Blessed by Night

Rose Ortega stepped into the elevator that traveled throughout the nightfall base and pressed the lowest button at the bottom.

There was a small ding and a purple glow signifying temporary access before the doors closed and she descended on to the lowest level of the building.

A few moments later, the elevator finally stopped and opened the doors to allow her to exit.

"H-Hello..?"

"In here, Rose!"

The woman followed the sound of Luna's voice to a beautiful albeit dark living room.

There, she found the white aired beauty standing above a sectional sofa, with another familiar face sitting in front of her.

"Aisha?"

"Yo."

"You're just in time, Rose. Please, come sit down."

A bit less nervous now that she knew she wasn't going to be chewed out for something alone, Rose sat down beside Aisha as respectfully as possible.

At first, she noticed that Aisha seemed to be a bit different for some reason today, almost as if she wasn't all there.

She had never seen her be quite as despondent as she was now, and she didn't know if her mood had something to do with the reason that they had both been called here.

"Since Aisha already knows, I'll be getting right to the chase." Luna ran her hands through her hair and sighed deeply as if this conversation were already exhausting.

"Simply put... Malachi and the girls and I are leaving tonight."

"Leaving? To go where?"

"Somewhere that Malachi doesn't have to feel persecuted. And where he can learn to try and better control these new powers of his."

"Wait... what? I-I know things are a little tense within the base, but-"

"Things aren't just 'a little tense' Rose. The members are afraid of him, they've been staring at him like he's going to bite their heads off! Do you have any idea what that's done to him?"

Internally, Luna felt like she needed to be away now too.

Part of becoming a vampire meant her emotions were heightened to an even more staggering degree, and right now she wasn't exactly the safest either.

In her mind, she was ready to wring the necks of almost everyone in the building.

How dare they treated her beloved like this after everything he'd done for them?

Didn't they know just how much he cared about everyone here?!

Instead of them being worried about Malachi coming to kill them in the middle of the night, they should have been more worried about her doing it.

Rose bit her lip as she lowered her head in disappointment.

While she wasn't afraid of Malachi and was one of the few who was trying to change the minds of everyone else, she knew exactly how difficult things were at the moment.

The timing behind all of this was just... terrible.

"I see... how long will you be gone?"

"We haven't decided yet. I honestly don't know how long we'll be gone but know that if something bad happens we'll return at a moment's notice."

"I see..."

"Yes, so in that time the two of you will be in charge."

""....Wut?""

"Yep, that's the gist of it. The two of you have the most respect and experience out of all of our members, so I'm leaving you in charge of everyone while we are gone. Ideally I'd like the two of you to work together, but if you want to leave the task to only one of you then-"

"W-Wait a minute!"

Aisha suddenly leapt up from the couch in a clear state of panic.

"I-I definitely can't be in charge! We're still in the middle of a civil war right now and I don't have the strength to protect everyone like-"

"Aisha, you are one of the strongest blessed in the world. if you don't have the power necessary, then who would you recommend in your place?"

"A-Aubrey!"

"She is still so young, dear. She hasn't had her powers for nearly as long as you and she still has so much more that she needs to learn about herself.

Maybe she'll be ready in the future, but for right now there is no way that she is prepared for something like that."

"I-I'm not either! How can you ask me to protect everyone when I can't even go against-"

"Arias?"

Aisha shivered at the mere mention of his name and Luna sighed as she took her hands in hers.

"Aisha... He is strong, but he is a man all the same. And all men die, so long as you are determined enough to kill them. Do not let him hold sway over your heart or mind, and focus solely on besting him with your own power."

Unconsciously, Luna used one of the most famous and difficult abilities of a vampire for the first time.

Compulsion.

Because she felt so strongly about everything she said, she ended up implanting a hypnotic suggestion within Aisha's mind.

Suddenly, the immense fear that she felt taking root within her psyche was being washed away in an instant.

"I get it... I won't let you down... or Malachi."

Luna showed a satisfied smile as she pulled in Aisha for a hug. "Good. Take care then, guild master."

While embracing Aisha, she turned to face Rose on the couch and waited for her decision.

"Well? Acceptance hug?"

Rose clenched her fists as she wrestled with all possible scenarios within her mind.

Eventually, she too swallowed her lingering doubts and worries and stood up from the couch.

"Acceptance hug."

-

In Serena's quarters, she and her mother Sei were lying in bed and watching a movie like they often did when Serana was young.

Sei had also told her daughter about the fact that she would be leaving with Malachi, and to her surprise, her daughter had taken it a lot better than expected.

"Are you sure you aren't upset with me for leaving, Serana...? I was honestly expecting some sort of reaction from you."

"What? Are you saying I'm a crybaby!?"

"Sweetie, swallow the popcorn in your mouth before you talk."

Serana rolled her eyes nonchalantly and waved away her mother's concern.

"The way I see it, it's not like I don't understand why he wants to leave. I mean I don't really think I'd want to be around all of this either right now.

Besides, Nyx said that I can visit you guys anytime since I have Apate's blessing, right?"

"Well...yes?"

"Then it's no big deal. If anything it's more like you're moving down the street to another realm.

I will miss popping in on you randomly a bit, but I think I will be okay. And hopefully I'll be a lot stronger by the time you all are ready to come back too!"

Sei didn't know if she was grateful or not that her daughter had such a cavalier attitude about her leaving, but she just told herself that it would be better than the alternative.

"My girl... don't get too big while I'm gone, okay?"

"Don't say that, I want my boobs to get-"

"By the gods I've raised such a crude daughter."

"But you love me!"

Sei laughed and smiled warmly as she pulled her daughter closer into her embrace. "You're right about that... and I want you to know that I always will."

"Yea...I love you too, mom."

-

That day, time seemed to drag on a fair bit slower than normal, but the time to depart eventually arrived all the same.

Malachi, Sei, Luna, Bianca, and Anna were all standing on the barren cliff above the nightfall base; basking in the cool night air.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind them and turned around to see their pursuers.

There, they found Nadine, Joanne, Aisha, Aubrey, Serana, and a few more members of Nightfall standing behind them quietly.

Well... some of them were quiet.

"How could you?! You almost left without me! It's a good thing I woke up or I would have missed you!" Nadine yelled.

Malachi made a bit of a surprised expression as the friendly vampire strode up to him confidently.

Immediately, he began fumbling around for words necessary to diffuse the situation.

"I-"

"Don't fucking start! Give me one good reason why I can't come with you!"

Immediately, Mal ran into a stumbling block.

Nadine had absolutely no ties to this world, and as such there was no reason why she should have to stay behind.

But he did have one question.

"You're not afraid of me?"

Nadine smiled sweetly as a response and gave Malachi a firm hug. "Of course not... You are the man I've chosen after all. And I have known that you were different from the very beginning."

Against his own expectations, Malachi found himself returning Nadine's embrace.

He wasn't sure how he felt about all of her romantic advances but... right now he would always be grateful for the fact that even one less person was not afraid of him.

"Thank you, Nadine... Do you want to come with-"

"I told you, I was always going to do that."

"Damn, I guess you did."

Nadine released Mal and stood beside he girls smugly; seeming oblivious to the glares she was receiving from Bianca and Anna.

Aisha was the next one to step up to Malachi, but she also seemed to have some difficulty figuring out what she wanted to say.

"Oh right. I wanted to give you something."

Malachi waved his hand and the shadows at his feet spit out his twin iklwha that glowed with purple runes.

"Keep these warm for me until I get back. You should use them to protect my sister and your parents."

"...You have my word. They're my favorites in my collection already." Aisha sad as she took the weapons.

"They better be."

The tension between them broken, the two exchanged a small handshake they'd shared since they were kids and separated without becoming too mushy in each other's presence.

After Aisha, the next one to say their goodbyes was Joanne.

Anna gave her mother a heart warming hug that was becoming more and more normal for her, and Joanne seemed to lose her permanent scowl for just a moment.

"Just when we were starting to get closer, you're leaving me. I honestly feel somewhat sad."

"You know how it is, mom... He and I have made a commitment to support each other no matter what. I would never let him go off without me."

"Yea... I get it."

Joanne finally released Anna and gave Malachi one of the most hateful glares that he'd ever seen.

It was almost like they were having their first meeting again.

"Saint."

"Grey?"

"You have to take care of my daughter. And make sure you don't keep her from me for too long."

Malachi smiled helplessly as he placed a hand on Joanne's shoulder.

"I'll try to bring her back to you as quick as possible... And you know how much I love her… I'd give her anything she needed before she could ask for it. "

In her mind, Joanne felt her heart beginning to speed up as she stared at Malachi with an expression that could kill.

"Really... I'm such a fucking bitch.."

"Say what?"

Before Malachi knew what was happening, Joanne grabbed him forcefully by the face and kissed him firmly on the lips; leaving everyone outside completely stunned.