Nico barely slept that night.
He woke the next morning and shoved his blanket to the edge of the bed, hard enough that it nearly slid off. Dark stress lines sat under his eyes, heavy and unmistakable.
He leaned his head back against the headboard and let out a long breath at the ceiling. His eyes felt raw, the veins pulsing faintly, and he could feel every hour of it. He’d woken every twenty minutes through the night, chased by the eerie sense that something was watching him.
There’d been no sound. No footsteps, no whisper, nothing he could point to. But every time he closed his eyes, his mind conjured something crawling across the ceiling toward him, slow and patient, dark enough to swallow the room whole.
He’d tried to make it stop. First he flipped his whole body over, shrinking the space between his eyes and whatever was up there. That hadn’t worked. Then he grabbed his pillow and pressed it over his face, hoping to smother the image out of his skull.
That hadn’t worked either.
He knew exactly what would fix it. Turn on the lights. But something in him refused to reach for the switch, and it wasn’t laziness keeping his hand still. It was something older than that, some nervous instinct flinching at the idea of being exposed.
And of course, that stubbornness had cost him.
[Time spent within the shadows: 08:24:12]
[196 UP Gained]
[Corruption: 1/10]
[Total UP: 1204]
With this many Umbra Points banked, Nico figured he wouldn’t need to put himself through a night like that again anytime soon. Small comfort, but a comfort all the same.
His gaze caught on the Corruption line and stayed there. He remembered it from the Umbra Points briefing, listed as a cost tied to consuming secrets.
But seeing it show up after a night like this told him something else. Corruption wasn’t just a price for secrets. It was also a toll for lingering too long in the dark.
He still didn’t understand how it actually worked, or what happened once it piled up too high. He needed to know what he was risking, and what he stood to lose.
"Tell me more about corruption."
→ Corruption is the measure of how much the shadow has warped you. It tracks the price of your power, the weight of your cruelty, and the erosion of your humanity.
_______________________
How Corruption Increases
→ Corruption rises when you:
• Use powerful shadow abilities or spend too much time in the shadows.
• Commit cruel or inhuman acts: The more personal and deliberate the harm, the greater the Corruption gain.
• Consume secrets or souls: Using the shadow to drain knowledge, memories, or life force feeds your power but stains your essence.
• Lose control: Failing a critical roll while using shadow powers, or letting your darkness spill into public view, can spike Corruption.
• Accept dark bargains: Making deals with occult entities, demons, or ancient shadows often comes with a Corruption price.
______________________________
How Corruption Decreases
→ Reducing Corruption is harder than gaining it:
• Acts of genuine mercy: Sparing an enemy when you could destroy them.
• Protecting innocents at personal cost.
• Sacrificing power
• Permanently lowering your maximum Umbra Points.
• Giving up a territory or asset tied to your shadow.
• Rituals and penance
• Performing specific occult rituals to cleanse or bind your corruption.
___________________
"Oh, so, all disadvantages then?"
Fair enough, he thought. Eight hours in the dark had earned him that single point. And that one point alone had already twisted his sleep into something out of a nightmare.
It probably explained the lights too, the way his own hand had refused to move toward the switch. That single point of corruption had been quietly steering him the whole time.
He had no idea what would happen if the number climbed higher, and honestly, he didn’t want to find out right now. He shook the thought off, dragged himself out of bed, and headed for the door.
Jeff was the first face he saw downstairs. The cook was somewhere in his mid-thirties, always dressed in either a crisp black suit or an apron, with warm green eyes and a mess of curly brown hair. Unlike every other lieutenant in the house, he actually smiled.
By the time Nico spotted him, Jeff had already laid out a full feast across the dining table. The smell hit him before anything else did, that same rich, familiar aroma he’d always associated with Jeff’s cooking.
Nico dropped into a chair and let his eyes wander over the spread. For starters there were oysters, caviar, wagyu, beef tartare, and a scatter of truffle dishes along the side.
The main course brought dry-aged steak, lobster, lamb rack, bluefin tuna, and threads of saffron woven through it all. Dessert closed things out with custom cakes and chocolate sculptures, paired with a vintage wine.
Nico poured himself a glass, leaned back in his chair, and took a slow sip. He set the glass down and swept his eyes over the table one more time.
"Any allergies I should be cautious of?" he asked, not bothering to look up. "For the girls, I mean."
"Ah, yes. I did a thorough listing on their dislikes. Miss Mira is allergic to eggs, so I used flax eggs for the cake instead. And Miss Kira rather hates shellfish, so I plaited a firm white fish for the lobster."
Jeff explained.
"Hopefully, she doesn’t hate the looks also."
Nico said, glancing towards what still looked like a lobster.
"Miss Nira however, is quite unlike the rest of them. She’d pretty much eat anything edible, as long as her hunger seeks."
"You spent just a few hours in the house with them, and you already know so much about their preferences." Nico chuckled dryly. "You do live up to the expectation, don’t you?"
Jeff didn’t answer. He just gave a small nod and slipped back toward the kitchen, leaving Nico alone with the food for a moment.
That moment didn’t last long. His wives filed into the living room one after another, moving like they’d barely survived the walk downstairs, half-asleep and dragging their feet.
They settled into seats beside each other, keeping a stretch of distance between themselves and Nico, like the space was intentional. He just smiled, reached for his glass, and tapped his fingers against it in a slow, idle rhythm.
"Top of the morning to you too."