Phantom had been partially blind from an accident that happened when they were a kit. But with the stress of being forced away from their Papa - who chases every bad memory away - not only do they lose sight of a possible reunion, but they also lose their sight, altogether while they other Ghouls are helpless but to watch them spiral into depression...
Tags: they/them Phantom, Phantom and Aether are siblings, blindness, hurt/comfort, angst, family dynamics, forced separation, parent-child relationship, implied murder Ghouls at the end, mostly phanter and aethtom (platonic) but a little bit of dewther and swisstom for the soul lol
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Phantom’s skin had long been painted in a myriad of scars acquired from a whole host of injuries and tales, but perhaps the most obvious is the one on their face. They got it when they were just a kit and training with their clan, getting a little overeager and causing a burst of unbridled Quintessential magic to erupt into their face. The instinct they got to turn away caused the damage to only hit the left side of their face, but it also took away most of the vision in that eye.
They had no peripheral vision left, very little depth perception and only a straw’s width of a gap in the eigengrau void to actually see through. They slowly adjusted to their new way of having to view the world, always feeling unbalanced and often getting migraines from the sheer amount of compensating their right eye had to do.
But, by the time they were summoned to Earth, they had fully adjusted and accepted what they now had to live with. And considering they now had their Papa with them, and were reunited with their brother, Aether, once more, they could never complain too much about anything in their life.
Nightmares of all they went through were chased away by Copia’s scent of stale tobacco settled into woollen sweaters and aged parchment. The human’s strong arms around them made them feel safe and at home. And they could never get enough of sleeping in their Papa’s arms, listening to his heart and feeling his fingers thread through their black and white hair.
It was all so perfect and Phantom could memorise every detail of their Papa despite their partially blind condition.
Well… That was until it all fell apart, and a wedge was driven between Phantom and their beloved Papa. Now, they could no longer spend their nights holding each other, Phantom couldn’t be soothed by Copia’s scent after a nightmare, and their soul ached with the loneliness of it. All because of some promotion and arbitrary new rules that deemed their parent-child relationship as unprofessional and unsafe.
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Copia no longer had the responsibility of caring for the Ghouls. That was a Papa’s job and he was a Papa no more.
The most interaction Phantom got with Frater was a nod in the corridor and a handshake at formal events. No hugs, no I love you’s and no visits to either’s rooms for sleepovers and cuddles.
It had been just over a year and a half since this separation started and Phantom was losing hope for any reunion. They were having more nightmares than ever and so many were of Copia getting hurt and Phantom not being able to save them. The anxiety of those dreams possibly being premonitions was making them beyond stressed and what sleep they were getting was of no real quality.
One day, they woke up from one of their nightmares and cracked their right eye open, gently smacking their left temple to get the other eye open. Sometimes it took a little longer to clear the sleep out from what little they could see from that side. But… that side was open… Why was it still so dark?
Phantom felt their breathing pick up and their throat become dry. Their right eye saw the room spinning and the left saw completely nothing.
“Aeth?! Aether, help!” They called, smacking their hand against the wall behind their bed that separated them from their older brother.
The older Quint was in like a flash, holding their face in his hands and checking them over.
“What’s wrong, love? Nightmare?” He asked, his heart breaking for his younger sibling.
They shook their head as all breath seemed to have failed them.
“M- my eye… C- can’t s- s- see anyth- thing…” They strained out against the panic and tears that had started to consume them.
Aether’s face grew to one of worry as he checked in and indeed saw their left eye devoid of anything, and his mind devoid of a solution or remedy.
“It’s okay, Bug. I’m here, it’ll be alright.” He said, gathering the little Quint into his arms and holding them tight, rocking them back and forth and encasing them both in a Quintessence bubble to calm them.
Phantom didn’t know if it was calming them or just stopping them from getting worse. What they did know, was that their Papa being there would have made it all a lot better.
Over the following weeks, they couldn’t adjust to their completely half-blind state. They practically had a constant headache from how much effort their right eye was putting in and they felt so horrifically unbalanced that they were a walking hazard. If it wasn’t this situation, it would be slightly funny and everyone would be calling them Bambi on ice.
Aether was at a complete loss for what had caused this. He helped heal Phantom when the accident that took part of their vision first happened and even the best healers in their clan said it wouldn’t get worse after it had healed. Inbetween reassuring Phantom and shifts in the infirmary, he was researching everything he could about ocular health and spending as much time as he could doing it.
One night, when Dew came down to force-feed him and make sure he actually took a break, he found the answer.
“IT’S STRESS!” Aether called as he read the article on the screen.
After the librarian came to admonish him for his volume, he hugged Dew tight, happy to have an answer.
“Wait, if stress causes blindness, how come Mountain hasn’t been blind from birth? He’s the biggest stresshead we know.” The Fire Ghoul chuckled.
“Who fucking knows? Probably because Phant’s left eye is already weak? As for Mountain, no clue.” Aether was still smiling, happy to have an answer for his little sibling and now hopefully start being able to help. That smile, though, was soon wiped from his face when his phone buzzed with a message from Swiss.
‘Get back up here NOW. Phantom needs you.’
Aether forgot to clean up or switch the computer off before he was running out of the library and back up to the den but he didn’t care one bit. Nothing and no one stopped him until he was back in Phantom’s room, asking what was wrong when he saw Phantom deep in another panic attack.
As Aether desperately tried to get Phantom to calm, Swiss explained that the vision in Phantom’s right eye was starting to fade now too…
Aether’s heart sank as he saw that cloud of blindness start to creep in around Phantom’s healthy eye. The distress of this whole situation being so cruel to such a pure soul that had already fought so much. When would they ever get their break?
The right eye now saw what the left used to. Merely a pin-point of light and the blurred shapes and figures of things in their immediate vicinity. They couldn’t read, couldn’t see the faces of their loved ones and couldn’t even see when they passed Copia in the corridor.
After Swiss told them when they had, yet again, missed a wave from their Papa they broke down and sobbed for what they were losing. Not only their sight but the hope of everything going back to how it was. How was everything meant to be the same again when Phantom couldn’t even see the person in front of them?
They knew blind Ghouls could still live good lives but they didn’t want this. They wanted to be able to see their Papa’s eyes light up when his pipistrello entered the room and the warm smile that caused every little crease and wrinkle on his face to pop out.
Every morning that Phantom woke up without Copia was another that made them more depressed for what they lost. And as they lost even more of their vision - it only taking a couple weeks for sightlessness to completely take them - they only became more catatonic. The pack ached to see such a vibrant Bug so dull and flat.
Aether’s heart cried even more for his little sibling and he was draining himself dry to try and give them plenty of Quintessence to just do something other than stare at the nothing and cry.
Seeing the little Quint’s stars fade was tearing the pack apart. All of them had been affected by the forced separation to Copia, but none more than Phantom. There had barely been a night since they came home from Frater’s last tour that at least one of them didn’t sleep with Phantom because while their Papa may not be there to chase the nightmares away, someone else could be.
No one dared tell Copia either. Aether, Swiss and Mountain – being the biggest and strongest Ghouls – were occasionally chosen to escort Copia as security on business trips but even then they were too scared to be anything but professional with Frater.
They’d all seen what the Clergy is capable of - Primo, Secondo and Terzo’s bodies and Dew’s unnatural Element are all proof of that - and no one would dare tempt a reprise or something even worse. Sister may be gone, but she certainly didn’t act alone in her cruelties and her followers still dominated the Clergy.
If Copia knew the situation had made his bambino blind from the stress of it all it would break him more than he had already been broken by the separation too. And at least very least, one of them had to appear strong for the other.
Copia knew his Ghouls though, and suspected they were hiding something from Swiss’ jaw tightening, the way Aether’s Adam’s apple bobbed, how Mountain’s ears flicked at the mention of Phantom’s name. But, pry as he might, he could never get any information from them that told Copia how his pipistrello was doing aside from the bare minimum.
He couldn’t go and investigate either. Not without risking so much. He already had visions of his Ghouls being sent back to the Pits they came from and he could never risk Phantom being sent back, not after all they’ve been through.
So Copia kept his nose down and did his best. Though even his best didn’t seem to be enough to help Phantom. He never saw them in the halls anymore or in the cafeteria. He couldn’t find them in the crowds at Black Mass and apparently they could no longer attend rehearsals or their duties either.
Phantom couldn’t do much of anything as they rotted in their own mind. They felt as useless as a kit as they wandered the den in tiny steps with one hand on the wall for stability. Their other senses were overwhelmed by what they had to make up for too but they couldn’t shut them off when it’s all they had to rely on now. They didn’t really leave their room much anyway. Sitting in front of the TV felt like a mockery and it wasn’t like they could cook for themself – even before they were blind. Walking around the halls was more hassle than it was worth and they could barely even feel the sunlight on their eyelids anymore.
Aether went in to see Phantom in the morning before work, kissing their forehead with a promise to come by after his shift. When he did, his heart broke into an infinitesimal number of pieces as he realised they hadn’t moved an inch since he left them twelve hours prior.
“I don’t know what to do, Dew.” Aether said to his mate in the evening after Swiss came in to sit with the Bug. Planting his elbows on the breakfast table, he buried his face into his hands.
Dew poured two glasses of neat whiskey for them both and pushed one towards the Quint, standing next to him and combing his fingers through his short hair.
“We could kill them.” Dew suggested, only half-joking as he referred to the humans that had enforced these cruel rules and restrictions.
“I thought half of why we’ve done nothing is that we’re scared of what the Clergy will do.” Aether responded as he took the glass and let the whiskey burn down his throat.
“Do you have any other ideas?” Dew said, shrugging his shoulders as if he was suggesting the most casual activity you could think of.
Aether exhaled and traced a claw around the edge of the glass.
“We know who Sister’s loyalists are.” He said.
Dew’s wicked grin heated up the space around them both. “We do.”
“We’re natural born predators too. We know how to be discreet and only harm, not kill.”
“That we are, love.” Dew said, kissing his mate’s cheek with a deep purr.
“Someone needs to stay with Phantom tomorrow then. While we explain this to the pack.” Aether thought out loud.
“We’ll figure it out, Aether. We’ll get our Bug back.” Dew promised, toasting their whiskey glasses and letting the glow of the moon light up the amber liquid.
Phantom didn’t know why, but the next morning, as they awoke next to Swiss, they felt the sun on their eyes a little stronger than usual. And while it was quickly snuffed out by the tidal waves of depression they had fallen into, the tiny spark of hope that fluttered in their chest was so so bright.
Almost as bright as Phantom would see Copia’s eyes when they finally reunited…
One shot master post can be found here
#phanter cuddle buddies master post can be found here
And the amazing @anotherbananasong did some art of Phantom based on this you can find here
A list of all the disability ghosts stories put into one post so it’s easier to find 🤍
If you have a story you would like to be added to the list please message me with the link- also please message if you’d like a story to be removed! Red words mean smut.
Follow this post to get updates on new stories.
Autism:
Strawberry Shortcake - @damagedghoulette
Phantom and his service dog - @rainsbasspick
Dewdrop x you - @damagedghoulette
I know what’s happening here - @sak-writes
As always it comes down to ableism - @sak-writes
It’s not right - @sak-writes
POTS:
Pebble finding out - @nightynightghoul
Episode during sexy times - @hypnoneghoul
Power outage - @hypnoneghoul
Replenishment - @hypnoneghoul
Asthma:
I need you - @sister-nyx
Deaf:
We will go softly into the night - Villaflower
Chronic pain/illness:
Rain do not go away - @hypnoneghoul
Time machine - @sister-nyx
Just wanted to hear your voice - @hypnoneghoul
Lemon water - @damagedghoulette
There comes a point - Terzosleftkidney
Everywhere - Eros_Gillespie
Diabetes:
Not just another bloody Mary - Caution_Tape
Hear my motor purrrr - @lilypadlys
Seizures:
Aether x gn reader - @inkrabbit
Spillways, spillways - @cirrus-ghoulette
Special (arrhythmia) - @skele-bunny
EDS:
Rain waiting for brace measuring - @hypnoneghoul
Rain dislocating during sexy times - @hypnoneghoul
Mountain ghoul who’s having a really bad pain day so he’s curled up with Zephyr in their bed and Ifrit’s behind Zephyr while Aether’s behind Mountain so they can soothe their aching partners
what if aether willingly retired? what if he had arthritis or something and it was making it hard to play. nothing tragic like sister sending him back to the pits, just an older ghoul with bad joint pain.
How Pebble finds out they have POTS and sort of learn to accept it.
This is just a little something I wanted to share, if it does well I may share other ideas. Thank you to @sister-nyx for encouraging me and giving it a read :)
Warnings: Pebble faints, there's talk about medical tests, not much more.
When Pebble was summoned, the rest of the ghouls thought nothing special of it. Yes, they were smaller than the rest, but their summoning had been hard and not as much energy went into it as it did for the past ghouls. They all had seen ghouls of all sizes during their lives back in hell. Many of the smaller ones being doubly as fierce to compensate for their size. No one thought anything could be wrong with them.
Neither did Pebble. At least not for their first few months topside. They learned what they had to in order to become their new drummer, they were good at it too. Enjoying the feeling of getting lost in the music alongside the rest of their new pack.
Pebble started noticing they weren’t like the rest of the ghouls. Not as strong, not as agile, not as resilient. The first time they felt it was when they were moving instruments around the practice room. They had to clear the floor for the siblings to come in for a deep clean. Ifrit had easily lifted and carried stands, amps, boxes, and instruments. Aether had no trouble helping Zephyr with their Keyboard. Hell, even Dewdrop was helping haul up equipment, and he was smaller than them!
But here they were struggling to catch their breath and feeling their heart in their throat just because they were trying to drag one box across the stage. Emphasis on the word “trying”. By the time Ifrit was done, Pebble was only just getting the damned box to where they were supposed to stack it with the others. The fire ghoul just smiled at them and lifted the box to stack in on the others.
Pebble could not catch their breath and their vision was spotty. But they just ignored it, muttered a thank you and went back to the den.
The second time, was stupid if you asked them. It was a very early and cold morning, they just wanted to have a nice hot shower before breakfast. Yes, they took longer than usual. The water felt great, they had to wash their hair, and maybe they wanted some time for themselves. The problem appeared when they stepped out into the colder air of the bathroom. As they were drying off, they started feeling like they ran a marathon. Heart beating quickly, spotty vision, and they couldn’t catch their breath. Nothing new, but it was getting worse.
A splitting headache started right behind their ears and their vision became tunnelled. Suddenly the effort to just stand was just too much and against their will they crumpled to the floor half conscious, dragging with them several items from the counter that clattered loudly on the floor and on top of them. They spent a few minutes on the floor, floating in that space between. After getting ready, only Aether asked why they took so long. Even years later, they could not tell if they fainted that time or not.
The third time was when they started to get worried. It was a sunny, warm day, fairly humid too. Most of the ghouls were spending their time outside. Even Zephyr felt well enough to go on a little stroll with Dew. They were sat on the grass with Omega and Alpha. Playful chatter, became playful banter which in a few minutes became playfighting. Pebble wrestled Alpha but was quickly pinned under the bigger ghoul.
But Pebble wasn’t laughing any more, the heat, the humidity, the exertion and now Alpha on top of them had their vision swimming. Just like before they felt that headache, the tunneled vision and the breathlessness. But this time it all came so quick, they had no time to tell Alpha that they wanted out. With a pathetic whine they breathed out and then everything became black.
When they next opened their eyes, they were laying on their back. Omega was looking at them alarmed, as if they had grown a second head. Alpha was agitated too, the usually stoic ghoul looked close to tears. Omega insisted on carrying them to the infirmary even as Pebble protested that they were fine and could walk themselves.
While in there, Omega took his sweet time noting their blood pressure and heartbeat. Pebble insisted time and time again that this was normal, that it just had gone a little further than it usually does. Omega made quite a few notes and kept asking more questions. As if every ghoul didn’t feel the same as them. -
Do you have a hard time breathing?
Do you usually struggle to catch your breath after exerting yourself?
Are high temperatures usually a problem?
Do you get dizzy when you sit up? When you stand up?
Pebble quickly became frustrated and ended up leaving the infirmary before Omega could finish his long list of questions or tell them much of anything really.
The quint did ask them to come back for some tests the next day but Pebble in their eternal stubbornness didn’t go. They were fine, and this was normal for all ghouls. Right?
The subject was forgotten with time but right now, this very minute. They kinda wish they had gone for those extra tests with Omega. Maybe there was something wrong with them.
This was their third ritual, the past two had gone very well. Only getting somewhat dizzy with the heat of the stage lights and the effort of playing the drums. They had managed to stand up without fainting by taking deep breaths. But right now, in this damned venue and its non-existent ventilation, Pebble found themselves sweating bullets. Their skin felt clammy and cold, their breath getting quicker, same as their heartbeat.
This was more than the adrenaline from rituals, Pebble was in trouble.
By the last song of the set, their vision was becoming spotty, but they did their best to keep playing. If Dewdrop, Aether and Ifrit could jump around the stage and play at the same time, surely they could keep playing while sat down.
The alarm bells really rang in their head when that last song ended. The crowd was cheering, and they cursed the damn mask for not letting them breathe properly. They had to stand up, go to the front with the others, go to their place for final bows. But just as they stood up, they realised just how bad they had let it become. The headache came in so hard they had to close their eyes and grasp their head. They may have been glamoured, but the loud whine they let out sounded like that of a wounded animal.
They tried to walk down the steps of their stage, but their vision went all black and unlike that time after that hot shower, this time they crumpled to the floor like a wet napkin. Aether looked back at his stage as he saw several people in the crowd pointing behind him.
He saw Pebble, unconscious, sliding down the steps of their stage. He ran to catch the smaller ghoul before they could reach the bottom. Ifrit and Dew turned to look at Aether, confused as to why he would be heading backstage in a rush before final bows. Then rushed to help him as they saw him removing Pebble’s mask.
Papa grumbled his disapproval to Zephyr, but quickly changed his demeanour as Ifrit ran back to him. - Pebble is out cold, Aether is taking them back to the greenroom -. They bowed and quickly headed back.
When he opened the door to the green room, Papa found Pebble laying on the couch, Dewdrop holding their legs high and Aether sat on the floor taking vitals. The quint assured them all that Pebble would be fine, even if they had some nasty bruises from their fall.
When Pebble woke up, they groaned and tried to sit up. But with a gentle hand on their chest, Aether kept them on their back.
Don’t move just yet love. Your heartbeat just went through the roof.
M’fine
No, you’re not. You just passed out on stage, and I need to get Omega on the phone now.
Terzo fumbled with his robe to take his phone out and call the older ghoul. Pacing around the room while waiting for his lover to answer.
Terzo?
Hi Amore, Aether needs to talk to you. Now.
Wait, aren’t you in the middle of a ritual right now?
No, just finished. But Pebble fainted.
What? Ok, let me talk to Aether please.
He handed his phone to the quint. Sitting by Pebble’s head, petting their head and around their horns. Hoping to comfort one of his smallest ghouls.
Aether immediately got to work, narrating all the important details to Omega. All Terzo could glean from what was said was that this was not the first time Pebble had fainted, and that more tests were needed to have an answer as to why they were passing out.
The rest of that leg of the tour went surprisingly well. Pebble didn't faint, although there were a few close calls, but much to Pebble’s annoyance, Aether was on top of them, all the time. Just as they got back to the abbey, Omega practically kidnapped them and got them to the infirmary.
A full week of tests got them their answer. There was something wrong and other ghouls definitely did not feel like this every day of their lives topside. Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Stupid Human thing to have.
They walked back to their room after Omega was done with indications. There was nothing that could be done to get rid of the problem. They would always be smaller, lesser, defective. The feeling of being lesser invaded them. They’re supposed to be a demon straight from hell, strong, fast, agile. Not a runt that has to be watched over all the time.
What made it truly worse was the news they were given before the next leg of the tour. They would be summoning another Earth ghoul, Omega and Terzo had decided touring would be too much on their body. Straight up salt in the wound. No only that, they would be training them in the time remaining.
Their out of control heart rate and quick breaths didn’t help at all when they asked for the decision to be reconsidered. Pebble walked back to their room, to calm down on their own, to mope for weeks and isolate from their pack.
With time, they learn to live with it instead of against it. Accepting their body just as it was, flaws and all. It doesn’t come quick, and they still miss the little time they had with their Papa on stage.
But yes, with time, the bitterness subsides. They still get frustrated sometimes, and some days are impossible. They still faint all over the abbey, but they’re fine at least.
