It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Eighteen: Awakened

"Sodo, that isn't how we deal with people," Copia scolded the ghoul. Sodo was sitting in a chair in Ember's room, Aether right next to him, not saying a word as Copia chewed them out for how they dealt with the man messing with Ember. Sodo rolled his eyes, "He's gone, which means we don't need to worry about her getting more poisoned. We just need to find the antidote and get her home so I can get her back. He's dealt with, and I feel like I was pretty merciful considering the things I could've done."

"And Aether, you allowed it?" Copia asked the bigger ghoul. He just shrugged in response, "I have no issues with how we dealt with it."

Copia just sighed and said, "He didn't need to die."

"Copia, respectfully, he did need to die. He was trying to kill Ember. All I did was take care of him, now he's not an issue," Sodo told him, sick of the conversation going around in circles. Aether could feel the annoyance radiating through Sodo, so he decided to redirect the conversation, "How's the search for the antidote coming on?"

"We are still coming up on nothing," Copia admitted, "Of all the books we have in the church, there isn't one on ghoul poisoning."

"Have you checked Sister Imperators' room?" Sodo asked. Copia looked at Sodo in confusion, prompting the small ghoul to go on, "She's got a shit ton of books on ghouls in there, information she doesn't want us to know. It's how I found out about the Soulmate Bond. Swiss should still have the key. She can't be in there forever. Rain is smart. Send him and Swiss. You distract Sister so they can look. If you try talking to her, it's less suspicious. Just get her out of her office. They'll need a decent amount of time, an hour possibly. Give them enough time to get in and out and look for what they need."

"Sodo, you're going to hurt yourself with all this thinking," Aether told him, secretly impressed at the ghoul for making decent plans. Sodo flipped him off, telling Copia, "This is the best option we have. If we find the antidote, she can wake up. We need to get her home, we need to be able to protect her from Imperator and we can't do that if we have a limited amount of time in the day to be around her in the hospital. Please, Copia."

Copia sighed, seeing the vulnerability in the ghoul's eyes. It was killing him inside, not being able to talk to his mate. The Papa just nodded and said, "I'll get Swiss and Rain together. We'll let you guys know if we find anything."

Sodo nodded as Copia left. Aether told Sodo, "I'm sure she'll be okay."

"She's slowly dying because of the poison, Aether," Sodo told him, "I can feel it."

"None of us will let her die. You know this," Aether told him. Sodo stared at his mate, who lay motionless in the hospital bed, "I don't think it's up to us at this point, not without the antidote."

"How long do you think she has?" Aether asked. Sodo shrugged, "I don't know. But by how weak she feels, not long."

Aether let out a little chuckle, making Sodo look at him confused. Aether told him, "I think this is the longest time we've ever gone unmasked. I feel weird."

"That's what you're thinking about right now?" Sodo asked, annoyed. Aether told him, "I don't know. It just crossed my mind. Sister must be fuming."

"I could care less if Sister was upset at me or not. She's trying to kill Ember and now she doesn't even know who I am to her," Sodo said, realizing the nerves he had again to have to confess to her, "Fuck, it was hard enough to tell her last time. What if this time she rejects me?"

"You two are already marked, though. Can she really reject you?" Aether asked. Sodo sighed, "I don't know. I don't want to find out the hard way."

Aether sighed as Sodo leaned his head into his hands, a headache starting up from his overthinking. He stood up and told Sodo, "I'm gonna get you something to eat from the cafeteria."