Control

Currently Luna, Aisha, and Malachi were all sitting in Luna's office drinking tea.

Ever since they'd sat down, Luna had not taken her gaze off the man in front of her.

His presence was slightly boundless, yet he behaved in such a carefree manner that she knew he couldn't have been blessed for very long.

'But what is this attraction I feel...?'

While the man in front of her was undoubtedly handsome, such things were usually not enough to sway her emotionally like this.

"So… why have you brought this handsome stranger here?" She crossed her legs sensually and leaned deeper into her seat as she stared expectantly at Aisha.

Not one to beat around the bush, Aisha answered without wasting any time. "I want you to offer him a contract to join the guild."

"...Are you joking?"

"Not in the slightest."

Now that Luna knew what this meeting would be about, she was no longer so relaxed as she looked at the man across from her in a new light.

"Aisha is not one to play favorites no matter who they might be, so what makes you special enough to earn her direct help like this?"

Before Mal could even open his mouth to speak, Aisha interrupted. "Actually, I want you to wait for his aptitude test tomorrow before you find out."

"Hm?" Now Luna was really confused.

Did Aisha really bring her a new recruit that hadn't even taken an aptitude placement??

And did she really expect her to offer a contract to someone she'd brought in fresh off the street?

And he was a man?

Was she mental?!

"I will only tell you this..." Aisha leaned in and stared directly into Luna's eyes.

"His value is incomprehensible. If you miss this opportunity, the other top four guilds will snap him up in an instant and gain a monumental resource."

Malachi wasn't exactly sure what his friend was doing, but he trusted her after being friends for such a long time and elected to just be silent while she made the negotiations.

Luna was now staring even harder at Malachi.

As one of the top five guilds in the world, there wasn't much that immortal moon actually lacked.

But if you asked why they were last among the top five, the answer would undoubtedly be raw power.

While all of the women in the guild were monstrously talented, that was all.

They were not blessed by powerful highers with destructive powers and instead were able to crawl their way to where they were through their collective ingenuity and hard work.

On the other hand, the other top four guilds have members blessed by highers like Set, Poseidon, Surtr, and the Morrigan.

It wasn't as though Immortal Moon had never tried to recruit someone with more destructive powers before, but they always seemed to be swayed by the more attractive offers made by other guilds.

Because they were more powerful, they got to challenge higher ranked gates with less casualties and reap even greater rewards.

Or if they joined immortal moon they felt like they should be 'compensated' with one of the attractive guild members.

Aisha knew all of this already, so for her to tell Luna that she'd certainly regret it if she did not sign this man meant a lot.

Frustrated with so much thinking, Luna ruffled her hair before making a decision.

"Argh! Alright look, here's what we'll do..."

-

It was now nighttime and Aisha and Malachi were walking back to the car.

Normally Mal would have just appreciated the scenery, but his head currently felt like it was going to split open. 

It seemed like the darker it got outside, the more changes began to take place in his body.

He felt at peace, comfortable, and even more alive, but his vision was starting to stretch beyond what he could handle again. 

While it wasn't quite as bad as last night, it was still extremely unpleasant.

"You don't look so good."

Aisha had finally noticed that Mal was having a hard time with his new powers and immediately became concerned.

"My blessing from Nyx seems to be activating on its own."

Seeing her friend lacking his usual trademark smile and unable to make a joke, Aisha immediately knew it was serious. "Alright, look at me."

The two stopped in the middle of the parking lot and Aisha began trying to teach Malachi self control.

"Close your eyes, Mal."

He obliged and closed his eyes despite his worsening headache.

"What does Nyx mean to you?"

"...She is like a welcoming mother. She is comforting. She is endless, and her love is overflowing."

"What does she embody?"

"...She is the night personified."

"Can you feel her?"

Malachi concentrated on his connection to Nyx.

He tried to recall the feeling of her delicate hands on his face and the warm smiles she'd given him.

He recalled the way she spoke, walked and even smelled.

"Yes."

Aisha nodded in satisfaction. "That's good, now hold onto that feeling. Realize that your goddess would not have blessed you if she did not see something in you, and slowly try to control your power."

Malachi nodded and focused.

Instead of fighting to try to deactivate his blessing, he instead began to will it to see only what he wanted to see.

Slowly images from all over the continent vanished until he could only see his friend in front of him.

"Well this is a surprise … since when are you helpful?"

Before Aisha could throw a punch, Malachi thanked her profusely and the two got in the car and drove off.

As they rode silently through the streets, he finally asked about her decision to hide his powers during the meeting.

"You still don't get it, subconsciously you're still acting like you are some run of the mill blessed even when there are already signs of your strength being utterly terrifying." she growled. 

"What on earth makes you think-"

"Idiot, you can see half the world at any given time without even understanding how! You could instinctively use your blessings without any training, not to mention they are from four entirely different gods from different pantheons!"

"One's an archangel."

"Shut the fuck up!"

This time Aisha did smack Malachi over the head, making him chuckle.

"It'll be good for you to see how people react now that you've been granted this massive opportunity. I want you to learn to be more confident in the future."

Malachi had never been very confident ever since they were children. 

She was glad that being blessed hadn't turned him into some egotistical dick who thought he was better than everyone else, but she did want him to improve his self esteem. 

Like that, the two rode home in the dead of night as Aisha silently anticipated the storm that would come tomorrow, with her best friend at the center.

-

It was a new day and Aisha, Aubrey and Malachi were all heading to the assessment facility.

Once again, Aisha was able to coax Aubrey out of the house much to join them, and the two seemed to be getting along even better than before.

'I've got to get a girlfriend, I'm sick of third wheeling.'

Malachi rolled his eyes as they arrived at their destination and got out of the car.

The group entered a white futuristic looking building.

The registration process was fairly simple and soon Mal was waiving goodbye to the girls as he went in for his evaluation.

"Do you think my brother will do well?" Aubrey asked as the two sat together in front of a monitor that displayed the trials.

Aisha gave the young girl a cheeky smile, "I think he will be the most sought after man in the world."

"So you say."

Both Aubrey and Aisha turned around to see Luna strutting up to them accompanied by two members of immortal moon acting as bodyguards.

"Let's see if he's as intriguing as you've led me to believe." Luna sat down alongside the girls and politely introduced herself to Aubrey.

"My gods, it's really her!"

"She's even more beautiful in person…"

"Who do you think she's here to recruit?"

Unbeknownst to them, the moment the guild master of Immortal Moon showed up in person, several spies in the assessment facility made calls to their higher ups.

Seeing that Luna was here in the flesh was all they needed to know that Luna must've had her eyes on a powerful new recruit.

"Boss there's something you should see.. I think you might have to come in person for this one again."