𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐰

Severing The Ties

A/N: bro I'm crying I can't do this

Phantom wandered around the empty hallways, looking for Sodo, Mountain, Cirrus, anyone. No luck.

What had he done?

Rain had seemed incredibly worried — was Sodo in danger? Satanas, if Sodo got hurt it would be Phantom's fault. If that happened, Phantom didn't even want to consider what would happen.

He sped up. Now he was practically running down the hall, calling out for the ghoulettes or Mountain. A few siblings of sin gave him passing glances, but they quickly moved out of his way when they saw that he wasn't stopping.

His fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fau—

"Phantom?" Cirrus stepped in front of him and held on tightly to his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Phantom hadn't even realized that tears were running freely down his face, and he rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to stop them. When he spoke, his breathing was ragged and his words were rushed. "Sodo is gone, and I was being terrible to him, and I tried to apologize, but he was gone, and I think Rain thinks he's in trouble, and itwasmyfaultandI'msorry."

"Woah, woah, woah, Phantom," Cirrus was much gentler when she wiped stray tears from his face, a stark contrast to Phantom nearly ripping his eyeballs out. "Slow down, Sodo's gone?"

"Yes, and I don't know what to do and—"

"It's okay. Are Rain and Swiss looking for him right now?"

Phantom nodded, not trusting himself to speak anymore.

"Okay, that's good. And you talked to Copia?"

Phantom took a deep breath. "No, Rain was going to."

"It's going to be okay," Cirrus smiled reassuringly. "Can I give you a hug?"

Phantom nodded again, and he practically melted into her embrace.

"This has happened before, when Aether first left. We know what to do. It's going to be okay."

"It has?" Phantom's voice was foreign to his own ears, small and quiet, cracked and broken.

"After Aether left, Sodo thought it was his fault, that he should have done more to keep him here, that he should have done more for the church so that Sister wouldn't punish him. He started drinking, and we'd find him on the roof of the ministry a few times, just crying. It got so bad that one of us had to be with him at all times."

Phantom felt sick. "I should have known."

"There was no way you could have, Phantom. But that doesn't make what you said okay. You need to find him and apologize."

He hummed. "Can you help me?"

"I'll check the roof and attic, you check the pit and the rest of the rooms on this floor. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I can," filled with newfound resolve and determination, Phantom tore through the hallways, ripping open doors to storage closets, offices, and bedrooms.

Finally, he got to the pit, only to see Sodo standing on the edge.

He was about to come forward, towards him, when Sodo stepped off the edge, disappearing from sight.