"Damn it!" Malachi seeths, he looks around and his eyes settle on a group of soldiers escorting Cecilia and Asu toward their house, both of them look exhausted and crushed by all that's happened. Malachi in his cat form jumps into their house before they notice and hides waiting for the soldiers to leave.

"Alright, well, if you need anything, Cecilia, just let us know. We're here for you—the whole community." The soldier nods and walks away. Cecilia sighs and looks at the ground. All she wants is her daughter back. Suddenly, she hears rummaging from the kitchen. She frowns. It's probably some animal that got in when they were gone. Cecilia grabs the broom, and Asu hides behind her as she approaches the kitchen.

"Get out of here you-" Cecilia rounds the corner and raises the broom high but stops in her tracks, she does not see a rodent or animal, instead she sees two innocent beautiful eyes staring up at her, eyes she recognizes instantly. Her daughter Sadie stares up at her covered in dirt and eating food in the fridge.

"Mommy? I'm cold..." Sadie looks at her and Cecilia tears up and picks Sadie up hugging her tightly, Asu's eyes light up and she smiles. Cecilia cries and looks at her,

"I thought I lost you dear" Cecilia cries and sets Sadie down,

"What happened to you?" Cecilia asks and Sadie starts to tear up

"The soldiers pulled me out and tried to hurt me saying I was infected and a monster" Sadie cries and Cecilia leans down and hugs her, Asu tears up and joins the hug as well.
"It's okay we're all a family again now" Cecilia smiles through tears and Asu nods

"Let's get you cleaned up," Cecilia says and enters the bathroom after a few minutes of cleaning there's a knock at the door. Cecilia turns to Asu,

"Stay here with Sadie I'll get the door" Cecilia smiles and rubs both their heads

Cecilia brushes the dirt and grime off her and walks to the door answering it, seeing Caritas and Devika.

"Oh hey, to what do I owe the pleasure?" She asks smiling

Caritas raises his eyebrow and Devika speaks up,

"We're just here to ask if you've seen anything unusual?" Devika asks and Cecilia looks to the side nervously and shakes her head.

"Nope sorry" She smiles again

Devika is about to speak up but then Caritas interrupts her,

"Great, let us know if you see something. Take care, Cecilia." Caritas walks away and Devika follows him.

"Hey, what the hell?" Devika grabs his arm

"Devika, there's no doubt she's hiding something. If we push too hard she'll close herself off to us, I can get close and ask her questions" Caritas says looking over at the house

"She's too happy to have just lost her daughter. I worry about her." Devika says and Caritas nods in agreement. They walk away from the house returning to the church and Cecilia closes all the blinds and walks Asu and Sadie up to their rooms, She tucks Asu in kissing her on the forehead, and walks over to Sadies room, putting the covers on and kissing her on the forehead,

"I love you, I'm so glad you're back with us. Never leave us again" Cecilia smiles and walks out of the room. As soon as Sadie hears her walk back downstairs she rolls her eyes and jumps out of bed,

"Ugh, I should've stayed in my black cat form. But then again they know about that form" Sadie groans, her voice changing into that of Malachi. He sighs and walks over to the window pulling back the blinds and looking at the horizon.

"This is humiliating, I've orchestrated stars and annihilated cosmos, and now I'm playing house in the body of a twelve-year-old girl" Malachi groans and sees the sun setting then a crow lands on the windowsill, Malachi opens the window and Mimic One flies in,

"Boss, Lilian said she's sending the horde. They'll be here at ten tomorrow. At the rate they're going, the town of Petra will see them approximately three hours before they attack." Mimic One says and Malachi nods before Mimic One continues,

"Hey, how about I kill that other girl, Asu and we both can-" Before Mimic One can finish Malachi grabs it and starts crushing it,

"I only killed this child because I had to, this is not a game. Don't ever suggest such atrocities in my presence again." He lets go of Mimic One who nods and flies away.

Malachi sighs and walks over to the mirror looking at the face of Sadie, he looks down at his hands and shakes his head, no it was a necessary move. If he could just get his old body back he wouldn't have this problem, There's a thump at the door and he sees Asu staring at him in fear,

"Ah, so you heard all that. Well, come into the room, let me borrow your ear."

Asu backs up but as she hears Malachi's words her eyes haze over and she walks in sitting on the bed. Malachi sits on the ground looking up at her,

"The truth is I am an old ancient being, Asu, and this reality is one of few remaining. I lost my true body over the eons, and separated my soul out and I've been trying to get back to it ever since. Do you ever get that feeling you're so close to something but at the same time so far away? If I can just get my body back, this reality will be mine just like all the others. Just a few more days and the Breach will be opened." Malachi sighs and looks back at Asu and smiles,

"Forget everything you saw and heard" Malachi stands up and Asu blinks a few times,

"Sadie? What happened?" Asu asks and Malachi still in the form of Sadie responds

"You were sleepwalking, let's get you back to bed" Malachi walks with Asu to her bed, Asu grabs ahold of his tiny hand and he looks down at their interlocked fingers. He leads her to bed and tucks her in, Asu smiles and drifts off to bed. Malachi smiles and turns around to leave, catching the reflection of himself in the mirror again.

He looks at the details of Sadie's face and remembers how she looked when he... Malachi lifts his tiny hands and a droplet of water hits them, not water, but tears. Malachi looks up at the reflection seeing tears flowing down Sadie's cheeks. Tears? He hasn't cried before, not real tears anyway. He's been faking emotions for so long that he's forgotten how real ones felt.

Malachi returns to Sadie's room and sits at the bed, the tears still flowing out of his eyes and onto the bed, He rubs his eyes vigorously but nothing stops it. Eventually, he notices the sun start to rise, has he really been crying all night? Him?

As the sun rises Malachi looks out at the horizon, he now sees the horde over the horizon, which means very soon the town of Petra will be in a state of panic, and very soon a war will break out and paint this town red.