Blessed by Night

It was rare for Malachi to feel such concern from another person like this.

Tsath's words had inadvertently lit up a dormant region of Malachi's brain where he kept his most painful memories.

Once again, he had to relive the day where he found two of the women he loved more than anything trapped within jail cells and with their heads forcefully shaved.

Only he knew just how much that incident had damaged him.

Even now, he still cannot fall asleep properly unless he checks on both of them consistently to make sure that they were okay.

He was still angered over that situation.

Even though absolutely everyone on that base had already been killed, he wasn't satisfied.

He wanted to see the entire organization toppled over for ever allowing something like that to happen.

Is that what Tsath meant?

Are those the things that his new powers were intended to fix??

But punishing those responsible for a crime and setting yourself up as some sort of all-connecting patriarchal figure were two vastly different things.

He didn't know if he had the stable temperament to be a savior.

He wasn't that innocent of a person anymore.

Unfortunately, he lost the opportunity to tell Tsath all about his concerns when a change suddenly took place over the horizon.

Flying from every direction was a scene that most would consider horrifying.

Swarms of nightmarish black creatures that numbered in the millions.

Tsath had already informed Malachi and Camille that any creature hived above the banshee class would also be able to produce essence to connect others, but these numbers were still incredible.

Now, more than ever before, Mal was able to see that his extended family had been taking it easy on the world.

If they really wanted, they could have had this entire planet subjugated in under a month.

As the swarm of black and monstrous creatures reached the mountain peak where Malachi and Cami were staring in wonder, Tsath silently started to float up into the air like a mortal ascending toward heaven.

Just before he left, he turned back towards Malachi and Camille and tossed them a small metallic device with a red button on it.

"Know this, Malachi and Camille Saint. Should you ever require aid, you need only press that button and the full might of the N'Kai will be at your disposal."

"..When you say 'full'... do you really mean-"

"Yes."

Camille gulped audibly and suddenly felt like her father was holding nuclear launch codes.

Mal wasn't exactly much better.

He was scared to even put the damn thing in his pocket for fear of accidentally setting it off.

"As I thought. Humorous until the end." Tsath said with his first real smile. "I hope we meet again soon, my friend. I wish you luck with your world."

Biddng the two of them farewell, Tsath suddenly rocketed from the earth's atmosphere while leaving multiple sonic booms in his wake.

The creatures he'd created were a bit slower than him, but they all flew into the air behind him and disappeared from the atmosphere.

All across the world, Malachi could feel the presences of other N'Kai leaving as well.

He knew that there was some part of him that should have felt relieved but.. he just couldn't.

He still wasn't sure if he had done the right thing by asking them to leave, or even what he was supposed to do now that they were gone.

Or even what it meant for him to be the last thing on earth that was considered a 'monster'.

"So long, family... Starting to miss you guys already."

"Bu.."

-

Not long after Tsath left, Malachi and Camille reappeared back in the middle of their quarters, with the rest of their family waiting.

Well... somewhat.

Always the mom of the group, Sei was currently sandwiched between all of the rest of the girls who were sleeping peacefully or watching tv.

Bianca and Anna each rested one of their heads on her shoulder while Nadine was in the form of a small bat resting atop her head of brown hair.

Luna was sitting on the floor between Sei's legs, a glass of red wine in one hand and a book in the other.

"Don't you all look cozy." Mal said with a smile.

Since Sei, Luna and Nadine were they only ones awake, they each smiled at him softly.

"We were waiting for you to tell us about what happened." Sei whispered.

"But as you can see... we got a little too comfortable." Luna chuckled.

Already, Mal felt his heart warming as he headed to the kitchen and got his daughter a fresh bottle of milk.

"So... they left, huh?" Nadine said quietly.

Malachi paused just as she prepared to close the fridge door and he fell silent.

"Yea... they're gone."

"You don't seem happy about that at all... care to tell us why?" Luna asked as she finally closed her book.

As Mal delicately shifted his daughter in his arms and began feeding her, he finally made his way over to the couch and sat beside the loves of his life.

"Things were said that... left me with a bit to think about."

"Y-You didn't have a falling out with him, did you?"

"Nah... actually the opposite."

Mal sleepily told the girls about Tsath's hope for him and the supposed responsibility that rested on his shoulders as a highbred N'Kai.

Needless to say, neither of the three girls looked like they were expecting to hear what came out of Mal's mouth next.

While he was not being forced into subjugating the humans himself, Tsath seemed to think that it was only a matter of time until he realized that it was the best decision to be made.

"Darling... do you think-"

"I'm just tired now, Sei..." Mal said honestly. "I don't really want to think about anything, just lay here and rest." Mal said with his eyes already beginning to close.

Physically, he was great and well beyond the peak of health.

But mentally...he was very, very tired for reasons that he did not fully understand.

Right now, all he wanted was to lay in the presence of the women he loved and doze off peacefully.

Even the snakes coming out of his lower back were beginning to close their eyes and lean against each other.

"Ah, wait love." Nadine prodded.

"Hm..?"

"Before you go to sleep, I think you'll want to know that Joanne was hoping to see you when you came back. She should be back in her quarters by now."

All of Mal's weariness faded away in an instant as his eyes flashed back open.

He stared at the girls with a slight disbelieving look and they all fought the urge to laugh.

"I'm not sure exactly what she wants to say, but... I think that you can go to her room without expecting the worst." Sei said.

Luna took the liberty of taking the already half asleep Camille from her father's arms and continuing to feed her.

"I thought she.."

"She doesn't." Nadine comforted. "Why she initially ran away is something that only she can tell you, and you can find out sooner if you head up to see her now and don't hesitate."

With his own heartbeat thumping nearly loud enough to wake up Anna and Bianca, he gave all of the girls small kisses on the cheek before sinking into the shadows on the floor.

But as soon as he appeared within Joanne's room, he heard a loud scream before a pot of boiling water and noodles came flying towards his face.