A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.
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Night to day, Azarese sang a lullaby to her son even when he's already deeply in his sleep. She will hourly make him drink warm milk and would walk around the penthouse while rocking him in her arms.
"Princess, good morning," greeted Watts Xirquit who never got a proper sleep. He worried. He is overthinking. He just couldn't even though her lullaby was seducing him to.
"Valerian. His name is as beautiful as him. Do you think I'm the one who named him?"
Watts fixed his face and stood by her side. He watched over the Prince, smiling while he sleeps. The Prince look so comfortable and at peace.
"Maybe. You're good in naming them,"
It made Azarese smile more, "I wanted to name them My Angel, but angels are damned. They are my everything. The incarnation of my love and happiness."
Watts Xirquit watch her face. A refreshing sight to see. Even Moon never looked the way Azarese looked like right now. How tranquil.
"Every time my heart beat, it follows the dots of your name."
Azarese raised her head to look at him, so he took the chance to kiss her forehead.
"I won't overshadow his father, but allow me to be a father figure to Valerian and to others. I won't take their fathers' position, but I want to build a relationship with them, too. I want them to feel comfortable with me, to rely on me, and be friends with me. I will do my best. So, please... Stay here with me."
Their foreheads touched. Watts closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around them.
Azarese did not reply. She heard him and found it so selfless.
"I have something to tell you that I think you don't know yet," he said lowly before opening his eyes.
He led Azarese to the couch and got her seated. Then he began telling him the story of how he failed to save Moon from her voluntary execution, to how he lost his mind and challenged the Dragunovvs, and eventually, his meeting with the first Prince, Prince Zodiac Astrophel Nikolai Xirquit-Warlock.
She listened to every bit of it until the end.
She closed her eyes when he heard the all of it. She couldn't get angry. Her heart didn't feel angry. Maybe because Prince Valerian is in her arms and fast asleep.
"I'm happier to know they're real than angry. That's what matters to me now. I will get them back. They're mine. I made them. And no other being can just take them away from me and keep them from me. I'm the one who gave them life. I am."
Watts Xirquit breathe in and nodded.
His family has woken up. The Earthlings left and spent the rest of their night in their own places in the Academia. Skadi Eira and Solana, too. They thought they returned to King Liorei and Princess Lorreign but no. They were flying around, in the cloud.
"Good morning, Mom, Dad."
Franchetti Xerene and Voltage Xirquit smiled at him. They stopped by the couch across them and watch the Prince sleep. They couldn't approach their son and give him kisses because of the woman beside him.
"What do you want for breakfast, son?" Franchetti Xerene asked.
"Anything you make, Mom---"
"I will cook."
Azarese rise from her seat and rocked her son gently to wake him up, "Rise and shine, my sweet boy. What does my boy want for breakfast?"
Prince Valerian's eyes fluttered. As soon as he opened them, he smiled and raised his hand to reach out for his mother's face. Then he pulled her close to give her a kiss on the lips.
"Morning, Mommy. I want to try fried shimken and egg. And fried rice."
"Want to drink blood? Eat flesh?" She put into consideration, because she thought he might need it. Her son might be a Veil, a part that he got from her.
"That's eww, Mommy. I don't like it."
Azarese chuckled and cuddled him, "It's not eww. I know someone who taste nice." Then she subtly gave Watts Xirquit a glance and smirked.
It made the man blush and looked away. His parents looked disturbed.
"Can I play while you cook, Mommy? I want to try those." He pointed at the machines around them.
"Of course. Go to Uncle Watts and wash your face. Be a bad boy, alright? If they bother you, kill them."
"Yes, Mommy. Thank you, Mommy!"
They cuddled one more time before she hand him over to Watts Xirquit. She stretched her hands in the air then went upstairs to take a quick half-bath. She found Ohms Xirquit sleeping like a corpse on the bed. She ignored him for that only time because she have a duty as a mother to do: cook her son breakfast.
She pulled a simple white silk above-the-knee dress from her vault and wore it. While walking down the stairs, she tied her hair into a single ponytail. She went straight to the kitchen to see what ingredients were available then began cooking.
Princess Eowyne woke up beside Prince Maxigaufeas. He's already up. In fact, he didn't get the chance to sleep at all. He's in his penthouse, just next door from Watts's. His mother is in the other room, and his brother is nowhere to be found. He did not return. Prince Maxigaufeas is worried about him and his mother, knowing that the two of the greatest threats in the world for him are on the other side of the wall.
"You did not sleep," said the Princess as she rise from lying down. Prince Maxigaufeas remained silent.
"If there's anything I can do, tell me. I want to help you."
Prince Maxigaufeas finally gave her a look. He laid back against the headrest and palmed his face.
"Harm will go to your way if you do."
"You promised to protect me," the Princess embraced him and rest her head on his chest, "I am not a weakling. Let me help. You're a marksman. I'd be your support."
The Prince embraced her back so dearly and kissed her head.
"Thank you, My Love."
Prince Valerian's giggles filled the walls of the penthouse and their ears. He's playing with Matthew who is so friendly that he gets along with everyone almost instantly.
"Has Kendrew and Leandrew returned?" Elektra Xirquit asked as soon as she went out of the guest room. She's patting her face dry. Her husband is still fast asleep.
"I told Wattroid to fetch them. Kuya Spike tagged along. Franchette loved the forest so much. They probably built a camp to spend the night there," her youngest brother added.
"That little squirrel!" Elektra stomped her foot and stormed out to collect her children herself.
"What's the event for today? The light is keeping away the darkness," Prince Valerian stated metaphorically while hugging the prizes he won from the machines.
"The Ascension Day of the Matriarch. A very important event to honor the beginning of the reign of one of the greatest Gods of this world. The Matriarch is your grandmother. Great, great, very great grandmother."
The Prince's innocence is reflected through his face. He didn't ask more about the Matriarch and rode the rocking horse. Watts took pictures of his gummy smiles and pure fun. Minutes later, his mother came with a tray, wearing an apron and pot holder gloves.
"Cookies for my precious heart. Come here," she singsong with a wide smile as she come.
"Yay! Cookies!"
Prince Valerian aggressively rode the rocking horse to meet his mother halfway. Watts Xirquit is behind him as his support in case he falls over.
"Mommy, ah! Mommy!" Prince Valerian pointed his open mouth. His mother fed him the cookie. He giggled.
"Is it good?"
"Hmm, Mommy! May I get some? I'll leave some for my brothers in our home!"
Azarese smiled and nodded.
"Let's bake more later. Then we'll keep it in fancy wraps with their names on it."
"Wow, I wanna do that!"
Azarese used her thumb to wipe the crumbs on his lips. They kissed. She left the cookies on the table and was about to leave when she witnessed how her son grew in size. The Prince didn't seem to notice at first but when his clothes ripped.
"My love… You've grown…?"
She put the gloves aside and knelt before his son. He's already in her level. That's how much he's grown.
The Prince looked at and touched himself. He was frozen when he saw his dim reflection on the mirror. To their surprise, the Prince began crying hysterically.
"I don't like it! I don't wanna grow up! I don't want to grow up!" He lashes out. His mother tried to hold him down but he ran away and sulk on the corner.
"I don't wanna grow up! I don't like it! I don't like it, Mommy! I hate it!"
Azarese followed him and carefully touched him.
"Why? What's wrong with growing up? Look at you, you're majestic. You will always be my baby boy---"
"NO!" He screamed, his face buried on his knees. The Prince is trembling and his skin is cold to touch. The weather is not so pleasant anymore for the darkness is coming.
"I don't wanna grow up! You'd do bad things to me! I don't like it! I want to be a baby---forever!"
Azarese was taken a back, eyes widening.
"What are you saying? Why would I do bad things on you? You're my son!"
"So you are a daughter to him! Your Daddy did bad things to you when you grew up, Mommy! I don't like it! You'd do that to me too, won't you?"
Watts Xirquit felt like the world on his shoulders flattened him good. Azarese was stunned.
"He did bad things to you when you grew up. You'd do that to me, too. I don't want to---"
Prince Valerian was silenced when his mother suddenly pulled him for an embrace. Azarese swallowed the lump in her throat and secured her son in her arms.
"No. I won't do that. I will never. Your Mommy will never. So, don't be scared. Grow up. Get very, very big so you can protect Mommy better. I will need my baby's protection because Mommy is so weak. Mommy is fragile."
Prince Valerian's eyes squeezed out more tears from them. He cried on his mother's chest and returned the same embrace to her, but it gets tighter. Azarese smiled and gently brushed her son's hair with her hand.
She brought him to the dining room that is right next to the kitchen. She left him on the table and brought newly baked cookies for him with a smoothie. She watched her son nibble on the cookies as he give her conscious glances.
He's afraid of her she could see it.
"I will never harm you. Don't be scared of me. Don't fear Mommy. If I ever do bad things to you and your brothers, then I will punish myself. I will never wish to harm you. I will never wish that you go through the same pain I went through. My sweet heart, the pain ends with me. You don't know how much I yearned for this. To have you. So please, don't fear Mommy."
Prince Valerian's lips trembled. He reached out for his mother's face and wiped her precious tears away.
"I-I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm very sorry."
Prince Zodiac turned his back around from the crystal ball to instantly wipe his tears. The Matriarch pretended to not see his tears and kept watching, while the Princess Schionna looked so apologetic and bothered.
Their mother's traumas got them shackled, too.
Azarese embraced her son one more time. Now that he's not seeing her face, the look in her eyes sharpened and darkened. She gently and very carefully brush her son's hair using her claws.
When he calmed down, she let him watch her cook his suggested wants for his breakfast. She left him for a while as he dig in.
When Watts saw her coming, he left his seat to meet her halfway, only to be surprised by the coming for her palm across his face.
And she did it again, and again, getting harder and stronger every time that it's pushing him back and making him lose balance. His horrified parents tried to stop her madness only for them to meet the same fate.
"All because of YOU," she seethed sternly, pouring all the blame on Watts Xirquit. His nose is bleeding and his cheeks are bruising from all the hits he wholeheartedly received from her.
"All because I loved you," he said as he turn his head straight to face her.
He brought her hand to himself, "I understand. I am to blame. All of this happened because of me. All because I cared about you. I deserved a lot more than this, so beat me to your heart's content. Pour it on me."
Franchetti Xerene pulled him back aggressively, "Are you mad!?"
Azarese caught her by her hair and smashed her head against the floor. Voltage Xirquit didn't waste a sec and sent his fist to Azarese, but his son stopped it with his hand.
"Your son and you. You're the ones who ruined my life. If only you did something---!"
"Mommy, no more ketchup on my plate! What's going on? Are you okay?"
She left them as soon as she heard him call for her. She returned to her son with a pleasant smile and quickly cleaned the blood on her hands by wiping it under the apron.
The Prince grew again. A comely teen.
"I want more nuggies, Mommy. And eggs. Please join me. I'm lonely."
"Then, Mommy will eat nuggies with you. Mommy's hands are tired. You will have to feed Mommy."
The idea brought sparkles in the Prince's eyes.
"F-Feed Mommy!? Okay! I will cook! Just instruct me, Mommy!"
The Prince jumped out of the chair but he forgot that he's grown. The mistake embarrassed him. His mother laughed it off and cuddled him she's still inches taller than him. But if he were to grow more into size, then she's afraid she'll have to look up to him.
Everything is just unfair to her. She wanted to see more of him as a child. As a baby, even.
But babies were a liability to their mothers. A weakness.
So, it's a good thing that he's grown. He'd be untouchable.