Dark grey clouds filled the morning sky above as droplets of revitalizing rain struck the earth with no end in sight.
Malachi savored the scent of wild grass and moist air; allowing it to fill his lungs until they were about to burst open.
"The hells wrong with this guy...?"
"Wipe that dumb look off your face you creep."
Malachi's good mood deflated as he he remembered that he was not alone in this tranquil setting.
Apophis and Belloc were unfortunately standing right behind him; albeit missing their horns and reptilian eyes.
"Damn, a brother can't just enjoy the weather?" Mal shook his head.
Belloc: "You look like a missionary who's been wandering the desert for 60 days and nights and just got your first sight of water."
Apophis: "Take a picture man, I promise it'll last longer."
Malachi felt the veins in his forehead almost pop out.
"Seriously... when is your sister coming back...? She's the only thing that makes the three of you tolerable."
The brothers shrugged. ""A day or so?""
Despair seemed to come to Malachi almost as frequently as the rain around him.
"Whatever... Where's this god you're sensing?" He finally asked.
"Gods." Apophis corrected.
"Huh?!"
"There are two of them slinking around. I couldn't sense the second because it blended in so well with the weather."
"...So where are they?"
"Circling the place. The barrier I erected is misdirecting them, so they are passing the same places over and over again."
Malachi acted like he wasn't impressed at all so that Apophis wouldn't get a big head.
"Alright... let them in I guess."
Belloc held up his hands and to about his midsection and twisted his wrists counterclockwise.
In the sky above, Mal could have sworn he saw flashes of what looked like a golden force field woven with Egyptian hieroglyphics and what seemed like... Japanese kanji?
Mal had seen his sister cast a few spells from time to time, but nothing as profound as this.
He couldn't imagine all the ways that it might help her- and by extension their organization.
"Think you could teach someone how to do that?"
"You? No." Apophis shook his head.
"Then why would you risk it?" Mal asked with a raised brow.
"Is it not obvious?" a new voice asked.
From out of the bushes, a small black cat with yellow-green eyes emerged.
It was completely ordinary, and even had a collar with a wooden square totem hanging around it's neck.
However... for some reason it was talking as if it were a regular person.
"We have come here to make amends. That is, should you be willing to listen to us."
"Bast..." Mal realized.
The cat goddess sat on her hind legs just shy of Mal's feet. "You should know that we-"
"Fuck that for now!" Raijin interrupted. "Why couldn't we find you at first!? Do you know how long we were circling out here!? And what's with these two pretty bastards glaring at us!?"
Malachi glanced at Belloc and Apophis, who were both staring at the gods in a very calculating manner, but not saying or doing anything of significance.
But Raijin was still incensed. "Tell them to stop looking at us like that before I stomp a mudhole in their asses and feed them to Zeus!"
Black flames licked at Belloc's feet while purple ones covered Apophis' hands.
It wasn't possible to tell that they were dragons with their horns hidden and eyes changed, but it seemed like they were about to abandon this disguise of theirs real soon.
Malachi quickly grabbed hold of the situation while wearing an aloof and unfriendly demeanor.
"These are just my... friends. As for why you couldn't find me... Don't you think I'm more than entitled to hide from you gods after everything that has transpired? Every time that I lay my eyes on one of you my day turns to shit."
"Which is why we've come here." Bast crawled up Malachi's body like he was a tree until she rested on top of his head.
"Is this necessary?"
"Yes, your hair is quite comfortable. But I digress.."
Malachi rolled his eyes.
"You should know that we have taken some time to... properly reflect on our actions towards you.
It is true that you have every reason to be upset as we truly should have done better by you, but... we let outside influences and our own personal prejudices cloud our minds.
More than anyone else, we should know your heart. You are kind, upstanding, perhaps a tad too lustful, but-"
Raijin: "Bah! That's just called being a man!"
"No, I believe 'slut' or 'manwhore' is more fitting." Bast defended.
'What the fuck has my life turned into..?' Mal was too distracted thinking about how his life had ever gotten to this point to even register the fact that Bast was currently disparaging him to his face.
His eyes regained focus when she suddenly placed her head in front of his vision and stared deeply into his soul.
"If you would accept it, we would like to offer you tokens of our sincerity. Can you bear to hear us out for even a moment longer?"