Chapter 5 - Natasha & Deina
"Mari! What the heck are you doing?!" the red-haired woman shrieked.
She lunged forward and grabbed her by the waist, trying to haul the Goddess off Vincent. But Maribelle’s grip on her son was ironclad.
"Vinny~ Chu chu~"
"Let go of him, you crazy woman!"
Whipping her head around, she glared at the blonde woman who was still standing idly by the doorway. "Deina! Don’t just stand there! Help me!"
Instead of helping, Deina merely let her gaze wander over the chaotic spectacle as she leaned against the doorframe with a mischievous smirk spread across her face. "I don’t know, Natasha. This is a pretty hot scene. I’m not sure I want to disturb it."
"Deina!"
"Alright, alright, fine," Deina rolled her eyes.
She stepped forward and grabbed hold of Maribelle’s shoulders. "Come on, Mari. You’re gonna kill the poor kid."
"Nooo~ Don’t take me away from my baby~"
Sensing she was losing her grip on Vincent’s torso, Maribelle blindly scrambled her hands downward for leverage, desperately clutching onto the waistband of his jeans.
"Wait! Wait! Hold on! My pants! They’re slipping! Stop pulling!"
But the warning came too late. With one final, coordinated heave, Natasha and Deina successfully yanked Maribelle backward.
Whoosh!
The sudden momentum snatched Vincent’s jeans right down past his ankles, leaving him on the bed in nothing but his boxer shorts and a half taken off undershirt.
"... I told you not to pull so hard."
Maribelle, now sitting on the floor with a triumphant expression, immediately brought the captured jeans to her face. She let out a creepy giggle and took a deep sniff of the fabric.
*Sniiiiifff* "Ahhh~ My baby’s scent~" *Sniiiiifff*
Beside her, Deina slowly licked her lips as she shamelessly eyed Vincent’s exposed physique. Particularly, his bulge. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. The kid’s actually got some goods."
Natasha’s face turned an aggressive shade of crimson, veering between absolute fury and intense embarrassment. She slammed her hands over her eyes and turned her back to him. "Put some damn clothes on! Cover yourself up, you little degenerate!"
"I know, I’m trying!"
......
Twenty minutes later, Vincent descended the marble staircase leading into the main living room. He had changed into a simple pair of soft sweatpants and a loose-fitting white shirt that Maribelle had somehow provided – complete with custom slits in the back to accommodate his newly sprouted, awkward white wings.
As his feet touched the living room floor, Maribelle aggressively started patting her lap while sitting on a lavish couch alongside her two friends.
"Vinny! Come over here! Come sit with Mama!"
Vincent halted just a few feet away and looked at the two guests, who were watching him with intense curiosity.
"Uh... no thank you. I’ll just sit over here." He gestured toward an empty armchair across from them.
"Oh... I see how it is. You’ve only been home for an hour, and you already hate your mama. The heartbreak... it’s unendurable!"
"What? No! That isn’t it at all! It’s just... it’s inappropriate! Especially considering you have guests over!"
"Oh, look what you did~" Deina chimed in while leaning back against the sofa cushions, stoking the situation. "You made your poor mama cry. How heartless can a son be?"
A heavy weight of unearned guilt settled into Vincent’s stomach. He looked at his sobbing mother, then at the smirking Deina, and let out a defeated sigh.
"Fine... alright, fine."
Reluctantly, he walked over to the sofa, hesitating for a moment before lowering himself onto Maribelle’s lap.
"Yay~!"
The transformation was instantaneous. Maribelle’s fake tears vanished as if they had never existed and she let out a triumphant squeal, throwing her arms around his chest and pulling him tightly against her body.
She buried her face directly into his soft white wings, sniffing them aggressively while letting out a series of quiet, creepy giggles.
"Hehehe... so soft... my baby’s wings... hehehe..."
Natasha, who had been watching them with a look of irritation, finally snapped. She stood up abruptly, pointing a sharp finger at the pair.
"Alright, enough! I’ve been pushed past my limit here. Mari, who the heck is this kid?! And why are you fawning all over him like that?!"
"Haha. Honestly, Nat, can’t you tell just by looking at the two of them?"
"HAH?!" Natasha crossed her arms and stepped closer to take a proper look at Vincent.
She eyed his ethereal-blue hair, his sky-blue eyes, and the structure of his face. The resemblance was mild but undeniable.
"Are you...?"
"Yeah. I’m her son, apparently."
Maribelle’s head snapped out of his wings. "Not apparently, Vinny! You are my son! My one and only precious baby boy!"
"Right, right. Sorry. It’s just gonna take some time getting used to all this."
"WHAAAAAT?! HER SON?!" Natasha’s mouth hung open. "Since when does Maribelle have a grown-ass son?!"
"Oh! I remember now!" Deina suddenly snapped her fingers as her face lit up with recognition.
"Remember that time, ages ago, when Mari went down to a mortal world with that mortal? She came back carrying a tiny baby that nearly died from being exposed to the pressures of the divine realm. That must be him, right Mari?"
Maribelle’s expression softened into a bittersweet smile. She nodded gently as her arms tightened around Vincent’s waist.
"Mmhm. That was the scariest day of my life. But he’s older now. He’s strong enough to be here. I’m just so happy I can finally hold him again."
Natasha’s furious expression suddenly contorted into something closer to sympathy. She leaned over to Deina and whispered. "Hey... when was the last time we actually saw her acting like this? This happy?"
"The last time she was truly like this was when she and that man brought him here as an infant. When they realised the realm was literally killing him, they had to send him back to the mortal world immediately. The day her baby left... all her happiness went with him."
"Oh yeah. Even when she got pregnant with the second one, she tried so hard to look happy, but we all knew it was forced. She was miserable because she knew a repeat of what happened with the first one was going to happen all over again."
"But now that her child is back," Deina noted as a soft smile returned to her lips, "so has her true happiness. Look at her."
The two Goddesses watched as Maribelle completely ignored their whispering. She was currently gushing over Vincent’s wings, running her fingers through the feathers.
"Oh, look at how beautiful they are," Maribelle cooed. "So delicate..."
Without warning, driven by an overwhelming urge of maternal affection, Maribelle opened her mouth and took a playful nibble on the edge of Vincent’s wing.
"Ah–!" The sudden, sensitive stimulation caused his wings to react violently.
They began to sputter and flap uncontrollably, forcefully launching him right out of Maribelle’s lap and shooting upward. He ricocheted off the ceiling and flew wildly across the living room like a deflating balloon.
"HELP! I’M DOING IT AGAIN! STOP THE WINGS!"
"I got him!" Deina shouted as she spread out a pair of majestic white wings from her back. She shot into the air and caught him securely mid-flight.
As they drifted back down toward the floor, Vincent found himself pressed firmly against Deina. He felt a sensation that was even softer, warmer, and significantly more substantial than his mother’s embrace.
His face was buried deep in a pair of breasts that were, without a doubt, much bigger and softer than Maribelle’s.
"U-Uh... thank you."
The polite, flustered thank-you struck an unexpected chord deep within Deina’s chest. A maternal thump echoed inside her heart and her playful demeanor shattered, replaced by an intense surge of affection.
"Oh. My. Goodness~!" Deina’s face flushing as she pulled him into an incredibly tight hug. "He’s so cute! Look at those big blue eyes! I want to keep him!"
WHOOSH!
A streak of brilliant blue light cut through the air.
Maribelle appeared out of nowhere and violently yanked her son out of Deina’s arms, smothering him right back into her own chest.
"Grrrr..."
"Okay, okay, mama bird. No need to get feisty. He’s all yours."
Maribelle floated back down to the sofa, landing gracefully and sitting down while holding Vincent tightly against her lap like a shield, her eyes never leaving Deina.
Natasha let out an exhausted sigh while rubbing her temples. "Well, despite the absolute chaos, we still haven’t properly introduced ourselves."
"Oh, right! I’m Deina, Goddess of the Hunt and Astral Skies. Nice to meet you, little demi-god."
"And I am Natasha, Goddess of Divine War and Order. Nice to meet you, kid."
Vincent managed to free one of his hands and waved awkwardly. "I’m Vincent. Vincent Winters. Also, you call me kid, but you don’t really look any older than myself."
"Hah?! What did you just say?!" Natasha barked, standing up again. "Listen here, you little brat! I am over six hundred and fifty thousand years old!"
"Wait... if one day here is a hundred years out there... and you’re six hundred and fifty thousand years old... doesn’t that technically make you eighteen in mortal years? So, we’re basically the same age."
"HAH Don’t make me laugh! You are practically a newborn! You don’t even know how to control your own wings! We are entirely different, boy."
Deina’s eyes suddenly lit up with a devilish spark.
"Oh, oh! Natasha, think about it. We can teach him! We can show him how to fly and use his divine energy... along with a few other things~"
Natasha caught onto the idea. A matching devilish smile crept onto her lips as she cracked her knuckles with a satisfying pop. "You know... that’s actually not a bad idea. A little boot camp for the new recruit."
"No! Absolutely not! I reject it!" Maribelle yelled. "I am going to spend every single second of the next five hundred years with my baby! No interruptions! No one is taking my baby away from me ever again!"
"""..."""
A tense silence fell over the room. Maribelle looked unmovable, ready to wage war against her own friends to keep Vincent isolated in her doting care.
Vincent, however, was quickly realising that five hundred years of being treated like a literal infant would probably drive him insane. He needed an out. He needed a buffer.
"Actually... Mama? It doesn’t sound like a bad idea."
"What?! But Vinny... I can teach you! Your mama can teach you anything and everything!"
"Yes, I know," Vincent said quickly, trying to sound reasonable. "But surely there are specific things – like, uhm, war tactics or... or hunting – that only they can teach me, right?"
Starting to cry, Maribelle slowly lowered her head in Vincent’s wings again. *Sniff* "You... you just don’t want to spend time with your mama..."
’Shit! Think, V, think! How do I get her to agree to this without causing a divine disaster? I need Natasha and Deina to be here, or she’s literally going to smother me to death.’
Desperate, Vincent leaned closer to her ear, lowering his voice so the others couldn’t hear. His face burned with a fiery embarrassment as he prepared to sell a piece of his soul.
"M-Mama... if you agree to let them help train me... I’ll... I’ll let you sleep in the same bed with me at night."
Maribelle flinched. Her face remained buried against his wings, but her tears instantly stopped. "And... and you’ll let me feed you?"
"I– Yes..."
"And... you’ll let me bathe you?" she mumbled further.
"What?! No! That’s way too much!"
"Then no deal."
"Nnnnnn.... Fine! Fine!" Vincent hissed in desperation. "F-Fine! But you have to cover up! And no weird stuff!"
Deep within the feathers of his wings, a soft and satisfied giggle began to echo. A cold shiver ran down Vincent’s spine, giving him goosebumps.
Suddenly, Maribelle broke away from his wings. Gone was the face of depression. In its place was a bright light that sparked with victory.
She jumped up and spun Vincent around in her arms, doting on him with a flurry of happy cheers. "Yay~! Okay! It’s a deal! Oouuu, we’re gonna have so much fun~! Ahahaha~!"
Natasha and Deina, now standing by the doorway, watched the bizarre negotiation play out with a mixture of confusion and mild worry. Slowly, step by step, the two Goddesses began to back out toward the exit of the estate.
"Right... well..." Deina muttered. "We’re just going to... leave you two to whatever... this is."
"Yeah," Natasha added. "See you tomorrow for training, kid. Good luck tonight. You’re gonna need it."
With a soft click, the front doors shut, leaving Vincent alone with his ecstatic and giggling Goddess mother.