Blessed by Night

102  Skill Issue

"So... that's what happened. I.. don't know how to feel anymore." Sei admitted. She had given the young couple a rundown of everything that her mother had said to her, and it was even more difficult to hear the words out of her own mouth.

Her story had to be paused several times due to her own inability to speak over her own tears.

When the young couple heard about how terrible Sei's mother was to her, they regretted not telling her off a bit more or maybe even stabbing her before she left.

It was easy to tell which girl was thinking what.

"You're not actually thinking of giving her money, are you? Not after everything she's said about you and my brother." "N-No, of course not... I wouldn't give that amount of money to her even if I did have it." Contrary to what Ayame believed, Sei had not allowed Malachi to give her any money no matter how much he offered. She never wanted to seem like some sort of gold digger, and she never wanted their relationship to become based on what he could do for her. "But she has worried me a bit... about Malachi and the security of our relationship..." "What?? Why?" Aisha asked. "Well he has other women now, so I... keep thinking that I will lose his attention." It was a terrible thing to think about especially after she had already told herself she was secure in their relationship. But insecurities linger in the hearts of every man and woman, especially a thirty seven year old divorcee. All that it needed was to be brought to the forefront by scathing and harsh words from a maternal figure. "Sei, you really don't need to worry about that. My brother watches the same Christmas specials every single year and never gets tired of them." "I-I don't know if these are quite the same things, Aubrey..." "Aren't they? No matter how much time passes, my brother does not forget about the things that bring him joy and happiness. The last thing you should worry about is losing his affection." Sei wanted to believe her, but she just wasn't sure. "Are you going to tell him that you want him to break up with the other girls?" Aisha's query seemed to suck the air out of the room, and Sei unsurprisingly froze up from the question that was already dwelling within the back of her mind.

"No... I don't want to do that." She admitted. Sei and Luna were like best friends by now, and she couldn't knowingly separate her from the happiness that they both so rightfully deserved. And while she was still getting to know Annalise, she could see that she was a sweet girl who seemed to love Malachi just as much as she did.

How could she deprive the man she loved of two women who desperately wanted the best for him?

But in the same breath, she just hoped that he never forgot that she loved and adored him too.

'This would all be so much easier... if you were around, honey.'

-

Malachi was having the shitiest time of his entire twenty years of life.

The fact that he was still keeping up his eternal night on the island, as well as his pseudo avatar state, was causing an unbelievable amount of strain on his body. He now understood why Morgan had broken him so thoroughly before.

If he tried to undergo this ordeal with his body from before, every muscle, vein, and bone he had would have ruptured 1,000 times over by now. While the burden he was facing now was not as great as it would have been before, it was still nothing to sneeze at. With every move he made to dodge or attack, he felt like one of his limbs were about to spontaneously combust.

BOOOOOMMM!!!

Morgan plunged his molten sword into the ground, and a wave of fire and earth came crashing down on Mal like a tidal wave. 'Christ...'

Malachi leapt just above the incendiary wave and for a brief second he wished that he didn't have legs. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The pain shooting through his legs was nightmarishly unfair. Morgan seemed to know that Mal was going through an unbelievable amount of pain every time he moved, and he took every opportunity to keep him jumping around like a grasshopper. "Fight through the pain, lad! Be creative! Think about all of your powers and how best they can help you!!"

The flaming giant swung his sword to catch Mal in midair. Holding out his hands, Malachi created enormous claws made out of shadow that were the size of his own body.

The blade was caught without any real difficulty, but the more he utilized the power of darkness, the greater the strain on his mind and body became. Sheer determination was the only reason he was even still conscious. Grabbing onto Morgan's sword, he pulled himself onto the blade and began running up the length of it, his body a dark blur. 17:07

Even though the flames were licking at his feet with every step, somehow it was bearable to him. Afterall, there was little that could hurt him as much as he could hurt himself. As Malachi traveled up the length of Morgan's fiery sword and arm, the giant tried to swat him away with his free hand to no real avail.

Frustrated, Morgan flailed his arm up into the sky, finally succeeding in dislodging his attacker.

With Malachi sent flying into the air, Morgan held his sword above his head, and allowed gravity to pull his opponent's body downwards, impaling him on his weapon. Or at least that is what would have happened, had he not bent his body at the last second and narrowly avoided being pierced. But despite the fact that he avoided the sword, Malachi felt blood traveling up his esophagus and trying to escape from his mouth. 'Can't keep this up much longer...' After a few hours of back and forth with neither side being able to gain a significant advantage, this training was about to come to an end very soon with Malachi accomplishing nothing.

While learning was always a lengthy and uphill process, he couldn't afford that right now. Time was ticking down to the inevitable contest with Alex Heller, and he had to match four years worth of experience within a few days.

'One. Last. Push.'

Malachi drew in an absurd amount of energy from the night around him. If Morgan wanted him to be creative, he would be creative. His body started floating in the air, and a mass of shadows started pooling in the sky beneath his feet. As the flaming giant looked at the creature starting to take shape within the sky, he could not help but be sufficiently impressed. If Mal had this level of potential all along... his future was nearly blinding. "Didn't know you could do that, lad. " He admitted. "What do you call that monstrosity?"

High in the sky above, Malachi was standing on top of an enormous six headed hydra made entirely of shadows, and it breathed and moved like a living creature.

All twelve of it's bright red eyes and rows of snakelike teeth sent shivers down even Morgan's spine, but the excitement he felt from getting to clash against a creature like this was undeniable. If he wasn't careful, he would get too excited and blow this island off the map.

High in the sky, Malachi held his hand up in the air, before dropping it down to his side. Morgan had asked him the name of his creature and he hadn't really come up with one, but with his last bit of energy he gave it one that was a bit on the nose.

The beast unleashed a horrifying cry that promised to burst the eardrums of any human within a dozen miles. As the large creature descended onto him, Morgan raised his sword and prepared to meet him head on, a warrior's smile on his face.

"Hahahaha! I knew there was something special about you, lad! Come, let us honor our gods in battle!!!"

- 3 Days later

Lamont swallowed his nerves as he pressed the button to travel to the most secure location in this base. 'Don't know why boss can't make her a little nicer since he's got her under his thumb... She treats every other man but him like some kind of insect.'

When the elevator doors opened, he found Joanne seated behind her desk, looking worse for wear then he'd imagined. As he'd already known, the leader of the dark angels hadn't left her office for several days, apparently working on some new case that required her full attention. Lamont thought that maybe Alex would be more anxious since his woman was not coming home, but he hardly seemed to care.

Most likely due to the fact that he had a dozen more in his bed to replace her.

'And even then, I doubt that he would want her like this..'

Director Joanne's hair was frazzled, and she had dark bags on her eyes indicating that she hadn't gotten much sleep. And judging by the scent wafting off of her, she hadn't showered since she'd been here either.

"How goes it, miss director?" He said in his usual flamboyant and overly friendly tone. "You called for me?"

Joanne casually looked up at the man who'd entered her office and gestured for him to sit down without even speaking. Lamont glanced around at the trash can that was filled with takeout and empty liquor bottles. "I don't mean to overstep but you should really try to take better care of yourself, director. Boss won't like it if-"

Whoosh!

Bang!!

Before Lamont could even sit down in his chair, he was grabbed by his neck and slammed against the wall as if he was no more than a rag doll.

The golden light in her eyes and aura surrounding her body confirmed what shouldn't have even been possible. 'Her powers are back... how?!' Due to the fierce grip around his neck, Lamont could not ask the burning question on his mind but he hardly needed to. His eyes traveled directly towards her wrist and he almost shit his pants in fear. The silver thorny bracelet that should have been embedded in her wrist, was absolutely nowhere to be found. "How dare you mention that man's desires to me as if I should give a damn about his sick fucking preferences? I'll haul both your asses into Tarta-"

Crack!

Due to her anger over Lamont's asinine statement, she put a bit too much pressure into her grip and practically reduced the bones in his neck to powder.

His head slumped over a second later, his eyes already dark.

"...Damn it."

Joanne let the man's body drop down to the ground and she closed her eyes to send her archangel a silent apology. 'Sorry Cassiel... that really was an accident.'

Checking her wristwatch, she punched in a few buttons before it began broadcasting to the squad she'd quietly been preparing over the course of these five days. "Begin preparations for operation skyfall; keep all radio chatter silent and be ready to move out at 2100."

I figured I was going to get the question 'Why isn't Mal using his other blessings?' So I just wanted to clarify that when Morgan said 'We can only be felled by powers equal to our own' he was not joking, and it includes other blessings.  Remmeber, his other powers do not come from primordials, so they aren't as strong. Also; Jujutsu Kaisen makes me sad.

AnathaShesha