Blessed by Night

Having a spaceship from an advanced alien race was even more of a cheat than Malachi might have expected.

The ship was very intuitive in it's functions. Malachi simply asked the dashboard if there was a way to track bio signatures, and a brand new scanner array popped up.

All it required from Sei was a single biometric scan and a blood sample. And now, she was patiently waiting for the results on the bridge.

She had practically chewed her nail to the point of drawing blood. Fear of receiving unfortunate news had set into her bones and nearly paralyzed her.

There was a hissing sound as the doors to the bridge opened again.

Sei glanced behind her and saw the rest of her partners standing around dressed in some of their best clothes and fixing themselves.

Even Serosh had a little bowtie around his neck. Though he didn't look the happiest about it.

"I... What are all of you wearing?"

"Clothes?" Anna answered like it was obvious.

"Of course you're wearing clothes. I'm asking why they're so fancy."

Celeste straightened her dress and fixed her hair nervously.

"We figured it would be more helpful to do things like this since we're going to need all of the help we can get to win your parents over."

Sei almost wanted to laugh.

"And why would any of you think that?"

Luna pointed to her chest. "I'm a woman?"

Celeste raised her hand. "I was a single mother?"

Anna gestured to her tattoos and piercings. "I'm a woman, half your age, and I have a criminal record?"

"Recovering drug and alcohol addict." Joanne added.

Bianca and Malachi didn't say anything, but they held up their hands. That was enough.

Everyone naturally turned to face Nadine and waited for her to add something.

No such thing happened, though.

"...What? Everyone loves me." She shrugged.

They found it hard to argue with such flawless logic.

Sei smiled happily as she wrapped her arms around as many of them as she could get her hands on.

"There's not a thing wrong with any of you. You're all perfect, and I'm sure my parents are going to love you just as much as I do."

The group didn't know if they found her words to be all that believable, but they were well-meaning, and that was what mattered.

"Hey, what about me? They're gonna love me, too, right? I'm the tits after all."

Sei looked over Anna's shoulder at Serana, who was hiding in the back.

She was also dressed quite nicely, and when she wasn't opening her mouth, she was a charming young woman.

"They certainly are, my baby.... Just please don't refer to yourself as 'the tits' in front of your grandparents."

Serana pursed her lips.

At that moment, a small trilling sound came from the console a few feet away.

Sei immediately separated from her loved ones and rushed over while nearly bursting with excitement.

Though not long after, her face displayed some clear confusion as she gestured for Malachi.

"Honey... do you think this thing is broken?"

Curious, Malachi walked over to the dashboard and analyzed it the best he could.

He wasn't exactly an expert in alien technology by any means, but he at least knew how to read.

"I think... we should get ready to head out now."

Sei seemed to barely hear any of her husband's words as he pulled her away from the console.

-

Sei's father used to run a fairly large business in Japan.

It wasn't anything super influential or what others would label important. It was, however, lucrative enough to give Sei and her mother good lives with lots of amenities and privileges.

But apparently, Sei's father had lost many of those privileges long after she left home.

She should have known exactly where to find him. Like her, he was known to be a creature of habit if nothing else.

The Saint family stood outside an abandoned office building in Sendai.

This region of Japan didn't look to have been secured and purged by the army. There were lots of gangs around, who looked like they were comprised of at least five evolved. Each.

Despite the gangs running rampant, they seemed to have some sort of understanding. When two opposing gangs saw each other, they had a brief conversation and went on about their day.

Luna, who loved watching American gangster shows, knew that something like that wasn't supposed to happen.

She was relieved, though. None of her family wanted to see any more violence today.

As they sat atop the back of Serosh, Malachi and Joanne both wore troubling looks.

The Evolved population of Japan was more than triple that of America.

Even without speaking to each other, they knew that they shared the same worries.

In no uncertain terms, Evolved could very obviously be seen as weapons of war in the near future. And the United States prided itself on having the most and the biggest guns.

How nervous would they be if they knew another nation had gone shopping while they weren't looking?

Neither of them really wanted to think much about it.

"Are you alright, love..?" Luna whispered.

Celeste looked over her shoulder with her face flushed. "O-Of course, I'm fine. I think my nerves have just made me a little warm."

Luna nodded back in understanding.

She started to radiate a cool energy from her body. Celeste sank back into her body while letting out a relieved sigh.

"Superpowers...very convenient." She said breathlessly. "I'm glad Shiro's still sharing her powers with you."

Luna could only chuckle as she wrapped her arms around the buxom woman.

Malachi gave Serosh a tap on the head to take them down.

As he descended from the air, Malachi could better feel the presences inside the building.

There were many more than he had anticipated... he couldn't tell how many were evolved.

"Maybe they're making a shelter here...?"

Sei didn't find Bianca's guess to be all that improbable. It definitely sounded like something her father would do if their family home were to be compromised.

Serosh landed just outside the doors to the building, and one by one, the group began to disembark so that their mount could return to normal size.

Celeste stayed particularly close to Luna. She basically treated her body like it was one big ice cube.

As soon as everyone had set foot on the ground, Serosh's eyes shot toward the double doors of the building.

"Incoming..."

Serosh's words proved true when a fleet of figures came bursting through the door. All were evolved, and all were hostile.

"Who are you? Americans??"

"They must be spies!"

"Put them down!"

Before Malachi could speak up, Sei slipped out from behind him while seemingly undisturbed by the hostility.

"Umm... Could one of you please tell me if someone named Kenji Hayashi is inside..?"

The man at the head of the group raised a brow curiously.

He lowered his hands, and the glowing power within his palms dissipated.

He stared calculatingly at Sei and opened his mouth to ask one of the most unthinkable questions she could have imagined.

"How do you know my father's name...?"

Sei felt the wind get knocked out of her chest. Malachi had to hold her up so that she didn't fall.

No one knew what to say.

"Holy shit..." Serana whistled. "Someone owes me a lot of late christmas money."