Blessed by Night

128  Within The Clutches of Despair

Outside of the destroyed party venue, Serana, Sei, Anna, Bianca, Aisha and Morgan were all standing around, looking at the strangely beautiful night sky up above. The police had just shown up to this location a few minutes ago, and they were in the process of getting statements from the witnesses and offering first aid to any who might need it. Although the number of physical injuries were few, everyone was still visibly shaken up. But once the night returned to the sky, only Malachi's loved ones felt a sense of calm wash over them that wasn't present before. "I'm going to find him." Morgan suddenly said. "The rest of you should stay here."

Naturally, Morgan wasn't expecting to face any resistance to his decision, so he was surprised when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps following him. The gorgeous and tattooed Anna, along with the icy and charming Aisha immediately followed in Morgan's footsteps. "What.. are you girls doing?" "He's my best friend." "He's my boyfriend." "I... understand that, but I don't think that he would want the two of you near a battlefield."

"I don't always have to give a fuck what he wants."

"I'll make it up to him later if he's upset."

Evidently, the courage of the girls was rather infectious, and now Sei, Serana, and Bianca were also stepping forward like they wanted to come with him. "Girls... Malachi will kill me if anything were to happen to you."

"Fine, then you don't have to take us." Aisha suddenly said. She calmly walked past Morgan and started walking towards downtown, and the girls immediately followed her. Once Morgan saw that they were really intent on leaving him behind, he quickly ran in front of them to halt their advance. "Would you girls wait for just a moment! You cannot-"

"Mr. Morgan, if you're worried about something happening to us then you should make sure nothing happens to us, right?" Serana said. Morgan exhaustedly stared at all five women without having the foggiest idea of how to stop them. Each of them was every bit as determined as the last, and it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to talk them out of it.

As a man with two wives whom he loved to pieces, it was easy for him to recognize the look of a woman who was prepared to argue with him even at the cost of her life. It was exhausting just to think about. "Fine...You girls keep your legs closed."

Anna: "What're you- KYAAA!!"

Aisha: "What the hell?!"

Bianca: "I have a fear of heights!"

Serana: "This is so cool! A bitch is just like Peter Pan!"

The air became filled with shrill screams as Morgan lifted up the girls and himself via telekinesis and started to ferry them through the air. Evidently, the only ones who seemed to be having fun flying were Anna and Serana, who were even holding their arms out like beautiful birds. "I'm glad you're all having fun, but there's something you should know."

"KYAAA!!"

"What the fuck?!"

"Who the hell is the sparkling lady!?"

"It's nice to see you again, Ms. Nyx!"

"Oh, hello mother-in-law. You scared me a bit."

"Ah, you have my apologies sweetheart."

Nyx suddenly appeared out of thin air, her arms wrapped around Sei in a show of cheerful affection. Morgan was so surprised by the appearance of a goddess, that he nearly lost his concentration and dropped the girls right out of the air. But judging by the way that Nyx was sweetly wrapping her arms around Sei, she appeared to visit this world quite a lot. Which was rather surprising since Surtr's last visit to him was over two years ago. He wondered if the norse primordial just wasn't all that sociable. Nyx looked up at the three other girls she hadn't gotten to officially meet yet and smiled at them sheepishly. "I wish that we had the time for proper introductions and pleasantries, but our time is truly rather short. There's something that you all should know before you go and find my son."

-

As Luna and Aubrey drew closer to the source of the darkness that had swallowed the world, Shiro was becoming more and more anxious. She thought the energy in the air was terrible from afar but once she felt it up close...it truly was terrible. *Whimpers* (Mommy... I don't want to go any further.)

Luna knew that her pet must have been really upset, as the only time she referred to her as a mother figure was when she was trying to get more treats.

She patted her on the head reassuringly as she tried to offer her words of consolidation.

"Sweetie, it's just Malachi. You know he would never even dream of hurting you."

In the back of her mind, Shiro knew that Luna was telling the truth but it was hard to fight this fear that was welling up inside of her. Nevertheless, she kept going and prayed that the kind man who used to sneak her treats was still around. "Luna! Aubrey!"

The two girls glanced above their heads and saw a familiar group of people flying over them, earning a reassured smile from the two girls. Finally, Shiro stopped running and Morgan and the girls came to a halt before descending slowly from the ground. The group looked ahead and found the source of the entire world's panic, but it didn't look anything quite like what they would have expected. Around twenty feet away, there was a figure kneeling within a large crater. It was very difficult to make out since the area was so dark, but luckily the movement caused by the being's hair helped to pinpoint his location. The being looked... empty. His body seemed to be made up of only amass of darkness, with no stars, and no nebulas. He truly seemed to have nothing in his dreary existence. Aubrey was the first one to approach him, irregardless of the strange anxiety she felt inside. "Big brother... You can hear me, right?"

The figure finally showed some signs of stirring, and he slowly looked up at the young girl approaching him. "Did what, dingus?"

Aubrey kneeled in the gravel in front of her brother and took his hands that were resting at his side. Her brother's voice was a bit distorted and tired sounding and his body was cool to the touch, but it was him nonetheless. "I lost someone precious again... Even with all of my powers, I could not protect either of them... Why do I have to be constantly weighed down by my failures...? When will my efforts be enough...?"

"M-Mal, if this is about grandpa Rowan then you should know he is in the hospital getting the best treatment possible!"

Luckily that information did seem to reach Malachi by some method or another, but he was still locked within the throes of despair. "But Shear... she is truly gone and I can't bring her back. Just like I can't bring them back."

Aubrey didn't need to ask who exactly her brother was referring to, and her own heart was wracked with pain at the mention of her parents whom she loved so dearly. "How many times are you going to make me tell you that everything bad that happens isn't your fault. Not with our parents or Shear... or even what happened to me."

Malachi flinched when he heard her words as Aubrey pulled him in for an embrace. "I never apologized to you or thanked you... after our parents died my life just kept getting messier and messier but you held me together...

I wanted to thank you for always taking care of me, and apologize for turning you into the kind of person who feels like they have to be responsible for everything and anyone."

Aubrey suddenly grabbed Mal by the face and stared into his featureless void. Tears started falling down her face, but it was unclear whether they were from regret or sadness. "All of the bad things that happen to the people around you are not because of you or anything you have done wrong.

You can't stop life from happening to us, and we don't expect you to. Just be the person who always helps us forget about it in the end and don't worry about anything else." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Within Malachi's dark body, small twinkling stars began to spring up from all over, and the same scene was repeated in the sky above. Aubrey knew that she must have been getting through to him, and she gestured for the rest of the group to come over. When Mal's eyes landed on the tearful Luna, his nonexistent heart felt like it was being torn apart once again.

He looked down at his own body and remembered the promise he'd made to her that he had inadvertently broken. And not just her, all four of the women in his life were inching closer to him, staring at him with disbelieving faces. "It's strange... isn't it?" He said as he gestured to his new body. Unsurprisingly, the girls didn't seem to agree in the slightest. Bianca: "No."

Anna: "Of course not."

Sei: "I think it's beautiful, honey."

Luna: "As do I."

Malachi laughed dryly just as the girls threw themselves at him, each one trying their best to touch some part of his body. However Luna was still staring at him face to face, as she knew that he had something to say. "Mei... I know what I promised you, but I can't-"

"I know, and I'm not upset. As long as you are alive then nothing else matters to me."

That was undoubtedly a weight off his chest, but Malachi was still worried about Anna and Bianca would say. Lucky for him, they seemed to be capable of knowing his thoughts even before he'd voiced them. "We're okay with this too you know?" Anna said comfortingly. "Nyx already filled us in on everything... So you don't have to worry about us being upset, okay?"

"She did...?"

Bit by bit, Malachi was starting to fully remember the circumstances that led to him ending up in this state. He couldn't say for sure how he felt. It was as if two sides of his mind were at war with each other, one angry at her for taking the choice away and another grateful that she saved his life. He wasn't sure which one was going to win in the end. However, he realized that he was going to have to make a decision very quickly, when Nyx miraculously appeared in front of him yet again. I need the winter to come back I can’t do these heat waves everyday