"Serena! I don't think I can hold out much longer!!"

"Horace! Keep the time bubble active! We must not let this escape into the mortal realm!"

​​

"Arrrgghhhh!! Just kill it already! It's not worth it!"

"NO! I refuse! The bubble will soon pop! Come here and help me out then! AHHHHHH!!"

As the being still firmly held in the woman's arms looked up, his vision was continuously swathed in a dark aura of unknown origin, his ears were filled with static and the rumbling of the ground, almost as though he was at the foot of an erupting volcano.

The face of the woman holding him was slowly fading away, and fear once again overtook his senses, the sound of crying exemplifying from that same origin unknown.

"There there child…" Those same tender words entered his ears once more, like a wave of love and compassion fighting against the fear and darkness within.

"There… *Cough*... There child…" Her voice was growing weaker, and the pain was clear in her still soft-spoken voice.

He had no idea what was happening, so he held onto the woman even tighter. That was when he felt the rainfall on his head once more…

No… It was not rain… Rain was not red nor did it trickle down at such a slow rate… It was blood… Fresh… Warm… Blood...

"*cough* *cough* There… *cough* There… Child… Please… Do not cry… *cough* All will be alright…" Though it was quiet, her voice persisted through the ever-thickening static, grunting, and shaking of the ground.

Despite her pain, she continued to utter those words, over, and over, and over again, the blood trickling down from the shadow above growing evermore until it truly did seem like a heavy rain of red…

But… All of a sudden… There was no warning nor sign of end… It just… stopped…

The sound of static and trembling ground was no more, now replaced by the heavy rain and thunder of before. The dark was removed, and the gray sky returned into his vision before shifting towards the smiling woman who held onto him with shaky hands.

Her face was bloody and dishevelled, yet her beauty shined through like the morning sun, the smile of comfort still on it.

"Did I not tell you, child… All will be okay… There will be no need for crying…" Her breath was heavy, and her arms were shaky, yet he could not help but look up in awe.

"Serena… I… I can't… Did we just…"

"Yes, Horace… Our powers are gone… They are no more…"

"Did… Did we have to sacrifice everything… All of our powers… Just to seal away whatever was in that thing! Whatever was haunting that child… It's all gone!!"

"Oh Horace! Stop being such a downer, it we seal whatever that thing was, if we killed the child that beast might have been set free…"

"Arrrggghhh! I guess…" Horace scratched his head, depression still lingering on his face. "So… What… What exactly was it?"

"I've no clue, but it was sinister indeed… But, sealing It was all worth it… I knew there was something particularly special about this child… Just look at his cute face…" Her smile grew brighter as she playfully pinched his cheeks.

"Cute? Ah… I guess… Huh… Wait, from when was his hair black? I could have sworn it used to be the brightest of red, and his black eyes are now green…"

"Oh!" Serena chuckled. "As we were sealing that thing away, I took the liberty of altering that! It would be odd if your parents have black hair and green eyes and you have red hair and black eyes, isn't it?"

"Wait… Serena… You can't mean…"

"Yes, Horace, and you can't change my mind! We're adopting this child!"

Horace's face was worth one thousand words, staring blank-faced for several seconds before he finally sighed and spoke.

"I guess we did just sacrifice all our powers for him… Wait… We just sacrificed all our powers! Do you know what this means? How will we escape them now!? We can't stay on this infested planet! We can't go planet-hopping in our condition! We need to get our powers back! How else are we gonna complete our mission!?"

"Oh, Horace… Don't you think we've been on the run for long enough? We don't need to hunt for a way to return our strength or look for a way to complete our mission… Why… Why don't we settle down on this planet? They won't be able to track our energy signatures anymore… We should be safe… Like I said before, I feel like this child is special… You saw what he was able to do? Why don't we raise him and entrust our hopes and dreams to him? I'm more than certain he will grow up to be a handsome young man and be able to complete great things…"

"Wait… Serena… You can't mean… You're really gonna…"

"Yes Horace, when he is big enough, I'll entrust him with the necklace of great demon lord Avilia Graymore…"

"Hey, Serena, Have I ever told you you're crazy?"

"Everyday dear…" She chuckled.

"Hphm… Right… Well, when it comes down to things like this, you're almost always right… So, I'll trust you and this child of yours…"

"Hey! It's OUR child!"

"Right…" He closed his eyes and scratched his head again before hearing Serena speak into his ears once more.

"Hey, why don't you come give him a name?"

"Huh? Why me? Why don't you choose one?"

"Horace…" She gave him a certain look, one he could not simply refuse, so he sighed and did as he was told, walking over towards her and the child in her hand, peering upwards and looking into his now emerald eyes.

"Ummmm… Let me think… How about… Moby… Like Moby Dick, the mighty whale of the sea… The boy's aura of black was like an ocean of dark, and he was the catalyst that dwelled within that ocean and brought upon the destruction…"

"Hmmmm… Moby… I like it… Then it's settled! You hear that my dear child? From today onwards, you will be our little Moby Kane…"