Blessed by Night

"Right, well… it's going to be tough to follow that up, but I will do my best." Morgan said nervously.

Surtr's blessed had been in front of crowds and televisions numerous times, but this was a different beast entirely.

This was important. This was about the future of their nation! He had to look like a well-put, confident leader!

But it was hard!

He hadn't been this nervous since he went to tell his father-in-law he was marrying a second woman!

Everyone in the auditorium heard the metal of the podium creak underneath his nervous grip, but they pretended to ignore it for his sake.

"R-Right, I..ahem.." he cleared his throat. "Today, I'd like to talk to all of you about the future, but first I must cover the part of the past.

It is an undeniable privilege for those of us are actually alive today to witness this moment of society rising from the ashes. But there are many who do not get to sit here with us.

And as we mourn their losses today and for the rest of our lives, we should never forget the most important thing. This all was entirely preventable."

On live tv, for both halves of America to see, Morgan told everyone exactly how the N'Kai arrived on earth- through invitation.

Even in the dim auditorium, the aghast faces of the reporters were perfectly visible.

Malachi listened to Morgan's entire speech in silence, with no revelation particularly surprising him given that they discussed everything he would say beforehand.

That is, until Morgan started freestyling a bit.

"..But now, a barrier has been erected between the world of the gods and our earth. They can no more influence our world than we can theirs."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd of reporters. A woman raised her hand.

"How was this phenomenon achieved, and how can you be sure that they won't come back?"

"…" Morgan took a very deep breath.

"An extremely powerful mythical dragon did it. As a favor to the son of his close friend, the goddess Nyx."

Jaws collectively dropped.

If the past couple of years had taught anyone anything, it was that everything was equally possible, but this still felt like too much of a fantasy.

In fairness, it was completely understandable. Among the various mythical creatures recorded when the gates opened, fully magical fire breathing dragons weren't one of them.

There were rumors that China had a blessed chosen by the Dragon King, but such stories were never confirmed by their government.

"… A dragon? Like a real one?"

"Mr. Creed, if you're not going to take this seriously, then.."

*Ahem.* Morgan cleared his throat.

The sound of heels clicking onto the stage drew everyone's attention, and they lay eyes on a stunning woman in a dark blue dress.

Nadine pushed her hair back as she walked up the steps towards the podium with Morgan.

Pretty blue scales covered her neck and cheeks like organic plate armor. A short but noticeable pair of dark horns burst out of her head of blonde hair.

She parted her lips slightly and exhaled a gust of bluish violet flame above the heads of the crowd.

Shocked gasps and noises of awe filled the auditorium, and likely viewers' living rooms too.

Nadine, like Arias, skipped off the stage happily without answering a single question.

As her body went back to normal, she wormed her way into the arms of her husband who was standing there stunned. Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire

"Surprised?" Nadine tried to hide the hoarseness in her voice from expelling flame, but it was difficult to hide it from her husband's extremely sensitive ears.

"Why did you do that...? You know your condition is-"

"Malachi, I'm far, far older than you. Please don't treat me like I'm going to fall apart at the slightest inconvenience.

I did what I did because I wanted to.

Morgan needed the story about Abaddon to be believable, and I... I just wanted my husband to be seen as the hero he is."

Malachi bit his lip. What was he supposed to say to that?

In truth, he didn't feel very much like a hero.

Malachi felt that what he had done was no more than using his unfair family connections to end a personal vendetta. And now the world had lost something as a result.

Regardless of his personal standings on it, people did rely on the gods for comfort and direction, and... he had taken that away from the populous.

"Hey. Stop that."

Nadine grabbed his face firmly. A bit of that vampire/dragon strength leaked out and she almost crushed his orbital bones.

She stared at him with serious eyes that she rarely ever displayed. They flickered between their usual violet, and an illustrious gold.

'She's actually mad at me...' He realized.

"I won't allow you to not accept this. Anyone here, if they were placed in your situation would have done the same thing as you and they wouldn't dare feel sorry about it for a second if it meant that they got to go home to their family at night."

Nadine only realized that she was getting too irritated when she felt her teeth involuntarily sharpen.

She sighed deeply and rested her head against her husband's chest. She clutched his jacket so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"I love you for always trying to be a good man, but... I don't want to hear you lament over your decision when you did what you had to do to get back to me, the girls, our child... We are supposed to be more important to you than anything."

Nadine looked up at him, and Malachi felt his heart clench.

"Do you think that the gods would have let you stay with us knowing what you are..? Even if you are Nyx's son...? You've already been taken from all of us once before."

Malachi didn't answer her. He didn't have to.

They both knew the answer to her question already.

Nadine kissed him in a way that was almost wholly different from any time before.

There was desperation on her lips. And a deep need to make Malachi understand just how much he meant to her.

The message was conveyed loud and clear.

As Malachi and Nadine devolved into a rough embrace, Awena and her aids, who had been no more than seven feet away this entire time, tried not to look on in disapproval.

'They're so damned unprofessional... I hope you're not like that too now, gray-eyes.' She thought.

Arias was nearby too, handcuffed and watching the pair like he was used to it already. (He was)

He looked over at Awena and her attendants and shrugged. "Well... We could also-"

"Shut up, convict."

Arias looked at either of the guards and they both gave him the finger.

He sighed and rested his back against the wall in dismay.

He felt he should've made more of an effort to get laid before he went to prison.

-

Morgan was still in the midst of giving a rather informative speech when he seemingly reached the point of conversation that everyone was looking forward to more than Arias' status.

"And now... I need to speak about the future of the 'blessed' as we were formerly called." Morgan sighed. "Please, hold all of your questions until the briefing has concluded..."