After a long night's sleep, Ikki woke up and got out of bed. Still a bit groggy, he walked over to his bedroom window.
Pulling back the curtains, he watched the sky gradually brighten.
Looking at the clock, it showed 5:30. Glancing at the calendar, he saw it was September 29th. Today was his birthday...
Thirteen years old.
Time in this world had passed so quickly!
It felt like just yesterday he was a baby receiving the memories of his past life.
Well, time waits for no one. It continues to flow relentlessly toward an era where nothing remains.
Ikki smiled faintly, imagining what gift his mother would give him. Stretching, he sat back down on his bed, crossing his legs to begin refining his body.
It was a habit he'd had since childhood, one that was hard to break.
After refining his body, he stretched again and noticed it was already dawn.
His senses had picked up on his mother returning home. He already knew she wasn't there when he woke up but hadn't worried, guessing she must have gone out to buy or fetch his birthday gift.
Ikki got up and left his room, heading toward the living room.
His mother, who was just entering through the door, looked surprised to see him awake. A beautiful smile spread across her lips, and she said, "Good morning, my little treasure. Did you sleep well?..."
She approached him and lovingly kissed his head. Ikki avoided sighing at the gesture but didn't dislike how affectionate his mother was.
"Good morning, Mom. Yes, I slept very well. How about you?"
Ikki asked, noticing that his mother was hiding something behind her back.
She smiled and said, "Yes, I slept very well. I woke up early to get your present."
She kissed his cheek and, with a bright smile, said, "Happy Birthday, Ikki."
At the end of her words, she handed Ikki a gray package wrapped with a red bow.
"Thank you, Mom..."
"No need to thank me. I'm just giving something to my baby. Open it..." his mother said with a smile, kissing his cheek again.
He smiled and took the present, a bit curious to see what he'd received. Ikki had long since grown accustomed to his loving mother. She was a bit clingy, but he didn't hate it. In fact, he even liked it—it showed that she loved and cared for him.
Unwrapping the gift, a beautiful black checkered scarf came into view. It was quite long and appeared to be intricately embroidered by divine hands rather than human ones.
Ikki could sense a certain magical power contained within the scarf. It had a nature similar to the shield on his wrist that had been blessed by Hestia, meaning it might have been blessed by a goddess. Perhaps Freya? That seemed the most likely.
"So, do you like it?" his mother asked with a hint of concealed concern.
"Of course, I love it," Ikki said with a big smile on his face. He kissed his mother's cheek and said, "Thank you!"
"I'm glad you like it." Sophia felt inwardly relieved. She looked at her son, holding both his cheeks and said, "Go find a movie for us to watch. I'll make some popcorn. This morning, let's do what you love most."
"Alright, Mom."
Seeing his mother quickly heading to the kitchen, Ikki put on the scarf and walked to the sofa. He turned on the TV and found a good action movie with romance.
Soon, his mother returned from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. She sat at the other end of the sofa and patted her lap. Ikki rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what she wanted.
Grabbing a piece of popcorn, he lay down on her lap while eating.
"What's the movie? It's not a horror movie, is it?"
"No, it's an action movie with romance. I know you're scared of horror movies."
"Hmph, me? Scared of a horror movie? You must be joking. I'm a Valkyrie! I fear nothing!"
"Really? Want me to put on a horror movie, then?"
"There's no need..."
The two chatted as Ikki teased his mother. She was adorable when teased.
She began stroking his pitch-black hair and said,
"Thirteen years... Time flies. To me, it feels like just yesterday when I saw you walk for the first time or say your first words."
As she gazed at her teenage son's face, she seemed slightly entranced. A beautiful smile adorned her lips as she reminisced about those times.
In response to his mother's words, Ikki simply smiled. One of the vicissitudes of time is its constancy—it waits for no one and nothing, with eternity as its only companion.
His mother snapped out of her trance, still stroking his hair, and said with a teasing smile,
"Now you're a little man. You need to find a girlfriend."
"Are we starting this conversation again..." Ikki's lips twitched. His mother really enjoyed bringing this up, didn't she? She must have picked up this trait from spending time with Freya, the goddess of love, who probably had a personality similar to Aphrodite's.
Or maybe she just loved teasing him.
Humming, his mother said,
"I just want you to find happiness and enjoy your youth. And what better way than having a girlfriend?"
"So, that's why you keep teasing me about this... I'm enjoying my youth. I like my current life," Ikki said, rolling his eyes, though he was slightly surprised internally. After all, this was the first time his mother had explained why she constantly teased him about it.
"If you say so. You know, it would be nice to have a daughter-in-law. Of course, as long as she's not someone like Aphrodite or Freya. Neither of them are women who belong to just one man, and while they fall in love easily, it would only lead to regret."
By the end of her words, her tone was serious. She truly didn't want to see her son fall for Aphrodite or her mother, as both would break his heart in the most painful way possible—by being with other men. If he had to have his heart broken, she'd prefer it to be by a normal woman. Even then, she didn't want that for him at all.
Hearing his mother's words, Ikki smiled wryly. Then, an inexplicable glint passed through his eyes as he said,
"One thing I've learned recently is that no matter how good your control over your emotions and feelings is, you can't control your heart. So, I can't promise that."
Ikki had always been good at controlling his emotions and feelings. Suppressing them with willpower came easily to him. However, this control was not immunity—it was impossible to avoid fully experiencing them.
Even for him, controlling his heart was impossible. No wonder what happened with Artemis had occurred. He had tried to move on with his life but always found himself thinking about her in some way.
"Your words... You met Aphrodite during the mission, didn't you? Don't tell me you've fallen for her?"
Sophia frowned, concern evident in her expression.
"No," Ikki shook his head, then said nervously, "But... Mom, I want to talk to you about something related to love. Actually, I kind of want to ask for advice about it..."
After months of avoiding this topic, he wanted to try to put it to rest once and for all. So, he decided to seek his mother's counsel. A mother's advice is invaluable in all aspects of life.
Sophia felt relieved when her son mentioned he wasn't in love with Aphrodite. She was also a bit excited at the prospect of finally talking to her son about the wonders of love.
"Of course, you can ask me anything about love."
She smiled as she stroked his long black hair. As expected, her son's hair was still so soft... She thought to herself. It was like holding top-quality silk. She felt very unwilling to let it go.
Ikki naturally knew his mother would be eager to delve into this topic, given her romantic personality. But compared to her, he had spent so long avoiding the subject that it felt very difficult to bring it up.
However, regardless of how he felt at the moment, he decided to talk to his mother, hoping to find some answers about what to do with his feelings for Artemis. It was something he genuinely didn't know how to resolve and simply wanted to share.
"Actually, Mom... During my journey to recover the Master Bolt, I sort of fell in love with a girl..."
When he mentioned this, Ikki swallowed the lump in his throat. Talking about it was harder than he'd expected. The emotions and feelings were overwhelming, like a tsunami violently crushing his chest.
Despite his internal emotional struggle, he controlled his facial muscles to keep his expression unreadable.
"Really? Who is she?!..." his mother asked with a big smile on her face, hiding the worry that arose from her son's expression, which gave her a bad feeling.
"Artemis..." Ikki said, smiling weakly.
Hearing the name from her son's lips, Sophia was speechless and frozen in shock for a minute.
Her son had fallen for one of the Three Virgin Goddesses? And of all of them, the one who despised and loathed all men?!
The only exceptions were her son and perhaps Orion in ancient times. She was stunned by this. Her son had fallen for the goddess who hated men.
This... was a love that could be reciprocated?
No!
And unrequited love was the worst pain anyone could experience.
Loving and not being loved back hurt, and it wasn't the kind of pain that went away with medication. It was soul-deep anguish. Unrequited love turned into resentment, and over time, that resentment could become hatred—something she would never wish for her son. He didn't deserve that.
Sophia's heart ached painfully as she concluded her son was heartbroken. That explained his earlier artificial expression—he was hiding the pain.
"Mom, to be honest with you, I'm tired of this feeling weighing on my heart and mind. I know that what I feel for her has no hope of being reciprocated. The chances of me being with Artemis are practically nonexistent. Yet, over the past few months, all I could do was think about her, about my memories with her, which, despite being few, were unforgettable—her smile, her words, her everything."
"From the day I realized I was in love, I used everything I had to suppress my emotions and feelings. I tried hard not to think about it, not to touch on the subject. I did everything I could to avoid the fact that I was in love with a goddess, one I had no chance with. However, nothing worked..."
Ikki slowly closed his eyes. His face was covered with fatigue as he murmured, "What should I do, Mom?..."
Even though this was an emotional conversation, he couldn't help but think about how much he missed moments like these in his past life. He was grateful for the chance to have them again with his mother.
Seeing her son's expression, Sophia felt like crying. Her eyes turned red. This was the first time she had seen her son, who was always full of energy and vigor, who never admitted defeat no matter how dire the situation, who always exuded calm and maturity beyond his age, with such a lethargic expression. Her son's look almost broke her heart.
The former Valkyrie's eyes glistened with unshed tears. She lovingly held her son's face and kissed his forehead.
"It must have been hard for you to admit this to me. I know you like to suffer in silence..." Sophia had a pained expression on her face. Her son had always been like this, hiding everything he felt behind a smile and logical calmness. She spoke softly, "I will do my best to advise you."
"I can't tell you what you should do about these feelings for Artemis, as that's a decision you have to make on your own. I don't want to see you suffer because of this. That's the last thing I want."
She caressed her son's face, which still bore a lethargic expression, his eyes focused intently on her. Swallowing her urge to cry, she continued speaking in a gentle voice.
"A romantic relationship with Artemis would be impossible to achieve, but you're the one with the best chance of making it happen. After all, you're already her friend, which is more than impressive. So, if you truly love her, don't give up—fight to win her over!"
"Now, if you feel there's no hope of having her for yourself, the next time you see her, you could simply confess your feelings to her. Maybe what your heart needs is a verbal response to what it already knows. Her rejection will be painful, but it will give you closure. You'll be able to move on more easily."
"Regardless of your choice, I'll always be here to support you."
At the end of her words, Sophia pulled her son into a tight hug, vaguely remembering when she used to hold him as a baby. She smelled his hair and kissed it, her heart aching deeply at seeing her beloved child in this state.
Ikki simply sighed at his mother's words. He was distracted for a while, and when he pulled away from her embrace, he spoke.
"Thank you, Mom. You have no idea how much those words helped me..."
"Don't worry about it." His mother kissed his forehead again.
He looked into her eyes and asked,
"What should I choose? Should I try to win Artemis over, knowing the likely outcome, or should I just seek closure? It's so painful and confusing to decide..."
Hearing her son's question, Sophia's heart tightened again. She answered wisely,
"I think it's natural for you to feel that way. Many people go through what you're going through. The reality is that sometimes, the people we like don't feel the same about us. It's painful, but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do..."
"Love is complicated, isn't it?..." Ikki said, trying to be ironic.
"Yes, and not being able to be with someone you love hurts... it wounds." His mother hugged him again and whispered in his ear, "But you can't make someone love you..."
"The problem is, I don't just like her—I truly love her..."
"I know." Sophia found his innocence about this endearing. The "like" she had referred to was the "love" he meant, but she thought it was her fault for not expressing herself clearly. Knowing he needed her, she said, "But... love isn't about grand gestures or the moon and stars—it's just luck. Sometimes you find someone who feels the same, and other times, you're not so lucky. But one day, you'll meet someone who loves you for who you are..."
"So don't see this bad experience with love as the only one you'll have in your life. Don't grow bitter and dismiss such feelings from your life."
Ikki remained silent at his mother's words. Only one thought lingered in his mind, which escaped as a murmur.
"So, it all depends on my luck? And here I thought I had good luck..."
Hearing his murmur, Sophia ran her hand through his black hair and said,
"Yes. I confess I'm surprised by who you fell for. What to do with those feelings is up to you. I know you'll overcome this—you're a strong boy. You won't let this hold you back for long."
Ikki smiled faintly at his mother's words.
The two continued watching the movie in silence while eating popcorn.
When the movie ended, his mother told him to get ready so they could go out for lunch.
They went to his favorite restaurant in New York for lunch. In the afternoon, they visited the mall, and in the evening, they went to Sally and Percy's house, where the four of them had dinner together.
Percy and Ikki, already used to seeing each other during breaks and weekends, as well as special occasions like their birthdays, spent time together.
They played video games while their mothers prepared dinner in the kitchen. The son of Zeus had brought his console for the two of them to use. They only stopped when Sally called them for dinner.
During dinner, they laughed and had fun like one big family.