Atlas scoped out the damage done to the sanctuary and had little to no hope of repairing it. The sanctuary protected them from so much more than people like his father. If those monsters saw the residents in such a vulnerable state, they wouldn't hesitate to strike and devour their cores. Cores were are essential to a being with magic as it is basically their life force, and these monsters devoured them for power.
Atlas knew they had limited time to get everyone to safety, and now that his daughter was gone, things weren't looking good. Thomas started counting each corpse writing down the number of those they lost in this attack. Luckily the children were mainly lightly injured. Atlas got each child back on their feet, caring for their injuries. They had to leave now or rebuild the sanctuary before the Arcana Eaters found them vulnerable.
"Dad," Zayne tried to help his dad care for the injured but didn't have much experience.
"What's up, Zayne?"
"Are those monsters going to get us?" Atlas could sense the fear in his son's voice and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I will never allow those monsters to lay a hand on you. You will be safe as long as I am around, you hear?" Zayne nodded, feeling a bit better now that he knew his father would protect him. Atlas wanted to believe his own words, but if he could hardly keep Nicolette away from William, how would he protect his remaining children from becoming food for those creatures? A pit of frustration and worry built up in Atlas's chest.
He wasn't feeling confident in his ability to protect anyone. He helped load children and wounded adults onto boats hoping to find a new place to build the sanctuary. The only time they are protected is within these boats since the demons absolutely hate water. It seemed to drain their strength, therefore, making them weak enough to kill.
Thomas was busy studying one of the maps deciding the best place to set up camp until they could rebuild the sanctuary and its protective barrier.
"Should we put a father repellent?" Thomas jabs at Atlas.
"If a father repellent existed, I'd include you in that list," Atlas responds through gritted teeth. Thomas rolls his eyes and continues to chart a path that would get them to the next area fastest and safest. "Thomas, we should think about heading out tonight."
"I'm working on that. We have to be aware of the weather Atlas. We can't just set sail without knowing what we'll be dragging everyone else into." Atlas hated to admit that Thomas had a point. It could be suicide going out to sea with no knowledge of the potential weather they could experience.
"Well, how long do you think it'll take you to fully read the weather patterns and chart out a plan?"
"Seeing as I'm currently being interrupted by you, it might take longer than normal." Atlas's eyelid twitched as he tried to compose himself. The urge to punch Thomas grew with every word he said, but he had to remain calm and ready. He couldn't set a bad example for Zayne and Alice.
"Well then, I'll leave you to it" god, Thomas was looking so punchable at the moment.
"Dad," Zayne sat on one of the boats tied to the docks.
"What is it, bud?" Atlas waded in the water next to the boat.
"Why do we have to stay on the boats?" Atlas thought about how to answer his son's question before responding.
"So nothing will happen to you, and the monsters don't like water, so you'll be super safe here."
"Really?" He could sense the worry in Zayne's voice.
"Yes, really." He tries to reassure him that nothing bad will happen. "You have nothing to worry about. Daddy is here, ok?" Zayne smiled, feeling reassured.
~Currently in Russia~
"Darren?" William walked into the estate, followed by Nicolette and a few of his henchmen. "Where the hell did that idiot go this time? DARREN!"
"Alright, alright, I'm here," a slightly sober Darren exited the bathroom, his eyes immediately wide at the sight of Nicolette. "W-What is she doing here?"
"I managed to take her from that wretched place and bring her here. Of course, I had to get rid of that woman first, but regardless Nyx is where she belongs."
"Get rid of that woman? William... what did you do!?"
"Oh, relax, Darren, I just had to kill the girl's mother" Darren felt his heart skip a beat. Nicolette's mother? Nora? He killed Nora!? Darren could hardly compose himself. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
"You didn't kill her..." Darren grabbed onto William's arms, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't kill her!" William rolled his eyes, looking at Darren's pathetic appearance and reaction to the news.
"So what if I did? She may have been the mother of your son, but she was also a liability that needed to be taken care of." Darren was still in shock, unable to accept that William had killed Nora.
"W-Why... why would you do that!? What was I supposed to tell my son!?" William just shrugs.
"What you tell him is none of my concern, and I suggest you start finding a way to tell him he doesn't need to celebrate mothers day anymore." William forces Darren to break his hold on him. "And please don't act like it's the end of the world when it's really not." Without another word said, William was escorted by his henchmen out of the west wing of the estate.
Darren falls to his knees, slamming his fists against the floor. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" How could he let William kill Nora like that!? He had to get her body back as soon as possible. There was only one problem. Nora's daughter Nicolette was left in his hands, and he had no idea where to begin speaking to her.
Nicolette stood there, taking in the sights. She was humbled by her home in Stitem and never thought she would see such a big house. "Hey, little one?" Darren tried to approach her lightly so he doesn't scare her. As Nicolette looked at him, he could almost feel his heart break in two. One of her eyes was glowing red, while the other was her standard golden color. Nyx had been awakened and through such a scary situation.
"You want to get something to eat? Maybe just something small to eat?" He suggested taking it slow. Nicolette shook her head, not knowing what she wanted at the moment. Darren could only sigh, noticing how lost she looked. If Nan saw his half-sister this way, he would definitely question things. Nan... shoot, that's right, Nan!? How was he going to explain the situation to his son!?
Nan wanted nothing more than to see his mother, and now that opportunity was gone. Darren took Nicolette's hand, bringing her into his laboratory. There had to be a way to revive the dead somehow. He had more books on the subject than he knew what to do with. Nicolette's gentleness was replaced with Nyx's curiosity.
"So you're a scientist?"
"Uh, in a way, yes?" He wasn't prepared for Nicolette to change into Nyx like that.
"What exactly do you do in this messy lab? Nothing is organized," Nyx says as she picks up a vial of green liquid.
"Hey, hey, put that down!" Darren quickly takes it from her hands. "That's not something you can just take! This is a lab, not a playground!?"
"Listen, old man, I'm bored, and you seem to have one of the only interesting things in here." Darren couldn't think of a way to refute her words. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He shook his head. What was the matter with this child? Surely she had some kind of etiquette, right? "Hey, old man, what's this red serum you're working on? It looks rather cool."
"Could you not touch everything in my lab? You may be a separate... entity? But that doesn't give you the right to touch my things."
"Ooo, somebody's a grouch."
"I am not a grouch" Darren was starting to regret helping William.
"You are a grouch" Nyx seemed to enjoy making him regret everything he's done to this point. He picks up Nyx and sits her in a chair in the corner of his lab.
"You stay there and don't move a muscle" Surely she was familiar with the timeout punishment?
"I don't want to sit here. Sitting here is boring!" Before Darren could say anything else, she was gone from the chair. Darren looked around, panicking, trying to see where she went.
"Nyx!? Show yourself immediately! This isn't funny!?" He could hear giggling as she popped in and out of the room. He had known Nicolette since she was just an infant, but this was a whole new side to her he'd never dealt with before. "Nyx!? Nicolette!?"
"Don't call me that!" Nyx stood on the ceiling, her eyes glowing the familiar red. It seems that calling her Nicolette seemingly pissed her off.
"Alright, alright, I won't call you that, but can you please behave? You aren't invincible."
"I feel invincible" Darren felt like locking himself up in a closet with at the very least 10 bottles of alcohol.
"Nyx... for the last time, please get down here" Nyx stuck out her tongue at his request, which was blatant disrespect. "Alright, that's it!"
"Uh oh," just before Darren could grab her, she turned into a shadowlike figure dodging out of the way. She wasn't about to let a 30-year-old man catch her so easily.
"Nyx!" Darren was slowly losing his patience with this girl. 'Why can't Nicolette be here instead? At least she has manners,' Darren thought to himself. "Nyx, I won't punish you. Just please get down here!?"
"Swear to it that you won't punish me." She wasn't going to trust him so easily.
"I swear I won't punish you."
"Now promise!" Darren groans.
"I promise now, will you please come here?" Cautiously Nyx approached Darren, ready to disappear if he tried anything else. Darren placed a small, wired bracelet on her wrist.
"What's this?" Nyx asks as she watches him finish clicking the bracelet together.
"A monitor" a monitor? What for?
"Why?" Darren didn't want to explain since he already felt like he was losing his voice. Still, he decided to give her an explanation anyways.
"It monitors your mana levels."
"My mana levels? You're trying to track my magic?" Her curiosity was growing.
"You're smarter than you look." Nyx felt slightly insulted by that comment.
"And you're not as sad and pathetic as you look" Darren took a deep breath to keep himself from saying anything he would regret. Concentrating on the levels taken from the monitor, her mana levels were very high, higher than a usual gifted spirit.
"Just what can you do with your abilities? Is there a limit to it?" He asks.
"Right now, there is a limit because the pathetic side of me can barely control anything and refuses to do so." Darren knew that Nicolette was most likely still in shock from the events that took place in Stitem. Darren thought about Nora and clenched his fists in anger. Darren would've taken William out if Nan wasn't being held as leverage against him.
"You seem angry." Could she read how he was feeling?
"I'm fine," he said rather coldly.
"You're not fine. In fact, you're thinking about the woman who I should be calling mother. You have a history with her that I'm sure only a few people are entirely aware of."
"What I had with Nora, your mother, is none of your business."
"Defensive, huh? There's no need to be defensive. I was just asking a simple question since the woman is dead, and her body was probably laid to rest back in Stitem." Darren hated talking about Nora's death. The thought of her being dead never once crossed his mind, even as he worked in this stupid lab. He didn't know how he would do it, but he would bring her back one way or another.
"Yes, I have a history with Nora, a history that few are aware of, and I prefer to keep it that way... I prefer to hold onto and cherish the memories of the woman I once called my fiancé."