Blessed by Night-Chapter 477: Change of Plans

After getting Joanne hastily discharged from the hospital, the duo returned home to see the progress of their home repairs and discuss their tentative new plans for the future.

When they arrived at the mountain where they'd left the ship, they were surprised to find nothing.

All that greeted them was a large, empty clearing with nothing and no one in sight.

Malachi tapped his foot on the ground.

"...It's just dirt. I think they finished."

"Then, does that mean...?"

Both of them turned their heads towards the sky.

Both of them could sense their lovers and family members very close by. They just couldn't see them.

'Uhhh... anyone out there?' Joanne called.

Not half a second later, the duo heard a telepathic message come back to them.

'Oh, you two are back. Hey, Mom, stand behind Mal in case he faints.' Anna said.

Malachi looked vaguely offended when Joanne moved into position behind him.

'Honestly, what do you two think of m-'

A shadow suddenly passed over the mountain.

When Mal and Joanne looked up, their jaws went slack at the sight of the sleek, black vessel hovering in the sky.

It was around half the size of an aircraft carrier, yet unless Mal listened closely, he could barely even hear it making a sound.

'So? Did he faint?' Anna asked impatiently.

Joanne looked at her husband.

'No... but his face isn't exactly going back to normal either.'

'Get a pic, please.'

Joane did as her daughter asked and took a picture of her husband's expression. He didn't even move to avoid the snapshot.

Joanne lifted a hand to close his gaping mouth before a bug flew into it.

"...Wanna go inside?"

Malachi nodded slowly.

"Alright, come on."

She grabbed him by the hand and began pulling him up into the sky.

-

"Go, grandpa!"

"Girls, I don't think that I should..."

"Come on, just try it!"

"Pleaseeee!!"

Kenji didn't know that having granddaughters would be quite so bad for his pride.

Sighing, he clenched the microphone in his hand and brought it up to his lips. He concentrated on the lyrics on the television screen and tried to immerse himself in the music.

"...You used to call me on my cellphone. Late night when you need my love..."

Kenjii didn't even get through the first quarter of his performance before Serana, Camille, and Shiro collapsed to the ground laughing.

Sato looked like he was going to hyperventilate, and it took all of Sei's efforts to prevent her brother from dying on her living room sofa.

"What's all this...?"

When Malachi and Joanne stepped into the living room, the small children immediately ceased their laughter and ran toward them.

"Mommy, daddy!"

"We saw the news!"

Joanne and Malachi each took a child into their arms and tried to quell them.

Shiro used her small, clammy hands to grab her mother by her gaunt face.

"You're so skinny…!"

Joanne snickered. "You know, if your grandma were around, she'd say I finally looked like someone worth marrying."

Her words made Malachi pause everything he was doing and stare at her.

Mal had never heard Joanne even mention her mother the entire time they had been dating. At least, not unprompted.

That she did so of her own free will was disastrously out of character. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Even Shiro was confused by the mention of a woman she had never met before.

"Where's my grandma..?"

Joanne faltered. Only then did she realize the gravity of everything that she had just said.

Now, what was she supposed to say to her overly curious daughter?

Saying that she hoped her mother was dead just didn't seem like the kind of thing one was supposed to say to a child.

"…Hey, why don't you do me a favor? Would you mind bringing me all of the fruit cups your dad has hidden in the fridge?"

Shiro's eyes naturally lit up. "O-Okay! … Can I have one?"

"Of course you can, snowball."

Joanne placed her daughter on the ground and she scampered off to pilfer her father's secret stash.

With her arms free, Joanne was soon embraced by the other women in her life.

Bianca and Luna embraced their loved one at the same time. Their soft hands caressed her cheeks with an apparent concern.

"I'm fine. Really." Joanne turned toward Malachi. "Tell em', hon."

"Doctor said she was severely dehydrated and malnourished. We left the hospital against medical advice."

"…Snitch."

Sei immediately stood up. "I'll get everything we have in the oven."

"A-Actually, babe… I kind of wanted to discuss something with you all first."

Kenji chose that moment to make a quiet exit from the room.

His son followed behind him, mocking his attempt at karaoke.

*In poor English* "I know when that hotline bling~! That can only mean one thing-"

Kenji wrapped his son in a headlock and dragged him out of the room.

When they were alone, Malachi swept his gaze over their reconstructed living room.

He then turned toward Sei with a knowing look. "Having more fun interior designing?"

"I-In my defense, it was Bianca who started it when she redesigned the ship. I was just trying to make everything look like it fit the aesthetic..."

Joanne noticed that Biacna had let her go to stare out the large window in the living room.

She stood, hands clasped behind her back, with an unnecessarily serious aesthetic.

"It just... makes me feel so powerful." She said, her voice significantly deeper than usual.

Everyone ignored her cringeworthy antics as they took seats on the sofa.

Joanne barely even let her family get settled before she dropped her bomb onto the group.

"I want to start a clan."

Luna tripped over herself and fell into Anna's empty lap.

"Y-You what..? I thought we all decided that wasn't the kind of interest we had for our future."

"We didn't, but things are a little different now… for starters, the government doesn't want us leaving the country for the time being. Or more specifically, they really don't want Malachi to.

We're still going to endeavor to supply people in Japan with resources they might need, but we'll have to do it from here."

Luna sighed as she sank further into Anna's grip. Clearly, her biggest concern had been an inability to aid people further, but if their mission could continue in secret, then she wouldn't ask for anything more.

"Okay… so what are we going to do instead?"

Joanne bit her lip uncomfortably. "… I was thinking private secur-"

Malachi's phone rang unexpectedly.

Apologizing to the group, he shifted Camille off his lap and stepped into the hall.

He smiled fondly when he saw that the person calling him was Morgan.

He answered the phone, intending to greet his idol with a cheerful attitude and jest.

But the voice that came to him on the other line wasn't Morgan's at all. It was Crystal's.

"M-Malachi, are you there…? We need your help..!"