Blessed by Night

No one in Nightfall shares collective hatred of a single individual quite like they do Arias.

Which was why there was no longer a single soul in the clearing who wasn't glaring at him.

But whether he cared or not, was really anyone's guess.

He landed on the ground with his same cavalier attitude as usual and held up his hands peacefully.

"Yo! It's been a minute, huh? How's everyone doing? Good? You guys look good. Everyone coping with this pollen?

That's the real killer here, I gotta tell ya."

As a response, a spear made of darkness sailed right towards his head.

He narrowly avoided it by tilting his head to the side ever so casually; and stared at Malachi like he was a long lost friend.

"Well someone doesn't seem very happy to see me. Family reunions always look so much more heartfelt on the internet… maybe this would be sweeter if one of us had on an army unifo-"

"You are not my family!"

Malachi lunged at Arias like a speeding bullet, but narrowly missed him and ended up pulverizing a tree instead.

Arias reappeared sitting on a large stone several feet away; his head in his hands and a despondent look on his face.

"That is very hurtful, Uncle! I thought that you would understand the value and importance of family more than anyone! …By the way, the snakes coming out of your back are sick. I'm actually sort of jealous." He admitted.

Evil cult leader or not, he knew how to give props when they were due.

Malachi gnashed his teeth together and prepared to spit out a few unkind words in response when he heard the sound of whimpering coming from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder, he found a tearful Serana kneeling beside an unconscious Sei.

Nadine was also with them, and she looked to be in a bad way, with her hand constantly rubbing her neck.

In that instance, Mal forgot all about Arias.

His starry visage burned away so that he could return to his normal body, and he started walking towards the girls with shaky footsteps.

Once he reached them, he all but collapsed at their feet.

Slowly dropping to his knees, he pulled Serana into his arms to stop her from crying.

"S-She.. she's not waking up..!" This was one of the few times in Mal's life that he had ever seen his friend cry.

It reminded him that despite all of her loud and bold innuendo, she was still just a young girl.

He felt as if he should have done a better job of protecting her, and her mother.

The fact that these two were involved in something like this… he was filled with such an unimaginable amount of shame and guilt.

"She's just asleep, I can feel it." Mal said softly. "Look."

Malachi pointed towards Sei's arms that were already beginning to twist themselves back into place.

Since Sei was sleeping, her recovery time would be that much faster than if she was awake, and she also wouldn't be in any pain.

The reason why Serana couldn't wake her was because her body hadn't finished stitching itself back together yet.

After wiping Serana's tears, he checked on Nadine.

She forced a smile onto her face so that he wouldn't worry, but they both knew that it didn't quite work as well as she wanted it to.

"How bad is it?" He asked in a low voice.

As a response, Nadine put her hand up to her throat.

Her vocal cords were too damaged from her own attack.

She couldn't speak anymore.

Her body's regeneration just wasn't cutting it, and she required a bit of a jump start.

Malachi turned his head to the side and pulled his dreadlocks behind his back.

Nadine unzipped his jacket so that his neck was exposed and she promptly bit into him without reservation.

Once she was drinking, Serana was no longer crying, and Sei had been checked out, Mal looked towards Bianca and Luna.

Unsurprisingly, both of them mouthed the words 'I'm fine' but again, that didn't really seem to make him feel any better.

"I admire this group's…close knitted-ness." Arias suddenly said.

Malachi looked up and all but scoffed at what he saw.

Even though they knew they couldn't hurt him, the members of nightfall had all surrounded Arias.

Their weapons were raised, powers were just waiting to be launched, and they were just looking for a reason to act.

If Arias took even one more step towards Mal's group, they would all open fire without hesitation.

It didn't matter if they couldn't kill him, they would give everything to try.

The golden leader was sitting cross legged in the center of an encirclement, his eyes never leaving Malachi for an instant.

A small smirk was on his lips, but it was not unkind or malicious.

"…I'm not in the mood for any games today. I will kill you, I can promise that." Mal said seriously.

Arias seemed to be even more amused by Mal's words.

He ignored his threats and instead focused on the earlier display with his women.

"I wish so desperately that I had gotten this… This compassion.

In twenty eight years of life, not one person has ever showed me the level of love and sincerity that you share with these people.

It's haunted me for a long time, and sometimes it is the reason I toss and turn in my bed at night."

"Is that supposed to make me feel sympathy for you?"

"Whether you want to or not, I was just sharing my true feelings." Arias shrugged. "I simply felt for the first time that you and I are a lot alike. Two people trying to spread compassion in a world that makes no real room for it."

"I am nothing like you. I have no interest in standing on the necks of humans."

"I guide them with a strong hand." Arias corrected. "They are hateful, vindictive little creatures who destroy each other at the first impulse for their own machinations.

Someone had to grab them all by the reins and say that enough was enough. I was just the only one with the will and power to do it."

Malachi shook his head; exhausted.

He lifted Sei into his arms ever so gently and shifted Nadine onto his back so that she could keep drinking without interruption.

And right before Arias' eyes, he turned away from him.

"Like I said, I'm in a shit mood and don't feel like debating philosophy. Go away."

After seeing that Mal really wasn't interested in engaging with him, Arias let out a low sigh of defeat.

"Well, that's fine with me. I didn't really come here to fight anyway, and the mood here isn't really all that conducive for talking."

"So you can be reasonable. Wonderful."

"Indeed! I have many good qualities!" Arias beamed.

The avatar of day stood up and yawned in a completely non threatening manner before he started to float off his feet.

"I'll come find you one day so that we can have our own little conversation. Still living in that nice little facility in the mountains back in Alabama?"

Malachi, and everyone with him stopped dead in their tracks.

"…What?"

Arias smiled harmlessly as he stuffed both of his hands back into his pockets.

"I'll be off now, but I just wanted to say that I hope your women get better. Ah, and I'm hoping I get a chance to meet your infant soon too. I always liked kids… not in a 'Dateline' kind of way though, I just think they're cut-"

"Who the fuck told you about my baby…?"

The serpent's on Mal's back were beginning to get irritated once again, as where the ones in his hair.

But again, Arias just ignored him.

"Oh and by the way… My mother says that it's back on. Aren't you excited?"

Before Malachi could ask what he meant, Arias shot out into the sky like a rocket and left the area in under a second.

Malachi was left trembling as he stood firmly in one place; his mind running itself into overtime.

No matter how much he wanted to lie to himself, he couldn't.

But there was absolutely no way around it.

There was a mole in Nightfall; feeding information directly into Arias' ears.

Headcount, facility layout, supply lists, tactical information, he most likely knew it all by now.

As well as personal information.

Arias knew about Cami, and he wasn't put off in the slightest by Mal's black skin or living hair.

Because he'd been told about his changes already, or maybe even seen them through a picture. content-hosted-on-NovelFire

And Mal was almost certain that he knew who was responsible.

Malachi told himself that he should be patient.

That he should handle this at another time, another place, and not in front of the eyes of all of those who entrusted their safety to him.

But Mal had two things working against him.

He was young, which makes one impulsive.

And he was a good father, which makes one capable of great atrocities.

"Luna… please take her." Malachi handed Sei over to his fiancé, and unhooked Nadine from his back.

"Babe?" Bianca asked worriedly.

Mal just held his head up quietly, unable to speak.

In the next second, he fell through the shadows in the ground and reappeared in front of a very specific target.

"I… am going to kill you in the worst way imaginable..!"