124 Those Who Fall & Those Who Are Felled


    In a disy of surprising agility, the guards who had remained motionless at Arias'' side finally sprung into action and intercepted the unlikely trio. They may not have been able topletely stop them, but a few seconds was all that Arias really needed. ncing at the shimmering chandeliers above, he smiled as he snapped his fingers before anyone could stop him. The lights above seemed to crystallize and take on a diamond-like appearance before firing in random directions in the crowd. Or at least they seemed random at first nce. But in all actuality, the fragments of light were like glowing homing missiles that expertly sought out every human in the crowd. "Get behind me!" Luna conjured up a whip made from blue mes and knocked down the two projectiles that wereing towards Anna, Sei, and Serana. After sessfully defending them, she looked around for the next most important person in the room. Luckily, Aubrey and Aisha were safely protected by arge shield that she''d seemingly pulled out of thin air. But looking around, they seemed to be the only ones who were safe. She could see numerous humans already on the floor dead or with a shard of light embedded somewhere into their body.


    ''Wait... where''s-''


    "GRANDPA ROWAN!!"


    Luna''s heart dropped to her heels as she heard the distinctive cry of one of her guild members.


    She spun around like a mad woman, and eventually she found the old man lying on the other side of the room, a shard of light in his chest and a trail of blood running from his mouth. "Shiro!"


    Luna''s forehead mark started to glow a dull pink, and a momentter a fox asrge as a stallion with nine swaying tails came into view. "Get the girls out of here now!" She raised her hand and lifted up the girls with her powers and ced them onto Shiro''s fluffy back. "Take these three first and thene back for Aubrey and Rowan!" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Yes!"


    Shiro left without another word, carrying the three women past the crowd and towards the exit. The girls didn''t even bother toin, and they simply held tight as the massive fox bounded out of the doors. But once they were outside... they felt like they were going to be sick. All of the paparazzi that had been stationed outside were now dead. And it was very clear that they did not have the luxury of dying a quick and simple death. Their bodies were cut up into pieces and strewn out all over the ce, making this scene akin to aplete and utter nightmare. Shiro left them in the middle of the parking lot behind a few cars after wiping away their tears with her one of her tails. As the oldest, Sei had taken on the responsibility of consoling the two girls. Anna was a bit shaky but stable, while Serana on the other hand was crying in a way that she hadn''t done in years.


    "What is happening... I don''t understand!"


    -


    Amidst all the noise and screaming, Mchi heard only one name being screamed out by his friend Opal. "GRANDPA ROWAN!!!"


    The next few seconds seemed to go by in slow motion. Mchi turned his head and slowly as he immediately found the source of the scream. The old men was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling, while surrounded by the young girls from Immortal Moon.


    He was only barely able to process the sight of arge fox carrying three of his loved ones on it''s back. His body moved on it''s own, and he disappeared from the center of the ballroom and reappeared directly over Rowan and the girls. "M-Mal..!"


    "H-He''s bleeding a lot..."


    "Stop it, girls... You''re going to worry him."


    Even with arge shard of light in his chest, the old man still maintained the presence of mind to smile as if there was nothing wrong. "You... shouldn''t be over here, you know?" He reminded. "Seems to me like you don''t have the luxury of leering at the old guy who''s about to die..."


    "D-Don''t say that!"


    "You aren''t going to die just yet...!"


    Luna finally ran beside Mal and immediately ced her hand on his shoulder. "Darling, he''s going to be...fine.."


    She was surprised by the tenseness of Mchi''s body, and the look on his face that was unlike anything she had ever seen before. A momentter, Shiro returned with Aubrey already on her back, and Luna and the girls loaded Rowan up gently. She found her ce on Shiro''s back and prepared to find the nearest hospital. But before she could go... she could not ignore her concern for Mal. Even after Rowan had been lifted off the floor, his eyes had never left therge puddle of blood where his body previouslyy. "Kid..." Rowan called. But no matter how much the old man called for him, he did not respond and his gaze remained firmly fixed onto the floor. His face was covered by his dreads, and it was uncertain if he could even hear them. Rowan began to have difficulty keeping his eyes open, and Mchi did not miss the sound of his heartbeat beginning to slow down. Before Shiro could start running, the shadows underneath her paws became animated, and they swallowed up her and all of her passengers. The four of them were immersed in total darkness for less than half a second before reappearing in the lobby of a crowded hospital. "G-Gate break!"


    "Wait, there are people on it''s back!"


    "One of them is injured, get a crash cart!"


    The medical professionals immediately rushed to get Rowan down from the back of the beast, but Luna and Aubrey still remained in ce.


    "Aubrey... Do you think your brother will be alright?"


    The young girl fell silent as she reflected back on her sibling''s state thest time she saw him. "I... don''t know anymore."


    -


    In his mind, Mchi recalled one of the worst days of his life. Seeing his mother ripped to pieces, and his father with arge chunk of metal in his chest on the day that they died. It took everything that he had for him to keep Aubrey pressed closely against his chest in an effort to spare her from the awful sight. In some ways, he felt the same way then that he did right now. 15:38


    Powerless. He still seemed to be helpless whenever it mattered. In the end, his efforts were never rewarded with results, but only more suffering. He could hold onto the burden if he was the only one affected, but the involvement of other people was another thing all together. He was supposed to be the one who kept everyone safe, right?


    But it seemed like no matter how hard he tried, he was not as good of a protector as he wanted to be. So why was he trying so hard?


    ''That''s it, you''re almost there. You need onlye a little further...''


    A throbbing pain began to ur within his chest. This was the doing of Michael and the blessing he''d received from him. It was a warning that he was straying too far off the path of righteousness, and letting negative emotions cloud his mind and spirit. But he wasn''t aware of that, and even if he would have known he likely wouldn''t have cared very much. Hadn''t he been passive for too long already?


    If he wanted to keep everyone safe, maybe he had to start hunting and neutralizing threats before his loved ones were affected. ''Make a firm decision now, boy... If you stain this part of you there''ll be no going back.''


    To Mchi, the night and everything in it had always been soforting that it was undeniable. But he had always neglected to think of how everyone else saw it. Everyone else in the world was scared of it for some reason, and rightfully so. The night and the darkness inside of it represented all that was unseen and frightening in nature. So maybe he should be that which was frightening and unseen. ''Seems you''ve made a decision... Happy hunting.''


    The throbbing in Mchi''s chest became worse and worse until it felt like every artery in his heart was going to implode. It went on for practically forever and it seemed to be umting more with every minute. But after what felt like an eternity of horrible heartache he finally felt...nothing. "....hi.!"


    ".al.chi!"


    "Mchi!"


    When Mchi finally regained focus, he was staring into the teary faces of Bianca and Aisha. Behind them were almost all of his fellow guild mates, and each of them looked every bit as concerned as thest. However, their sobbing faces gave way to confused ones as Mal smiled at them gently like they were all precious existences to him. He kissed Bianca tenderly and relished in the salty taste of her tears before he patted Aisha on the head like she was a young child. "Sorry bout this but I need you girls to go now alright? I don''t really want you to see me like this."


    "B-Babe, what do you mean...?"


    "Mal you''re starting to scare us-"


    "I''lle get you both, I promise."


    Before the girls could muster up any more words of concern, they were swallowed up by the pooling darkness at their feet, and sent outside. Mchi nced over at Arias, who was engaged in what looked to be a heated battle against Morgan and Enzo. However, the cult leader seemed to have no real difficulty in fending the both of them off simultaneously. For some reason that he could not exin, Mal felt his own smile widen into something much colder and unsettling. Whoosh!


    Without even meaning to, he released three pairs of enormous ck wings from his back. He pushed his dreadlocks out of his face and revealed eyes that were dyed a horrifying and bloody red. "I... feel... fucking incredible!"


    He yelled so loud that he drew the attention of the three blessed still fighting a few feet away. Each of them showed various reactions to Mal''s new look, all ranging from concern to t out intrigue. "...Damn, what''s that old ass rhyme that my momma used to sing all the time on halloween..?" Mal wondered as he scratched his cheek. His voice contained a lightness that it hadn''t had in years, and he seemed to show no signs of murderous intent. "Mchi..."


    "You don''t seem well, ni?o..."


    "Is it Humpty Dumpty? Don''t really know what that one has to do with halloween though..."


    Mchi ignored the raving of all three of the men opposite him as he wed through his most buried memories. "Ah!"


    He smiled as he pped his hands together when he finally managed to remember the words he''d long forgotten. "From ghoulies and ghoosties, long-leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good lord deliver us!"


    He pped his enormous wings and slowly rose up into the air, his new and unsettling smile never leaving his face. "Look at me now, Ma. Your baby boy has be that thing that goes bump in the night."


    He bout to get that ass tapped. AnathaShesha