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"I am... sorry that this will happen to you all. I should have done a better job protecting you."

Naturally, Aubrey shook her head in disproval.

"Ma... every bad thing that happens to us is not your fault. Nor is it your responsibility to ensure that every aspect of our lives go perfectly smooth."

"That\'s right, Miss." Bianca added. "With or without powers, we would never let anything happen to Malachi. You have our word."

Nyx was touched by the fact that literally everyone in the room seemed to share her same sentiment.

"I see... then I suppose I don\'t have anything to worry about, do I?" Nyx smiled so sadly that for a moment no one could believe such vulnerability was coming from a goddess.

Just before she left, Aubrey reached out and grabbed her mother by the wrist.

"Ma... What are you going to do?" Aubrey asked worriedly.

Nyx forced a smile onto her face and gave her human daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"For now... I\'ll just return home. Today has been... a difficult one for me."

Aubrey didn\'t know why, but for some reason she didn\'t think her mother was telling her the full story.

But before she could press her for more answers, the goddess of night disappeared from the bedroom and took them all with her.

-

When Nyx reappeared in her home in the underworld, she found Keres already waiting for her, her arms folded across her chest.

"...You promised him you would not interfere."

Nyx sighed and brushed past her daughter. "Do not lecture me right now, Keres. You know that I have to do something."

"No, you do not. Respecting his wishes would cost you nothing."

"It might cost me him!!" Nyx snapped.

The goddess\' entire realm trembled, but Keres remained largely unafraid.

Nyx became slightly frazzled as she ran her hands through her long black hair.

"You cannot possibly know what it is like... The guilt I felt the day I lost Marcus was like the day that Nemesis fell into that ingrate Zeus\' hands..! I will not.. feel that again, I don\'t have to!"

"Mother... Malachi-"

"He needs help! He just doesn\'t see it right now, but I know that he will thank me for this when the time comes!"

"Or he may resent you and choose not to speak to you again."

"He.. would not do that." Nyx said quietly.

"And how sure are you of that fact? Could you bear the consequence if your judgment is wrong?"

At this, Nyx finally collapsed to her knees as she sobbed violently.

Keres went to her mother\'s side and took her underneath her arm.

Nyx reabsorbed her black tears without wiping her face and tried to pull herself together.

"E... Even if he ends up despising me... I will sleep peacefully knowing that he is still alive."

Keres shook her head sadly. "Mother... You have to trust brother to come back safely. If you don\'t, then you are doing him a disservice. He is strong."

Nyx suddenly smiled at her daughter with such sadness that it was heartbreaking.

"I do trust that boy, and I have from the moment that he was born... but I do not trust the world, Keres. Not anymore."

Finally, the spirit realized that there really was no convincing her mother.

Grief had driven her so far beyond reasoning, and there seemed to be nothing capable of bringing her back.

Save for Malachi himself likely.

Out of options, Keres finally sighed in defeat. "Then.. what will you do? Are you going to ask her for help?"

Nyx put on a sour face as if she abhorred the thought of asking her mother for anything.

"Absolutely not... besides, she is unlikely to actually do anything anyway since that is her nature. I need someone more reliable... someone who understands the importance of family, whose blessing would be strong enough to overturn any and all forms of harm."

Keres thought about it for a moment but eventually her face showed discernible confusion.

"There is someone like that?" m _vl _em _p _yr only

"There is... but he is a little far from us."

Finally, Nyx tilted her head up to the sky and allowed her eyes to roll all the way in the back of her head.

When Keres realized what she was doing, the strength of her migraine practically multiplied.

"We\'re all insane... every single one of us."

- Four Days Later.

In the Nightfall base, a group of six women were standing in front of the entrance to the base with their hands on their weapons and standing around like statues.

Clearly they had all been standing here for quite a while, as they looked ready to drop at any moment.

Suddenly, they straightened up their posture even more when they heard the sound of boots coming from around the corner.

They were surprised when instead of the next shift coming to relieve them, Malachi showed up instead.

"Boss? Something the matter?" Nina asked.

"Nah, nah, I just came to relieve you guys is all. Hit the mess and then get some sleep. If you want, you can shoot Sei a text and she\'ll help you get the best nap of your lives."

The girls all looked excited at this and started to breeze past him when Mal suddenly called out to them.

"Oh, and girls... I\'m sorry about all these long shifts. This\'ll be the last one, I promise."

At this, all of the girls smiled sweetly at him despite their tired eyes.

"You don\'t have to apologize, boss."

"We know things have been a little crazy, so you should know that we don\'t mind helping out at all."

"We\'ll take as many of these shifts as we need to, just as long as we can make sure everyone here is alright."

Malachi seemed a bit caught off guard by this and it took him a few moments to process it.

But finally, a wry smile crossed his face and he lowered his head in thanks. "I appreciate that, girls. Go rest up."

The girls smiled at him with subtle hints of flirtation mixed in, and they soon left him to guard the entrance all by his lonesome.

Once he watched them go, Malachi leaned against the white wall of the corridor and closed his eyes.

In the aftermath of the revelation that Ryo was a traitor and Arias knew their location, the energy in the base was different.

Normally, it was super easy to find people in the common areas chatting about nothings, playing games, or just being happy.

But now, it was almost as if an air of tensity was hanging over the whole place.

Folks tended to stay in their rooms since they were worried about an attack coming at any moment, and when they did come out they weren\'t quite as joyful as before.

Out of his paranoia, Mal had ordered a security detail to be posted at the entrance at all times, operating in eight hour shifts at a time.

He had only recently realized just how taxing and unfair that must have been on them.

\'We have to hurry up and relocate... soon.\'

From the shadows at his feet, Mal pulled out a tablet and began sorting through the list of targets.

Specifically, ones in the domain of the Revival Regime.

Mal\'s patience for them had already long expired.

Every time that he closed his eyes, he kept seeing Jo in an utter panic, her body wracked wit fear and anxiety.

As the one who claimed to love her more than anything, he felt it was his responsibility to make anything that troubled her disappear from the world forever.

No matter what, he could not bear to see her in that state again.

He wanted to bring down the entire regime quickly, efficiently, and fill the vacuum of power without causing widespread panic.

And he was going to start by pushing them out, city by city, until he severed the head of the beast entirely.

\'I\'ve waited long enough... I should move tomorrow... And the target will be... this one..!\'

Just as Malachi made a decision, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching and smelled a familiar sweet soap.

He stashed away his tablet just as Celeste came walking into view, clearly looking for him.

And not at all pleased.

"Now if I just told you to leave the nursery and go rest, what the hell would make you think that it was okay for you to run up here?"

Malachi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Third shift had to be relived and I told first shift to get a few more hours of sleep since they went out scavenging."

"And you couldn\'t call Aisha? Your sister? Rose? One of your multiple partners??"

"I can stand up for a few hours, Celeste. It\'s not a big deal."

As she often did when it came to Malachi, Celeste looked like she was developing a hell of a migraine.

"Seriously... why are you so unkind to yourself?"

Falling silent, Malachi felt like he had no good way to answer that question.

Sighing, Celeste came to stand on the wall right beside Malachi and put herself in park.

"...What are you doing?"

"Keeping you company."

"The hell you are. You\'ve been in the nursery all day."

"Are you saying I smell like baby vomit and you can\'t stomach my presence??"

"I.. no?"

"Alright then, I\'ll be staying."

"...I don\'t suppose giving you a direct order would-"

"I will laugh in your face."

"Yea, that\'s what I figured."

Out of options, Malachi finally folded his arms and stood quietly beside Celeste.

This was going to be a long four hours...