Kai refused to let go of Maleko at all and had him seated on her lap as she herself was seated at the table. Across from her stood Maggie and Robert, the couple who had found her son, took care of him, and brought him back here, to her.

"There is no way I could ever repay either of you, I'm in your debt," Kai said softly as she bowed her head to them.

Robert gave a sheepish cough, rubbing the back of his head, the two of them unable to raise their heads to look her in the eyes, even when she thanked them, praised them, declared herself indebted to them. "Yes, well, anyone would have done the same," Robert had assured her.

"We're only thankful that we were able to find him when we had," Maggie added, giving Maleko a warm smile, one that he returned. He liked these two, they had been good to him, and so Kai saw no reason to be unpleasant to either of them. They were worth her time and respect.

"Still, if there is ever a thing I can do for either of you, you only need to ask," Kai had said, saying it firmly so that they knew that she wouldn't accept them refusing her offer like that. She didn't allow herself to owe people favors often, they should be grateful, for what they did Kai might as well give them the whole world and it still would not be enough to pay them back for what they had given her.

The two were nervous and sheepish, flushed with embarrassment as they promised her to keep it in mind and excused themselves so that they may prepare for war with the others. Before the couple could leave her room, Maleko lurched forward on her lap, would have fallen off had Kai not held onto him. "Bye-bye! Wo-once this o-over! We'll pluh-play, right? Us ah-an Mickey!"

Maggie's expression softened and she gave a nod. "Of course, hun. If I recall, you and Mickey still got a lot of games and comics to finish, now don't you?" her eyes glanced over to Kai, her smile more nervous, but still welcoming. "My lady, the two of you are welcome in our home any time."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to bring Maleko to visit when this is all over," she couldn't be so cruel as to take him from the friends he had made in her absence. With that, the two had left, leaving Kai alone with Maleko, warm and safe, in her arms.

At first, she had been concerned. How could she not be? When she finally got to see her child again after these long, agonizing months, he showed signs of having been beaten and battered during that time. His skin was home to new wounds, fresh scars, he had bandages, flinched when her fingers ran along his back. Her first thought had been that they were responsible. That these two had been the ones to cause him such harm. But, then she realized that not even they would have been foolish enough to hurt him and bring him back to her.

No, it would have had to be the DWMA who hurt him, that was her second thought. It would fit with their MO. He was a sorcerer, someone they'd love to kill and devour the soul of. He had been a captive of theirs for who knew how long. It was just another reason why Kai had to crush Death's skull and grind it into bone meal.

"Not them," Maleko had denied when she voiced this to him, looking worried, but his eyes showing only honesty. Unless Maleko had learned how to lie while they were separated, he was telling the truth.

She held him tighter, running her fingers along the bandage on his arm. This wasn't anything like back home when he'd get turned into a punching bag by David and the other kids because he refused to fight back against people he could easily overpower. "Who?" she asked. Maleko didn't answer right away and Kai felt herself tense, her words going colder. "Who."

Maleko looked down, his tiny hands curled up into fists. He didn't look at her, no, he looked to the hawk perched a few feet away, waiting for its guidance, waiting for it to assure him. It bothered Kai, she was supposed to be the one he would turn to for confidence, for advice, not a—not a fucking bird.

No, Kai. It's okay. It's just a side effect of being separated. Give it some time and things will be back to normal.

Her boy swallowed and then pointed at one of the fresher wounds on his arm. "Kish'egg," he said. Then, he moved to another fresh bruise, "Kish'egg. Kish'egg. Kish'egg," he said, again and again, pointing at a scratch here, a cut there, the deep wounds on his back, the fading bruise on his face. Her boy, he went up against a Kishin Egg? Kai could only assume that he had won, of course, he would have won!

"Home," Maleko then said, pointing at a faint scar hidden behind his hair. Home? Was that, was that from the night that they'd lost each other? He squirmed in her lap, tugging his shirt up to show her the rather nasty looking scar across his abdomen. "Home," he added, tracing the discolored patch of flesh. Then he held up his fingers, showing off the fresh scars on the tips and pads of his fingers. "School. Got scared—jumped window." And tore out some nails while tearing up his fingers in the process, it would seem.

Kai was glad he was being honest with her, but she was scared of how he could know what each scar was from.

That wasn't all of it, though. Maleko glanced at Taka once more, the bird seemingly nodding its head, but Maleko still looked scared as he looked up at Kai and then towards the entrance of the room. Slowly, he pointed to a scar on his side, "Ac'lite," he mumbled.

Ac'lite? What was—

Kai rose up, taking Maleko with her, only to seat him on her bed. "Who?" she said, trying to think of any members that stood out who were in the Nevada area. Which of these bastards had—she was going to kill them when she—she was—she was—

"Gone," Maleko answered, looking down. "I… they dead. Loh-lost self, got mad."

She was on him, her own rage dissipating as she pulled him into her arms, a gentle hug. "You did the right thing," she said immediately. "If someone hurts you, they deserve everything you gave them, and more." No mercy to the ones who dare to hurt him. No mercy to anyone who laid a hand against him.

"It… it was scary…" Maleko admitted, holding onto her. "But… but it scarier being alone. You… you weren't there an, an I… scared I wouldn't see you."

"It's okay, Maleko, I'm here now, and you won't lose me again. We'll be together, for as long as we're standing we will be together." She wasn't going to let him slip away again, not now, not ever.

Someone knocked on the door, Kai was ready to unleash her magic on the poor bastard who wanted to interrupt. She opened her mouth, about to tell them to go away, but Maleko had lurched away from her grip to stare at the door with his eyes open wide.

"Tha-that smell. Lots… planty. Scaly," he whispered, tilting his head. "Kom?"

Laughter. Gentle laughter as Kom stepped in. "I'm surprised you remember," he said, closing the door behind him quietly. He was wearing a soft smile, and Kai supposed that out of everyone who could have interrupted, Kom wasn't that bad of a choice. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Better, n-now that mama here," Maleko chirped with a bright smile.

Kom laughed some more, taking a seat in the chair that Maggie had previously been sitting in, turning it to face the two by the bed. "That's good, that's good," he said softly. "You had us all very scared, we thought we'd lost you for good. But, knowing you're here, safe and sound, that's all that matters now."

Still smiling, Maleko nuzzled against Kai. "Had help. Friends."

"I saw," Kom agreed and glanced at Taka. "And speaking of friends, where's this one?"

His smile dropped, Kai felt something in her stomach drop as well. Kom, going straight to the point, she hadn't wanted to approach that question so soon, but he wasn't wasting any time. Maleko came here with a witch's familiar, but he didn't come here with a witch. That was potentially a big problem, a really big one.

She wanted to trust his gut, that Taka was a friend, but there was a very real possibility that the hawk was also a spy, using Maleko to watch for his master.

"Taka right there," Maleko said, gesturing to the bird whose feathers looked ruffled now.

Kom nodded, "The familiar is here, but where is his master? Did he, or she, tell you if they would be joining? Or where we might find them?" he asked gently, patiently.

Maleko just stared at Kom like he was speaking in tongues. "Taka is just… Taka," he said slowly, frustration seeping into his words. Kai recognized the frustration, knew that it was because Maleko had more things he had to say, but he didn't know how. "I… don't know. Taka's master, don't know."

She almost knocked him off her lap as she reeled back, feeling like she had been slapped. "You don't know his master?"

Okay, now that was just highly suspicious. He was trusting a familiar, taking advice from a familiar, acting like it was his best friend, yet he had yet to meet the familiar's master. Regardless of how Maleko felt about this bird, it was going to do what it's master commanded, how could he trust it so much without knowing who it was obeying, how could he just—

No. No, that was absolutely, completely a Maleko thing to do. The naïve, trusting child that he was, it didn't matter who the master of this familiar was, only that the familiar had been kind to him. Kai should have told him to be careful, should have warned him not to trust a familiar if he hadn't met the master. This was on her.

"Does it matter?" Maleko snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest and puffing his cheeks out in anger. "Taka! Taka friend—my friend! He… he helped me! Taught me ow-how to, to protect myself—from meisters! My soul, hide it! He, he kept me safe!"

It was clear that he intended to stand up for the hawk no matter what Kai might say, that defending his friend was, without a doubt, a hill Maleko was willing to die on. It bothered her, it made her mad, but she bottled those feelings up and stuffed them down.

"Let's not do this today, Maleko," she said gently, gently running her fingers through his hair to calm him down, waiting for him to start purring, but even though he started to relax again, he wasn't purring. She tried to ignore it. "Kom, I'm sure you've come here for things other than to interrogate a bird."

Clearing his throat, Kom cast her an apologetic look. "Yes, right," he said and began fishing through the pocket of his jacket. "I came here to give you, the both of you, this," as he said that, he pulled out two small glass vials full of a black liquid and sealed up with a cork.

She raised a brow, taking both of them and raising them to the light of the room. She was never good at alchemy or potions, and she hadn't the slightest notion of what these were, or what was in them. Shaking them about, they were incredibly fluid, moving as smoothly as water. But, that was all that she could get from them.

"What is it?" Kai asked him, lowering the vials to look at her friend.

Kom's mouth twitched and he brought his hands to rest against his back. "A new drug, a prototype, really," he said and cleared his throat once more. "If things go bad in the coming battle, really bad, and you find yourself out of options, I want you two to use them, they'll help you. But, it's a last resort and only a last resort."

That wasn't much of an answer, and so Kai rested the bottles on the bed. "What do they do, Kom?"

Maleko leaned over to one, sniffing and scrunching up his nose in response, clearly disgusted with the scents that she couldn't find.

He looked to the vials, and then to her. "They'll increase your power. Greatly, but temporarily," Kom said and glanced to the drugs again. "It's a work in progress, and there are side effects once the drug wears off. But, I won't have time to perfect it, not with what I have now. So, I want you to have this."

Then, biting his lip, Kom looked over to Maleko and forced on his softest smile. "Things are going to get bad, kiddo. As happy as we are to have you back, you came back in time for war—not the happiest welcome home, I know."

Maleko gave him a nervous smile but said nothing.

Clearing her throat, Kai looked to Kom. "I appreciate you bringing this to me," she said, truthfully. This was a good ace to have up her sleeve if things went south, she needed to be sure she would be able to protect Maleko this time, no matter what, and this was going to help with that. "But, if you have nothing more than you can leave us."

She watched as something crossed his face—hurt? She wasn't sure. It didn't matter. He didn't matter. Kom didn't matter much anymore, he had fulfilled his purposes. He didn't matter anymore to her. All that mattered was that Maleko was here and that he was going to be safe.

Kom hesitated, before giving a shallow bow. "As you wish," he said, his tone… off, as he left the room.

Once he was gone, Maleko gave a long hum as he stared at Taka, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt while he leaned back against Kai. "What's going on, Maleko?" Kai asked when she saw him focused on the bird.

He jumped a little, turned to look at her with a small smile. "Taka says tha-that Kom gave us mah-magic st'roids. I dunno why he fu-finds it funny."

Magical steroids? Well, Kai could understand the comparison. She smiled and leaned down to boop her head against his. "Don't worry about it, alright?" she told him gently. "It's just a dumb, silly thing that'll make sense when you get older."

Maleko just huffed, crossing his arms over his chest like he didn't like the answer, but said nothing more, just watching Taka in silence.

Honestly? Kai didn't want him to be here, she didn't want either of them to be here. This was to be the spot of a terribly bloody battle, there would be hundreds dead on both sides. It wasn't something that Kai wanted Maleko to see or be near. Even more, this whole thing was to avenge his death, but Maleko was alive, he was with her.

Now that Maleko was here, she didn't really give as much of a fuck over destroying the school. She wanted them to suffer still, of course, she did, they caused her so much pain when they took Maleko away. But, it wasn't as important to her anymore, not when Maleko was in her life again, he was what was most important to her right now, making sure he was safe and happy took priority.

She would leave with him if she could, but, she had gone too far for her to be able to just turn around and leave. The world was on high alert to find her, right here was the safest place for her to be at the moment.

But, being right here meant that she'd have to keep Maleko here when the battle finally started.

Kai didn't want Maleko in the fight, she didn't want him to bloody his own hands, or, since he had already taken the lives of others, she should say she didn't want him to bloody them up more. She was content with having the murders of countless staining her name, but she didn't want that for Maleko.

She just wanted him to be happy.

"Mama?"

Kai blinked, staring down at worried green eyes. She had spaced off while in thought, hadn't she? She must have been making quite the face to get him concerned like that, "It's nothing, Maleko," Kai assured him, giving him a kiss to the top of his head.

Whatever more Kai may have wanted to say was drowned out by the sirens that filled the air. Loud enough to wake a person, loud enough to have Maleko flinching and curling up, hands over his ears. Kai felt her stomach drop, her blood turn to ice.

They were here.

"Maleko," she said softly, getting up and placing him on the ground. "Come with me." She pocketed one of the vials that Kom had left and pressed the other into his hand, then left the room.

People were rushing about, putting on masks, grabbing their guns and knives. Though it may have looked like disorganized scrambling, it wasn't; everyone knew where they needed to go, and that was where they were going. Predetermined locations to fight, ready to defend and defeat.

With the hustle everyone had, many didn't notice Kai coming through the swarm and she had to keep Maleko safe while walking through. There, at an outpost stand was a young-looking Acolyte, the one who sounded the alarm. He had a pair of binoculars to his eyes, staring out at the sea.

"What is it?" Kai asked him, causing him to let out a small screech and fumble with his binoculars.

He caught them, holding them close to his chest as he stared at Kai with wide eyes. She tapped her foot, made a gesture with her hand for him to answer, so he swallowed and spoke. "Ships, three of them bearing Death's face on the flag," he told her. "The DWMA's found us and laying siege."

Ah, so that's it. Honestly, it took them a while to get this far, Kai was impressed.

"Right," Kai said, noticing the way that Maleko tensed up from the corner of her eye. "Keep an eye on them keep us informed if you notice them doing anything strange. Once they hit land, I need you to shut off the alarms."

He gave a bow. "Y-Yes, of course, My Lady," he said, taking his binoculars and turning to the sea once more, a nervous frown playing on his lips.

Kai took Maleko's hand to lead him away. There was work to be done before she could put him somewhere safe.

Leading him farther away from the post, she found the somewhat steep slope that led to the shores. It was the best path to them from where the ships were going. Kneeling down, Kai placed a hand on the snow and closed her eyes, chanting a spell under her breath.

She heard Maleko 'oooh' behind her as the snow grew colder and colder, turning into a thick sheet of ice going all the way down the hill. For extra measure, she formed a wall of spikes at the bottom, thick and sturdy. Once those meisters slipped, they'd hit the spikes. If she was lucky, they'd get impaled. It wouldn't hurt to add some at the top, too, just to slow them down a little.

Of course, this would mean nothing to those who could fly, but it'd slow down the majority of them.

"That's really cool," Maleko whispered as he stared at the ice, poking at one of them before withdrawing his hands to his chest. Taka let out a cry, landing on one and watching them carefully. Maleko narrowed his eyes at the bird, "Yes it will," he argued.

It was better not to get involved in whatever it was Taka was starting.

"There's more," Kai said softly, pushing herself up to her feet once more and leading him away from the hill of ice, all the way to where her soldiers were.

This was something she had planned before Maleko ever got here, a set strategy. Towards the front and the back were four groups of snipers. But, what good was a sniper who wouldn't have a clear shot? Kai smiled, and perhaps she was trying to show off to Maleko a bit, but she held out her hands and focused on the water in the air and in the earth, the snow all around her.

She let it rise, rising higher and higher with the snipers atop, hardening and strengthening. When she opened her eyes, there were four pillars of ice with each group atop one.

A slope of ice and spikes to slow them down as they approach the Acolytes, all the while under attack from the Acolytes firing down upon them from the high ground, and then towers of ice to keep the snipers high above, giving them clear shots at the more…problematic enemies. It wasn't a perfect plan, and it was only going to slow down the meisters and weapons, but every little bit was going to help. Plus, Kai couldn't dismiss the anti-weapon drugs they would be using.

Everything was in order, everyone was where they needed to be while waiting for the enemy to begin their march. There was just one last thing to do.

"Mama?" Maleko asked, taking hold of her hand into his own.

Kai looked down at him, swallowing hard. "Maleko," she said, kneeling down into the snow so that she could slip her hand out of his and cup his face. He was her whole world, her everything, did he know that? Did he know just how important he was to her? "I wish I could have taken you away from here, but we didn't have the time."

She wanted him to be safe, more than anything she wanted him to be safe.

"Mama, we can, we can still leave," Maleko began slowly, hesitantly, she knew that the boy was aware that they couldn't. If they tried to flee, they'd only face more hardships. She had to finish what she started if they were to have a peaceful life once more.

Instead, she gave him a sad smile and planted a kiss to his brow. "I won't let them hurt you," Kai promised, letting him go to rest her hand to the snow one last time, focusing her magic, visualizing what she wanted. Most of what they were on was just ice and snow, maybe a little bit of land here and there, but Kai could feel the dozens upon dozens of feet of ice beneath them. She could feel it shifting, compressing, altering itself to abide by her magic.

The earth rumbled beneath them, and then, behind Maleko, the earth opened up with frozen stairs to take him deep beneath the ground.

Maleko stared at the darkness below and turned to Kai, a fire in his eye. "No!" he yelled, grabbing onto her. "No!"

It broke her heart. "I can't let you be out here when the fighting starts," she tried to reason, taking hold of him once more. "I can't risk you being hurt, I can't—I can't, Maleko. If you're down there, you'll be safe, no one will know you're there, you can stay hidden—and—and once the fight ends, I can get you, we can go somewhere far away, somewhere safe."

"I'm not—not without you!" Maleko bared his teeth. Behind him, Taka screeched, it was hard to tell if the hawk was taking his side or hers. The snow began to melt where Maleko stood, her hands began to burn where she touched him. "I, I jus' found you! I don't, I don't wanna go!"

Kai gripped him tighter, "Maleko!" there was a sharpness in her tone, a harshness. He shut up, he froze and stiffened at her words, her heart trembled at the nervousness in his eyes. He wasn't supposed to fear her, he wasn't supposed to be afraid. She tried again, gentle, but still firm. "Maleko, I'm not giving you a choice. You're going down there, and you will wait out the fight."

"Mama," Maleko pleaded.

She couldn't let herself listen to him anymore. Instead, Kai wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her face into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, it's for your own good," she whispered, her magic coursing around her, into the earth, responding to her. "I'll get you when it's over." Then, when Kai had pulled back from him, she placed her hands on his shoulder and shoved.

Maleko stumbled back, he hit the edge of the entrance and fell. The magic had manipulated the ice, transforming the stairs into a slide while she had held him, keeping him from seeing what she had done. Kai watched as Maleko fell, sliding down the ice into the bunker she had made just for him. That stupid hawk diving in after him, while Maleko screamed at her the entire way down.

It was for his own good, Kai said as she closed the entrance off, covering it with ice and snow. It was so that he'd be safe, that he'd be safe and sound, away from those who might hurt him, away from anyone who could hurt him and take him from her once again. It was for his own safety.

Standing back up, Kai turned to the entrance of the camp as the sirens went silent.

Authors Note: Quick update this time, and I plan to have the next chapter out fairly soon, too. As always, let me know what you think.