CHAPTER 435: GIVE ME A MIRACLE

Malachi had already warned Joanne about the nefarious atmosphere that was present within Aubrey’s new home.

She still wasn’t prepared for it.

As soon as she stepped through the portal, she thought she was going to die.

Her body had never had such a visceral reaction of fear before.

A layer of sweat covered her body, causing her clothes to cling to her figure.

Her heart was beating so fast that she thought she was going to faint.

The strength left her legs at the same time as all the color left her face.

She couldn’t breathe. It was like the air was nonexistent.

It was a miracle she didn’t soil herself.

Malachi held Joanne in a princess carry while she tried to stop herself from shaking. She could vaguely hear him saying something to her to keep her calm.

"Shit, sorry guys. I forgot this place isn’t exactly normal..."

Joanne suddenly felt a rush of air invade her lungs, and the overbearing pressure on her shoulders was quickly diminished.

"Are you okay?"

Malachi’s face was close enough for Jo to see every pore in his skin.

The worry in his gaze made her feel even more shy than if she hadn’t just embarrassed herself like a child.

"I’m fine... Y-You can put me down anytime now."

Malachi didn’t seem to want to listen to her. Seeing Joanne seize up and lose all of her strength and fall had brought up some very bad memories.

"...It’s okay, really." Joanne brought a hand to his cheek. "I’m alright."

Malachi acquiesced and lowered her to the ground.

Even after Joanne was back on her feet, Malachi still looked like he was fretting over her.

Judging by the red in her cheeks, she didn’t fully hate the attention.

"Earth to age-gap couple. Are you two going to keep ignoring me?"

It took Mal and Joanne a considerable amount of time to realize Aisha was standing in the hallway with them.

Upon thinking about it for a moment, Joanne realized that she did recall hearing another voice a couple of seconds ago.

"What’s going on with the two of you? You seem even closer than the last time I saw you and that’s really saying something."

"Oh, just... honeymoon stuff." Mal lied.

"Ew."

"Not like that, twit."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Are you sure you guys are going to be okay with us staying with you? Wouldn’t want to interrupt your, uh... relations."

Joanne became flustered and cleared her throat.

*Ahem* "Well, I can promise you that won’t be a problem, so you all are more than welcome to stay as long as you need."

"I appreciate that, and I hope you don’t think we’re just going to mooch off you guys without helping around the house."

""We did think that, yeah."" They nodded.

"God, you guys are dicks."

Aisha turned around and pushed open the door closest to her.

Malachi and Joanne were immediately hit by a wave of fresh air.

Peering into the doorway, the couple was met with an unbelievable sight.

An entire realm sat beyond the boundaries of the wooden frame. One with a bright pink sky and lifelike white clouds.

The girls’ home was just as fantastical. It was built with giant white-gold pillars to hold up the ceiling, and large archways that fully exposed the outside world.

It was a palace, there was no doubt about it.

Malachi halfway expected to see servants running around serving tea and dusting.

"I think it’s pretty official... I’m the less successful sibling, aren’t I?" Mal accepted the truth rather quickly.

"Seems like it..." Joanne whistled. "You’re still plenty good-looking, though."

"Some of us beg to differ!" Aisha yelled from within the house.

All Joanne could do was look at her husband helplessly and shrug. Mal’s mood deflated even further.

Suddenly, Mal heard the sound of excited footsteps rushing towards him.

""Uncle Mal!!""

Mal was knocked onto the floor by two toddler-sized golden rockets.

He coughed weakly as he smiled at the familiar perpetrators.

"Ugh, hey nephs... You guys are getting big, huh?"

Apparently, Nevi’im children grew way faster than normal. The last time Mal had seen Askari and Reken, they weren’t even fully literate. Now, they looked like they were the exact same age as Cami and Shiro.

"Hey, Uncle Mal! Look what I can do!" Askari threw up his hand, and an enormous ball of fire appeared above their heads. The small sun boasted an immense heat and even it’s own gravitational pull.

Mal thought he was going to shit himself.

"Holy fuck..."

"That’s nothing, look at mine!" Reken put his hand up next, but suddenly a silver and black bracelet was bound around his and his brother’s wrists. The sun vanished instantly.

"Alright, I think that’s enough of that..." Aubrey was grateful that she had shown up before her brother ended up singed.

""AWW!!""

"Don’t ’aww’ me." She narrowed her eyes. "You boys can have your powers back when we come home, that was the deal. Or do you not want to have a long sleepover with your cousins?"

""We want to, we want to!!""

The boys nodded so fiercely that Malahi thought for a moment their skin was coming off.

But then, after blinking a few times to confirm he wasn’t just seeing sunspots, he realized he wasn’t imagining anything.

The boys’ golden skin was becoming an inconspicuous warm brown. Though their eyes were still a myriad of colors, and two pairs of horns were still present atop their heads.

"You’re like a regular witch now, huh..?" Malachi mused.

"Something like that." Aubrey extended a hand to her brother and helped him off the ground.

Once he was upright, the two exchanged a desperate hug that had been a long time coming.

It had admittedly been quite a long time since Malachi and his sister had been in the same room together. Perhaps not since his wedding.

And if he knew anything about his sister, it was that she was surely going to make him pay for staying away for so long.

He started to offer his sister an apology before she could squeeze it out of him, but something else soon caught her eye.

A horrified look formed on her face as she looked beyond Malachi.

"Oh my god, Jo..."

Joanne looked behind herself in excess of around three times.

Finding nothing of note, she looked down at herself and realized what the issue must’ve been.

"...Okay, so I lost a little weight. But your brother hasn’t been cooking lately and the kids have been eating all my god damn Pop-Tarts."

Unlike Joanne, Malachi knew instantly why his sister looked so horrified.

-

Malachi and Joanne looked uncomfortable in their seats. They looked like children called into the principal’s office.

"...Why didn’t you tell us?" Aubrey looked crestfallen.

Her brother had no good answer to satisfy her, and neither did Joanne.

It was clear looking at them that they were both still raw.

Joanne held her head in her hands, unable to even look at the others.

"Don’t blame your brother... I asked him not to say anything to you or anyone because I was fucking embarrassed."

In the back of her mind, Joanne had always blamed herself for miscarrying.

There were many factors that could have contributed to it. Be it stress or her prior addiction, or maybe even just the fact that she was too old to carry safely.

Every scenario she thought of made her feel sick.

"There’s nothing to be embarrassed about..." Aubrey said bitterly. "We’re your family, and we want to help you especially when you’re going through something so awful."

Joanne and Malachi had realized recently that they were the same kind of people. Prideful.

Their feelings surrounding her miscarriage were something that they had carried only between each other. They didn’t know how to share that grief with other people, not even those they were married to.

Malachi hadn’t even told his parents. He couldn’t imagine what Nyx was going to do when she found out.

"...Do you think you could... umm...I-I mean if it was you, then maybe..." Joanne couldn’t get her words out, but she hardly needed to Aubrey already knew what she was asking.

"I’m sorry, Jo. I really wish that I could, but I don’t really have that kind of power... and even if I did, I couldn’t really help you in your case. It doesn’t look like you were far enough along for a soul to be bonded to anything."

Joanne understandably looked crestfallen. She felt stupid now just for asking.

Something left her eyes again, and Malachi instantly regretted allowing this conversation to go on for so long in the first place.

"Yeah, right, that makes sense... sorry for-"

"What’s going on? Are we leaving yet?"

Suddenly, a green-haired woman came into the room with both of the boys on her hips.

At the sight of her, Aubrey’s eyes lit up and she stood up abruptly.

"Sabine!! We need your help."

The green-haired woman seemed slightly taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm. Her golden eyes flickered awkwardly as she took a hesitant step back.

"O-Okay... What do you need?"

Aubrey immediately pointed to Joanne, who was still sitting on the couch with her hands placed over her lap.

"Umm... hello."