Blessed by Night

In the aftermath of Malachi's declaration, only silence persisted among the deities in attendance.

Malachi had done the unthinkable.

He had actually demanded that the lives of not one god, but two be forfeited.

And to make matters more inconceivable, one was the ruler of an entire pantheon, and the other was a primordial unbound by the laws of reality.

To ask for their lives above all others, was maddening.

Not to mention incredibly insulting.

And Zeus, more than anyone else, does not do well with insults.

The god's eyes began to glow as his entire body crackled with blue lightning.

From somewhere in the distance, the distinct sound of thunder rumbling could be heard.

"How… DARE YOU!"

From his hand, Zeus hurled a bolt of electricity larger than any that mortals had ever dreamed possible.

Malachi's vision was filled with white as his body was bathed in lightning, and he lost all of his personal autonomy.

He could do nothing but hit the ground and scream against his will.

The phenomena of one being in so much pain that they can't make a sound appeared to have skipped right over him.

He was painfully aware of the fact that he was in unbearable agony and probably screamed loud enough to wake the dead in every realm.

He didn't know how long he was electrocuted for, but he did know that relief did not come easily, or quickly.

If he have died in that moment, he wouldn't have been surprised.

He was only barely cognizant enough to hear the words of Zeus burrowing into his brain.

'You are… so very lucky that I am inclined to give you grace despite your rudeness. But make no mistake, there will be no second time.

You have but a year to get your affairs in order and make your preparations. Do try not to waste them in that time and try your best to die with honor.'

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Malachi awoke, screaming in the same manner as he had within the god's colosseum.

It was so loud that he was pretty sure that he rattled the whole house.

His entire body felt like it was on fire; burning beyond description.

The only cooling relief he felt were different sets of hands running across his chest and occasional droplets of water landing on his chest and face.

Finally, his vision returned to him and he opened his eyes to see three women looming over him.

The first two were the women whom he loved more than anything, and the third was his sister; the so called spirit of violent death.

All three were crying as they stared at him worriedly.

Luna had a sensitive side, so wasn't that surprised to see her crying, but Joanne and Keres were a huge shock.

He wanted to force a smile onto his face and tell them all to stop crying but he couldn't even manage that.

Getting hit by Zeus's famed lightning bolt was about as fun as an adult circumcision.

The girls finally noticed Mal had stopped screaming and they each tried to talk to him at once.

Luna : "H-Honey, can you hear me? C-Can you sit up?"

Joanne: *Unintelligible whimpering*

Keres : "Do not try to move, sweet brother. Zeus' lighting has burned you unmercifully…"

Despite Keres' words to not move around, Malachi did crane his neck to look at his body.

His chest was covered in black, scar-like markings that resembled fern patterns; a common symptom of being struck by lightning.

But even his body's impressive regeneration was of absolutely no avail to him.

Keres waived her hand over Malachi's chest and a small bit of the pain he felt subsided.

But he still would not say that he was in tip top shape.

However, at least he could talk now.

"Sorry about that… didn't mean to send you ladies into a- Urgh! Panic…"

Emotionally exhausted, Luna flopped onto Mal's chest because she couldn't hold herself up any longer.

"Honestly… how can that be the first thing that you worry about??"

Keres had told Joanne and Luna everything while Mal was passed out.

The fact that he had the energy or mental capacity to worry about them after everything that he had just been told was absolutely astounding.

"Aww come on… you know that you girls are my priority… when don't you come first?"

This seemed to only make Joanne cry harder as she fell on top of Malachi too.

More unintelligible crying escaped her lips, but this time Mal seemed to be able to comprehend it.

"I love you too, Jo… I'm not going anywhere."

For a moment, the four of them sat around in silence, just relieved that Malachi was somewhat alright.

But suddenly, a woman reappeared within the room.

She looked different from normal, but Mal still recognized her.

Soft olive skin, long raven hair, and a bold, curvaceous figure.

Her eyes were black in color, just like Aubrey's.

But they were filled with crystalline tears.

"My boy, I…" Nyx had been out searching in vain for the gods colosseum to voice her extreme displeasure.

However, the moment that she felt Malachi scream out in her domain, she abandoned her search and came rushing home.

When she saw the marking spreading across her son's bare chest, she only cried harder as she bit down on her lower lip.

"I.. will kill him..! ALL OF THEM! I will see them all imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus itself as retribution for-"

"Is that a new look, ma…? It's pretty." Mal muttered.

"I… what?"

Malachi closed his eyes as he rested his head back on the wooden floor.

"It just looks nice is all.. guess I'm not really used to seeing you like this."

Nyx turned her head to the side and made a very confused expression.

But as odd as Malachi seemed to her, he had his reasons.

"I get you're mad… I know you want to get some kind of divine revenge for me but I… don't need it.

For now, I don't need you to be a primordial goddess or anything close to it. You can just be my mom, and I promise that will be more than enough..."

Nyx didn't seem to understand Malachi's line of thinking, judging by the way that her face was constantly twitching while the gears turned in her ancient mind.

She who had never once in her life been told to 'just be my mother' by one of her children, didn't fully understand what that meant.

Malachi felt his body starting to get heavy, and his eyelids soon followed suit.

As they began to flutter closed, he had one final question for his mother.

"Hey ma…I was wondering, what do you think my odds are of turning this whole game upside down and winning it all…?"

In that moment, Nyx felt something click within her brain.

She began to understand Mal's earlier request and exactly what he wanted from her.

And even if she didn't necessarily like it, she felt like she owed it to him to atleast follow his wishes… atleast, to the best of her ability.

Wiping her own face, Nyx moved to the ground beside Malachi and pulled his head into her lap.

She smiled while trying to hide the inner turmoil in her heart and kissed him on the forehead ever so gently.

"Odds…? I don't believe in those… if my son wants to do something then he will do it. Circumstances against him be damned."

'Especially… when I get you and your family the help you all need to survive what will come.'

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