Chapter 10 - Divine Control
For fifty years, Vincent, who had been digging through his own consciousness, finally felt it – a roaring ocean of golden sparking divine energy swirled deep within his soul. Standing directly in front of this ocean was a colossal red wooden gate, sealed shut by a white paper talisman.
"Whoa... So this is it. This is the reservoir Dee was talking about."
"Hold your horses, Vinny! Slow down!"
"That voice!" Vincent spun around and was greeted by the sight of his longtime friend. "Mr. Marshmallow! What are you doing here?"
"I live in your soul, silly billy! But never mind that for now!"
’No, please mind it.’
"Listen to me, Vinny! You have to be super-duper careful when you unseal this untapped power! If you rip it all open at once, your body will go into a big shock! And then, you’ll die!"
Vincent looked back at the white seal, weary about the warning, but determined to see it through. "I’ve been sitting on that circle by the pond for fifty years, old friend. That’s fifty years too long. I’m ready."
With a confident stride, he grabbed the edge of the white talisman and tore it off with a gentle yank, making sure to be careful when doing so.
"Wait! No! That’s way too much–!"
Tear—
BOOOOM!!!!!!!
In the real world, a blinding explosion of golden and blue divine energy detonated directly off the tiny stone island.
"UWAAAAHHH–!"
SPLASH!!!
The shockwave hit Natasha point-blank range, launching the Goddess backward through the air and crashing into the water. She instantly broke through the surface, coughing and sputtering water as her eyes went wide with absolute horror.
Vincent was unconsciously floating five feet off the ground. His body was strenuously spazzing and twitching in mid-air as a swirling hurricane of uncontrolled golden lightning was tearing out of his chest.
"Little Demi?! Crap, crap, crap! Mari! Deina! Help!"
She checked the sky but remembered they had just left and probably wouldn’t be back for a few hours.
Vincent’s skin was beginning to crack and glow white from the overwhelming pressure of the energy. He was going into shock, exactly as the marshmallow had warned.
Realising there’s only one thing she could do in this situation, Natasha’s face turned a bright shade of crimson that almost matched her hair. She gritted her teeth, finding the desperate courage deep within her maidenly heart.
"Damn it... I’m only doing this because it’s for your sake, alright?!"
With a powerful flap of her wings, she dove straight into the raging storm of golden lightning. The energy shocked her skin, but she ignored the pain and flew right up to his floating body. She wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and slammed her lips firmly onto his.
’Focus Nat! You’re doing this to stabilize his flow!’
As she poured her divine power into him, Vincent’s unconscious survival instincts took over. His arms shot forward automatically, locking around Natasha’s waist and pulling her wet body flush against his chest.
Before she could even process the movement, Vincent’s mouth parted, and he smoothly slipped his tongue deep inside her mouth, devouring her lips in a deep and incredibly wet French kiss.
’Mnnph?!’
Natasha’s brain started melting from the aggressive yet sensational feeling of his tongue swirling against hers. She tried pushing against his chiseled chest to pull away, but the golden energy around them violently flared.
It was too dangerous to disconnect – if she stopped stabilizing him now, his soul would rip apart from the recoil.
And so, forced by absolute necessity, Natasha let out a soft moan against his lips. She closed her eyes and surrendered to his tight embrace, deeply intertwining her tongue with his.
........
After a couple of minutes, the golden lightning finally subsided. The air went still, and the raw power settled neatly into Vincent’s chest.
Dazed, breathless, and completely flushed, Natasha slowly pulled her lips away from his. Her eyes were completely glazed over as she stared at him.
- Back inside Vincent’s soul -
"..nny... Vi..ny... Vinny!"
"M-Mr. Marshmallow?"
"Oh, Vinny! Boy I am glad you’re alright! You scared the heebie--jeebies out of me! I told you not to rip it all at once, didn’t I!?"
"I didn’t rip it. I gently pulled it off."
"Same thing! You’re supposed to take it off bit by bit! That way, you can control the seas of the ocean behind the gate!"
Vincent looked around and saw that he and Mr. Marshmallow were floating on top of a calm sea of power, and the red wooden gate containing said power was nowhere to be seen.
"... Looks pretty controlled to me."
"Only because you had help! Speaking of which, you should properly return now."
"Why?"
"I just do it! I’ll see you later, ok?"
"... Alright. Later, Mr. Marshmallow."
Vincent’s eyelids fluttered, and his blue eyes slowly blinked open. When the haze vanished, the first thing he saw was a heavily blushing, and completely drenched, Natasha floating inches from his face.
"N-Natasha?"
The sound of his voice snapped her straight out of her trance. Horrified by what she had just done, Natasha panicked and prepared to fly away in shame. "I-I have to go–!"
"Wait!" Vincent immediately reacted, reaching out and firmly grabbing her wrist to stop her from running away. With a mix of confusion and soft regret, he looked at her and apologised.
"I... I’m sorry."
"Why... why are you saying sorry?"
"... I don’t know... I just... I really want to go back to the way we were before all of this happened. Before I made you hate me."
Natasha’s shoulders trembled slightly. She slowly turned her head and looked back at him with a vulnerable expression. "I... I don’t want to go back to the way we were."
"What?"
But before Vincent could even begin to unpack the weight of that sentence, two streaks of light cut through the sky.
WHOOSH!!!
Maribelle and Deina appeared on the courtyard below. Sensing the sudden movement, Natasha panicked, quickly stepping away from him and landing on the grass first.
"Natasha! I saw a light shoot up in the sky and returned as fast as I could! Where’s Vinny?!"
"Hey, Mama." Vincent landed soon after.
"Oh! Vinny!" Maribelle squealed, immediately sprinting across the grass and throwing her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.
*Gasp* "Baby, this feeling is..."
Deina walked up behind them. Her golden eyes scanned the fractured yard, the drenched Natasha, and the vibrant aura currently humming beneath Vincent’s skin. A knowing smirk spread across her face.
"Well, well, well. Look at that. It seems you’ve finally unlocked and got a proper grasp on your divine powers."
"Yeah. I can actually feel it now. It’s amazing. So... what’s next?"
"Next is learning how to actually utilize it for magic, physical enhancement, and most importantly..." Deina giggled, gesturing to the soaked Natasha. "...learning how to dry yourself off without needing a manual session."
"No! Absolutely not! That is my job! Only Mama dries Vinny off! Right, Vinny?!"
"Yep."
"I knew you’d be on my side, hehehe~" Maribelle let out an ecstatic squeal and hugged him tighter.
Deina let out a dry laugh, then shifted her gaze over to the quiet, fidgeting red-head standing nearby. "Hey, Nat. Isn’t there something you’ve been wanting to say to him for a long time now? This is your chance."
"I... Y-Yes. You’re right."
Clearing her throat, Natasha marched forward and pointed a stern finger at Vincent. "Hey! Listen up, Winters!"
"Yes?"
"What I said... all those years ago... was a lie!" she shouted, her voice trembling slightly as she stared directly into his blue eyes. "Training with you for the last two centuries... it was fun. Honestly, it was the most fun I’ve had in forever. And I don’t want to ruin our bond over a stupid mistake."
She looked down and dropped her voice into a genuine murmur. "I don’t hate you... You’re not an annoying brat and I’m sorry for saying I didn’t like you."
A bright smile spread across Vincent’s face as relief washed over his chest. "I’m really glad to hear that, Nat. Thank you."
"Oh? Is that all, Nat?" Deina teased. "Are you sure there isn’t anything else you want to tell him?"
Not liking where the topic was heading, Natasha summoned her massive training sword from thin air and slammed it into the ground. "Get ready, you Little Demi! Because from here on out, my combat training is going to be ten times tougher! I won’t show you any mercy!"
"Whoa! How’d you do that!?"
Deina let out a defeated sigh and decided to let the flustered Goddess off the hook for now. With a fluid motion, she spread her wings, flew forward, and lazily leaned her body against Vincent’s side, teasing him shamelessly.
"Don’t get too ahead of yourself, hot shot. It’s still my turn with you first~"
"Hah?! Get away from him, you vulture!" Natasha screamed.
"Hey, Vinny~ Mama wants a chu chu too!"
All three Goddesses simultaneously piled onto him, throwing him onto the soft grass in a chaotic, tangled heap of wings, laughter, and divine affection. Vincent let out a genuine laugh, embracing once again his chaotic new life as what could only be described as heaven.