WINTER'S SWEET EMBRACE

"Get away from him, Deina!"

"Oh, come on, Nat. Have you forgotten? At the very beginning of all of this, we made a clear agreement. You were supposed to handle his physical training, while I would be the one to help him unlock and control his divine powers."

"I don’t remember making that kind of deal!"

"Well, it did happen about two hundred years ago. Time flies when you’re torturing a cute demi-god. But still, a word once given cannot be taken back. Unless..." Deina’s smirk widened into a tease as she leaned closer to Natasha.

"Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for your cute little pupil?"

Natasha’s face exploded into an apocalyptic shade of red. "Hah?! Don’t be ridiculous! I haven’t fallen for him! I don’t even like him! He’s just a stubborn, annoying brat!"

Standing just a few feet away, Vincent’s smile withered. His blue eyes dimmed, and a sad expression washed over him.

"Oh... I didn’t know you felt that way about me, Nat– Natasha. To be honest, I felt the opposite. I always thought we had become close over the last two centuries. But now that your true feelings are out in the open... it’s probably best that I just continue my training with Deina instead."

The vulnerability in his voice caused the anger she held to vanish and be replaced by a wave of panic. Seeing him turn away from her made her heart drop.

"Wait! Little Demi, no!" She flew to him and desperately grabbed a hold of his muscular arm. "I was lying! I didn’t mean it! I actually really like–"

"Vinny! Mama’s back!"

The moment Vincent heard that voice, a deeply ingrained reflex triggered inside his brain. Two hundred years of constant maternal doting had thoroughly broken down his resistance. His eyes lit up with excitement as he forgot about Natasha.

"Mama!" Without a single shred of hesitation or embarrassment, he spread his massive white wings and shot into the air, flying straight into his mother’s open arms.

Maribelle caught him easily mid-air and immediately, they buried each other’s faces into one another’s neck while giggling ecstatically.

Down on the courtyard, Natasha’s hand was still extended in the air where she had been holding his arm. As she stood there, a volatile mix of rejection, embarrassment, and jealousy washed over her.

Deina floated down beside her, crossing her arms with a pitying shake of her head.

"Yikes. You should really be more honest with your feelings, Nat. You need to apologise to him soon and clear up this misunderstanding."

"I know! Shut up!"

Whoosh—Boom!

Trembling with rage, Natasha flared her wings and shot into the sky like a rocket, fleeing the area in pure humiliation.

"Haaa... that girl. Honestly..." Deina shook her head and flew up to join Vincent and Maribelle, who were currently floating in an adoring hug.

Vincent peeked out from his mother’s arms, noticing the empty courtyard below. "Hey, Dee? Where did Natasha go?"

She shrugged casually at the question. "I don’t know. Probably went home to pout."

"Right... I guess she really does hate me."

"What?!" Maribelle panicked, her maternal instincts blaring into overdrive mode. "Why are you so sad, my sweet baby?! Did that red-haired brute hurt you?! Tell Mama right now! If she did, Mama will fly over to her and take care of her permanently!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, mama bird," Deina intervened, raising her hands. "There’s nothing to worry about, Mari. Nat didn’t do anything wrong. She’s just... well, it’s Nat. You know how prideful and stubborn she gets at times."

She then looked at Vincent and softened her tone with genuine reassurance. "She doesn’t hate you, Baby Bird. Just give her a little bit of time to sort out her own head and apologise."

"Alright. If you say so. So... what about my training with divine power? How do we start?"

"Oh! Oh! Let Mama teach you, Vinny!"

Deina opened her mouth to object, but Vincent spoke up first. He offered his mother an apologetic smile. "While I appreciate it, Mama... Natasha and Dee had a strict deal from the beginning. Deina is supposed to teach me how to control it."

Maribelle’s face instantly dropped into a tragic, heartbreaking pout. Fake tears welled up in her eyes as she sniffled miserably and turned her back to him. "Okay...Just ignore your poor, lonely mama while she goes inside to prepare dinner all by herself..."

"Wait, Mama! Don’t be sad!" Falling for her guilt trip, he flew around her and desperately grabbed her hands to pull her back.

Maribelle’s tragic expression morphed into a victorious smile – though she kept her face tilted down so he couldn’t see it.

She slowly looked up to face him while puckering her lips out to an extreme degree.

"Mama wants a chu chu~"

"Okay!"

Wasting no time on second thoughts, Vincent leaned forward and planted a firm kiss directly onto her lips. It was smooth, natural, and utterly devoid of the panic he used to have centuries ago.

Deina’s jaw hung slightly slack as she watched the seamless transaction.

’Wow. The kid’s been mega brainwashed over the last two hundred years. He didn’t even blink.’

Once the kiss broke apart, Maribelle let out a bubbly giggle. "Hehe.. Hehehehe~ Okay, Mama is going to make your favorite dinner now!"

With a happy flutter of her wings, she dove down toward the estate, leaving the two of them alone.

".... Hey... tell me the truth, Baby Bird. Over the last two centuries... have you two, y’know, done the deed?"

"What?! Are you insane?! That’s my mama?!"

Deina raised an amused eyebrow at the contradiction.

’He says that, but mothers and sons definitely do not kiss like that.’

She shook her head, deciding to let it go for now. "Alright, whatever you say. Now, let’s get down to business."

Landing together on the ground, Deina took a deep breath and shifted her demeanor into that of an expert guide.

"Listen carefully, Baby Bird. Here in the divine realm, divine power isn’t just a force you generate – it exists everywhere. It flows through the air, the clouds, the water, and the ground. Only beings like you and I are capable of withstanding the atmospheric pressure of this energy without collapsing."

She turned back to face him, tapping lightly on his chest.

"Because you’ve been living here and physically exerting yourself for the last two hundred years, your body has been acting like a sponge. You have been constantly absorbing and storing a massive reservoir of untapped divine power that’s waiting to be released."

"I have? To be honest, apart from the wings, the blue hair, and the eyes... I don’t feel particularly divine. I just feel like a guy who works out a lot."

"That’s good. And that is exactly the first step. To un-tap that massive reservoir and then learn how to consciously control the flow. To do that... we need to meditate."

"Meditate?"

"Yep. Follow me."

Deina led him out to the center of the pond, where a tiny, peaceful marble circle sat surrounded by glowing lily pads. They both sat down cross-legged on the pre-placed mats while facing each other.

"Close your eyes. Clear your mind of all thoughts. Stop looking with your eyes and start feeling with your soul. Feel the energy in the air and visualize it flowing smoothly into your body."

Vincent let out a slow breath and closed his eyes.

He concentrated. He focused solely on his breathing, trying with every fiber of his being to feel some sort of spark, some sort of shifting energy inside his chest.

He pushed; he strained his mind and lost himself entirely in the void of his own focus.

After what felt like a few minutes of intense concentration, he opened his eyes to ask Deina for advice.

"Huh?"

The bright sunlight was completely gone. The sky above was a deep, dark blue, illuminated by a spectacular sea of twinkling astral stars.

The circle around him was dead silent. Deina was gone, having cleared out hours ago.

"What the... it’s already dark?! How long was I out?!"

.....

The next afternoon, the cycle repeated. Vincent and Deina were sitting cross-legged on the marble circle once more, deeply immersed in their meditation.

Suddenly, a soft rustle of feathers cut through the air.

Natasha quietly flew down from the clouds, hovering nervously on the tip of the pond. Her face was flushed as she looked at Vincent’s closed eyes.

"U-Uh... Vin– Little Demi? I... I wanted to come by and properly apologise for what I said yesterday. I didn’t mean to–"

Snort.

Deina cracked an eye open, letting out a mocking snort that cut Natasha off entirely.

"Oh, give it up, Nat. Can’t you see Baby Bird meditating? You’re going to have to wait. I mean, you know how it is. Right now, his mind is digging deep into his own soul. Nothing in this will break his focus until he finds that seal or is too tired to continue. Your timing is terrible."

Clicking her tongue from embarrassment, Natasha shot back into the sky as she cursed her bad luck.

........

Come nightfall where this time, Natasha tried a different approach.

She flew back to the estate, landed on the porch, and gave a polite knock on the double doors. She waited nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

The door slowly swung open. Just as Natasha brightened up expecting to see Vincent, what greeted her instead was Maribelle, who was wearing nothing but a silky, see-through white nightgown that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

She rested a hand on her hip and pouted heavily as she glared at her red-haired friend.

"What do you want, Natasha? I’m still very angry with you for making my baby sad yesterday."

"A-About that! I’m here to see Vincent. I want to apologise to him. May I?"

"Hmph. Try another time," Maribelle said flatly, preparing to shut the door. "My baby is already sound asleep. I won’t let you wake him."

"O-Ok! I’ll... I’ll be back by tomorrow morning!"

But the next morning yielded the exact same result. Vincent was already back on the circle, locked in his unbreakable meditative trance.

This unsuccessful advance continued... for another fifty years.

Every single time Natasha screwed up her courage to fly over and apologise. Not to mention her timing was catastrophically bad. Either Vincent was locked in a multi-day trance, eating dinner with a fiercely protective Maribelle, or he was passed out from exhaustion.

For half a century, the red-headed Goddess was one way or another, completely blocked from speaking to him.

One sunny afternoon, fifty years into the meditation grind, Deina and Maribelle stood near the edge of the pond, preparing their wings to take off.

"Nat!" Deina called out to her, who was currently hovering aimlessly nearby. "Mari and I need to fly over to the council to take care of an errand. Watch over Vincent closely while we’re gone, alright?"

"A-Alright! Leave it to me!"

The moment the blue and golden streaks vanished into the horizon, Natasha flew down to the circle at the pond. She grabbed the adjacent mat and sat down cross-legged in front of the meditating Vincent, watching his face closely.

As the silence stretched, a heavy blush crept onto her cheeks.

"Wow... It’s... it’s been a really long time since we’ve been this close to each other, huh?"

"...."

Natasha’s fierce eyes softened as she simply stared at him with her hands in her chin. Her mind began to drift, reminiscing about the two hundred years they had spent fighting, laughing, and training together.

A wave of sudden emotion washed over her, and a small tear welled up in the corner of her eye.

"Seriously... just hurry up and finish your stupid meditation. I... I never had a real friend like you before. Everyone else in the realm just gets irritated by my anger and flies away. I just want to properly apologise to you, Little Demi..."

......

Meanwhile, deep within the dark abyss of Vincent’s inner world, a breakthrough was happening.