"You are here," Khiona said as her ice-blue eyes softened when she looked at him.
"Yes, mother," Max answered with an amused smile on his face. Khiona smiled at her son, the pride of her life.
BADUMP
Her heartbeat quickened as she looked at his body, 'He is so big now! I still remember how he clung to me when he was a baby! He's so handsome! My precious baby! Mama loves you so much! So much!'
She nodded at her son while her eyes flickered with obsession, while Max resumed walking towards her. But the moment he got a little closer to her, her smile faded.
WHOOSH
She disappeared from her place and reappeared in front of him.
SNIFF
She leaned forward towards him and took a deep breath, and instantly,
SHIVER
A shiver passed through Max's spine as he sensed the temperature plummeting rapidly. He could hear faint cracks of ice forming and glanced downwards only to see the area frozen.
"Why do I smell Helena on you?" she asked, her voice now cold as ice around them. Her eyes shine with fury and obsession as they lock onto him with intensity.
The air around them seemed to freeze as it came to a standstill. Khiona's eyes flared in rage, 'I should have killed that bitch! How dare she rub her filthy smell on my precious baby! I will kill her! No, I will torture her for a hundred years before killing her! No one touches my precious baby but me!'
Anybody else would piss their pants and pass out immediately at the intensity of her eyes. But Max's smile only widened in amusement as he stepped forward, closing the gap between them.
"How do I smell, Mother?" he asked as he held her hand.
"Huh?" Khiona snapped out of her murderous daze at his question; she narrowed her eyes at her son while she ground her teeth, "Are you really asking me that?"
Her eyes glinted while the temperature plummeted further. But Max stayed calm and shook his head, "Not the smell of Helena, Mother. Don't you smell anything else?" he asked as he squeezed her hands.
'Huh?' she mumbled inwardly in confusion. Nonetheless, she leaned in once again and smelled her son.
Her eyes widened a little as she answered, "Yes, I smell lilies…"
Max smiled as he cupped her cheek with his other hand, "And are they not your favorite flowers?"
Khiona's eyes faltered as the temperature slowly returned to normal; the ice around them melted gradually.
"Yes," she answered slowly, her lips beginning to curve into a smile, 'He wore the scent of my favourite flowers? Just for me!?'
Before she could go on to have another internal monologue, Max's next words snapped her out of her reverie as he said, "I asked Helena to bring me this fragrance. And just to make sure I smell nice, I asked her to smell me once."
A light of understanding flickered in Khiona's eyes while her cheeks flushed a little, 'My baby smells so nice! I should reward Helena for her efforts!' she exclaimed inwardly as her smile widened.
Max carefully observed his mother; he had diffused the situation, his smile never left his face, 'She's so cute when she's flustered!' He chuckled inwardly.
He could still remember the day when he first found his mother's obsession with him. 'I was so shocked and scared that I wet my pants for the next ten days!' he commented inwardly.
"Mom?" Max called her, "Can we begin our training?" He asked.
"Ah, yes," Khiona mumbled as she distanced herself from him. She then threw the rusty old book in her hand to the other side of the arena.
Max smiled while Khiona began, "Right, baby. You know about how we, vampires, live, right?" She wore a neutral expression on her face as if the earlier fiasco was all a lie.
Max nodded in response, "Yes, mother. We Vampires are immortals; we gain our powers from the moon and blood. But that's only for plebeian Vampires. Noble vampire clans have the power to control an element tied to their bloodline, and we control ice."
Khiona smiled proudly at his answer, 'Even his answers are perfect!' she exclaimed inwardly, but on the outside, she held her neutral expression and added,
"That's correct, sweetie. We, the Iseult clan, can control ice. But our control and power increase the more we age and the more we practise."
But her neutral expression then turned into a pout as she continued, "You are still an infant, yet you want to train. Most noble vampire kids start at the age of 300. You never listen to your mother." She mumbled the last part.
CHUCKLE
Max chuckled when he heard her, and Khiona only harrumphed at him.
"We will start with physical training until you are fit to wield a weapon." She said seriously.
Max too, adorned a serious expression on his face as he nodded at her. He wanted to learn more about the control of ice. But he trusted his mother; she is the strongest female vampire after all.
"Now," Khiona said as her serious face melted while a wide smile adorned her face. She opened her arms wide as she said, "Carry me."
"Eh?"