, held each other, but the Multi-Ghoul let out a few tears, as did Aether.

—You are special, friend— Swiss whispered —It will be difficult to stay here without you.

Aether hinted at a sort of smile, feeling a tear run down his cheek.

—You are special— he put a hand behind Swiss's head, and pressed their foreheads together, before speaking— take care of him, okay?— he asked, referring to Sodo, who had been watching him from some distance behind

—Take care of the other half of my heart, protect it for me, until I can have it by my side again... I'm afraid he won't be able to bear all this, stay close to him - he added, finishing the sentence almost in a sob, Swiss nodded his head and squeezed it one last time.

—I promise you— Swiss says at final

It was then that Sodo's turn came, he rushed into Aether's arms, leaving his pride aside he burst into tears again, he didn't care what others might think about it, his mate, his soulmate he was going to leave, and that was all that mattered to him.

—Please don't cry— Aether whispered with his lips resting on his head.

—I can't do it, I can't— he contested, holding himself even tighter

—Yes you can, you must, they are lost without you, darling— Aether raised Sodo's face, so as to look at his face— They need the fire dwarf.

They both smiled with teary eyes before bringing their mouths together for the last time. Aether took a few steps away, keeping his hand close to Sodo's, until due to the distance, they slowly melted away.

—We will meet again, I promise— Sodo read from the lips of Aether, who expounded the sentence before turning and walking towards his destiny.

The return to the underworld.