Arthur remembers all the times he was with his mother talking about Astral Beasts.
Aria taught him that there are three sources of power that rule their world, the first being the power of lineages, such as Draven's impressive bloodline.
The second is magic, whose potential is determined at birth and improves as the person practices.
And the third, although much rarer, can overcome any human limitation; that's the Astral Beasts.
Such creatures made of soul energy are connected to their masters through their very souls, and their bond transcends time and space.
No one fully understands the Astral Beasts, and Aria is one of the most successful scholars in the area.
She believes that Astral Beasts are the manifestation of their master's personality, just as Draven has a golden lion due to his brilliant determination and pride.
Aria, on the other hand, has an owl as her Astral beast, a manifestation of her calm, protective, and intelligent personality.
That made a lot of sense to Arthur, but he always wondered why his Nexus is a pink heart. After all, what kind of Astral Beast is that?
When Arthur finally sees some reaction in his Nexus, what appears in front of him is a beautiful and cute naked girl.
"No, no, no…" He simply can't believe that. "Could she be my Astral Beast???"
While Arthur freaks out, the girl just stands there, trying to hide her intimate parts while blushing deeply.
The atmosphere in the bathroom gets hotter and hotter, and Arthur has difficulty controlling his emotions.
Liam was a master at controlling every part of his body; he could remain cool even in the most extreme situations.
But Arthur is just an eleven-year-old boy, experiencing puberty that can in no way be considered normal.
All Arthur wants now is to look at that girl because she is so beautiful and cute, but he can't take his eyes off the door.
All his instincts tell him that his mother can arrive at any moment. "How am I going to explain a naked girl in the bathroom with me?!?!"
He can already imagine the scene of Draven laughing proudly while his mother gives him the first spanking of his new life.
*Glup*
The sound of Arthur swallowing dryly echoes through the bathroom.
He plucks up the courage to try to talk to the girl again. "Oi, are you... my-"
"I don't know!" She quickly exclaims with that voice so shy, cute, and sensual at the same time.
Arthur tries to speak again. "I don't even-"
"I don't know what I am." The girl responds quickly. "I also don't understand why things are like this..."
Arthur can feel a mixture of emotions in the tone of the mysterious girl. "She seems really confused... angry... and lonely?"
Liam never cared about other people's feelings because all empathy was taken away from him, but Arthur had such loving parents who taught him to have empathy for everyone in need.
"Everything will be fine," He speaks in a friendly and confident tone.
The girl instinctively smiles as she feels her heart warmer. "His voice really calms me down..."
She starts to feel better, but then she notices Arthur slowly turning his head and punches his head again.
"You can't look at me!!!" She exclaims timidly.
"Ow! Ow!!" He pretends to be in pain, but the girl's cute punches are actually quite pleasant.
"..." Somehow, the girl can see that he enjoys that, but what else can she do? Hurting him seems very wrong.
Arthur starts to become more confident and talks to her again. "You may ask me not to look, but I don't know how long I'll be able to resist..."
No matter how hard he tries, he simply can't stop thinking about her face.
In that small instant he saw her face, such image was etched in his mind.
She is so beautiful with those big bright yellow eyes, small red hair, healthy tan skin so perfect and shiny, a cute thin and graceful nose, healthy rosy cheeks...
But such beautiful features aren't the only impressive thing about the girl's look.
She also has long pointed ears, small points above her red eyebrows like natural piercings, and two small black horns with yellowish tips that come out of her red hair.
Yet, the part that attracts Arthur's attention the most is her delicate pink lips; those lips seem so soft and perfect.
Arthur is still so young, but he can't get that thought out of his mind. "I really want to feel those lips!!!"
But then, before he could gather the courage to look at the girl again, his nightmare started.
"Arthur???" Aria's voice echoes through the hallway outside the bathroom.
"Mother?!?!" He responds immediately, unable to hide his concerned tone.
"Is everything okay?" Aria's voice sounds even closer and more concerned. "I heard a female voice..."
"Now it's totally screwed up!!" Arthur panics and can't think of what to do.
"It... not... wasn't..." He starts to stammer.
"Son???" Aria becomes really worried and heads straight to the bathroom.
Arthur doesn't like the idea of hiding something from his mother, but how is he going to explain this situation? He fears ruining his perfect life forever.
So he quickly speaks to the girl in a low tone. "You have to go back!"
"No!" The girl exclaims as she blushes even more. "I don't want to be there… near your... thing..."
"But if my mother finds you here, things will get complicated!" He pleads.
But the girl turns her face away, still very flushed. "I don't care about your problems!"
Arthur really doesn't understand the girl. She was upset about coming out of his Nexus, and now she's upset about having to go back.
But she also has such a cute side.
He can't help but remember a word from Liam's memories that describes the mysterious girl perfectly. "She's a total Tsundere!"
Arthur tries to search in Liam's memories for how to deal with a girl like that, but poor Liam has no such experiences to share.
"Think, think, think!!" Arthur tries to put his mind to work as fast as possible. "I got it!"
He has an idea and quickly puts it into practice.
He looks directly into the beautiful girl's face. "If that's what you want, fine, I'll introduce you as my girlfriend to my mother."
"WHAT?!?!" She panics and blushes even more. "Your... your... your... girlf-"
The poor girl can't even speak without stammering, which makes her seem even cuter to Arthur.
He finds himself in an impossible dilemma, he really wants to look more at that girl and see all her cute reactions, but he's terrified that his mother will come and never see him with the same eyes again.
"Damn, what kind of nightmare is this?!?!" He freezes.
*Knock-knock* *Knock-knock*
The sounds of Aria knocking on the door awaken Arthur from his paralysis, increasing his panic.
"Arthur?? Son???" Aria's voice echoes inside the bathroom as she starts to open the door. "Coming in."
Arthur sees the doorknob turning and sighs. "It's over, I screwed everything up again..."
Aria's entrance cannot be stopped, and as soon as Arthur sees his mother's beautiful face, he tries to put on the most honest and innocent smile possible.
"Mom!?"
"Arthur??"
He is confused because he doesn't see any shock on his mother's face; there is just a little bit of confusion and concern.
"What happened?" Aria only sees Arthur in the bathtub with sweat running down his face, which is quite strange.
"Eh…" He looks around and doesn't see the girl anywhere. Even her wonderful perfume has disappeared as if she was never there.
"My Nexus!" He remembers and looks down; then, he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that the pink heart has returned to its usual place.
Arthur's reactions leave Aria very confused and curious. "I've never seen him so nervous... what could have made him like that?"
Aria understands better than anyone how Arthur is much more mature than he should be. He always acts in a calm and restrained way, so seeing him in that state is very strange.
"Son? Is everything okay?" Even knowing that something is wrong, Aria tries to act calmly to reassure him.
"YEP!" Arthur ends up exaggerating due to happiness and exclaims very loudly.
"I mean, everything is fine." He speaks again.
Aria's gaze seems like that of a hawk, she looks around the bathroom analyzing everything carefully.
Arthur becomes afraid again of her discovering about the girl and tries to think of something. Then he remembers that his mother heard the girl's voice.
He struggles to think of something quickly and has an idea. "You also heard voices?"
"Voices?" Aria asks in a curious tone.
Arthur tries to maintain the most honest expression he has, while feeling bad for lying to his mother.
"Yeah, I heard voices," He points to the bathroom window. "I think it was a couple passing by on the street; the girl seemed to be quite upset about something."
Aria can't deny that his story seems very real, after all, the only open window in the house now is the bathroom's, so the sound of the voices could have come in through there, and she heard it even being far away due to her sharp senses.
"Hmm…" Yet, Aria feels her maternal instincts telling her that something is wrong. "Why would my son lie to me?"
Arthur becomes very nervous, but now he can control his emotions and remains cool inside while smiling lovingly at his mother.
He doesn't like lying to her, but a small lie is a valid sacrifice in order to continue having his perfect life with his beloved family.
Aria can feel that something is wrong, but since Arthur seems fine, she doesn't have anything to worry about.
So she looks at the window with a thoughtful expression. "The girl did seem upset; I think I heard the word stupid more than once."
Arthur can sigh with relief again. "I guess so."
But then Aria gives him a stern look. "Some men only think about their selfish needs and don't treat their girlfriends well..."
"What???" Arthur can't help but think about the mysterious girl. He didn't do anything bad to her, but she still seemed furious with him.
Yet, Arthur totally trusts his mother, so if she is saying that it was his fault, it probably was. "Or that girl is just so mad..."
"Arthur," Aria speaks in a loving but also solemn tone. "Promise mommy one thing."
"Sure, mom." He responds quickly.
"Never be like those men who mistreat women," She asks. "When you have your girlfriend, treat her like a Queen, and she will always treat you like her King."
Those words are etched in Arthur's heart and mind. After losing his family, the thing he fears the most is disappointing his parents.
So he swears to his mother that he will treat women well even if they are crazy Tsunderes like the mysterious red-haired girl.
"Good boy," Aria lovingly smiles at him.
But then her gaze finds another thing out of the ordinary, and she can't help but comment. "Oh my~~ you're growing up so fast..."
Arthur understands why his mother is saying that and quickly covers his body with the bathtub foam. "Mom!?!"
Aria can't help but continue seeing him as her beloved baby and laughs even more lovingly. "What's the matter? Are you ashamed of mommy? After I washed your body thousands of times??"
Thanks to Liam's memories, Arthur is more grateful than anyone to have such a loving mother, but he can't help but feel extremely embarrassed by that situation.
Aria enjoys her son's reactions, but she doesn't want to torment him too much and leaves the bathroom.
But not before leaving some words behind. "It's okay if you take a little longer in the bath, I bet you have things to explore there..."
"..." Arthur has no response to that.
He feels very good joking and mocking his father, but Aria always manages to make him embarrassed. Well, that can't be avoided, that's a healthy relationship with such a loving mother.
Arthur remembers all the times he was with his mother talking about Astral Beasts.
Aria taught him that there are three sources of power that rule their world, the first being the power of lineages, such as Draven's impressive bloodline.
The second is magic, whose potential is determined at birth and improves as the person practices.
And the third, although much rarer, can overcome any human limitation; that's the Astral Beasts.
Such creatures made of soul energy are connected to their masters through their very souls, and their bond transcends time and space.
No one fully understands the Astral Beasts, and Aria is one of the most successful scholars in the area.
She believes that Astral Beasts are the manifestation of their master's personality, just as Draven has a golden lion due to his brilliant determination and pride.
Aria, on the other hand, has an owl as her Astral beast, a manifestation of her calm, protective, and intelligent personality.
That made a lot of sense to Arthur, but he always wondered why his Nexus is a pink heart. After all, what kind of Astral Beast is that?
When Arthur finally sees some reaction in his Nexus, what appears in front of him is a beautiful and cute naked girl.
"No, no, no…" He simply can't believe that. "Could she be my Astral Beast???"
While Arthur freaks out, the girl just stands there, trying to hide her intimate parts while blushing deeply.
The atmosphere in the bathroom gets hotter and hotter, and Arthur has difficulty controlling his emotions.
Liam was a master at controlling every part of his body; he could remain cool even in the most extreme situations.
But Arthur is just an eleven-year-old boy, experiencing puberty that can in no way be considered normal.
All Arthur wants now is to look at that girl because she is so beautiful and cute, but he can't take his eyes off the door.
All his instincts tell him that his mother can arrive at any moment. "How am I going to explain a naked girl in the bathroom with me?!?!"
He can already imagine the scene of Draven laughing proudly while his mother gives him the first spanking of his new life.
*Glup*
The sound of Arthur swallowing dryly echoes through the bathroom.
He plucks up the courage to try to talk to the girl again. "Oi, are you... my-"
"I don't know!" She quickly exclaims with that voice so shy, cute, and sensual at the same time.
Arthur tries to speak again. "I don't even-"
"I don't know what I am." The girl responds quickly. "I also don't understand why things are like this..."
Arthur can feel a mixture of emotions in the tone of the mysterious girl. "She seems really confused... angry... and lonely?"
Liam never cared about other people's feelings because all empathy was taken away from him, but Arthur had such loving parents who taught him to have empathy for everyone in need.
"Everything will be fine," He speaks in a friendly and confident tone.
The girl instinctively smiles as she feels her heart warmer. "His voice really calms me down..."
She starts to feel better, but then she notices Arthur slowly turning his head and punches his head again.
"You can't look at me!!!" She exclaims timidly.
"Ow! Ow!!" He pretends to be in pain, but the girl's cute punches are actually quite pleasant.
"..." Somehow, the girl can see that he enjoys that, but what else can she do? Hurting him seems very wrong.
Arthur starts to become more confident and talks to her again. "You may ask me not to look, but I don't know how long I'll be able to resist..."
No matter how hard he tries, he simply can't stop thinking about her face.
In that small instant he saw her face, such image was etched in his mind.
She is so beautiful with those big bright yellow eyes, small red hair, healthy tan skin so perfect and shiny, a cute thin and graceful nose, healthy rosy cheeks...
But such beautiful features aren't the only impressive thing about the girl's look.
She also has long pointed ears, small points above her red eyebrows like natural piercings, and two small black horns with yellowish tips that come out of her red hair.
Yet, the part that attracts Arthur's attention the most is her delicate pink lips; those lips seem so soft and perfect.
Arthur is still so young, but he can't get that thought out of his mind. "I really want to feel those lips!!!"
But then, before he could gather the courage to look at the girl again, his nightmare started.
"Arthur???" Aria's voice echoes through the hallway outside the bathroom.
"Mother?!?!" He responds immediately, unable to hide his concerned tone.
"Is everything okay?" Aria's voice sounds even closer and more concerned. "I heard a female voice..."
"Now it's totally screwed up!!" Arthur panics and can't think of what to do.
"It... not... wasn't..." He starts to stammer.
"Son???" Aria becomes really worried and heads straight to the bathroom.
Arthur doesn't like the idea of hiding something from his mother, but how is he going to explain this situation? He fears ruining his perfect life forever.
So he quickly speaks to the girl in a low tone. "You have to go back!"
"No!" The girl exclaims as she blushes even more. "I don't want to be there… near your... thing..."
"But if my mother finds you here, things will get complicated!" He pleads.
But the girl turns her face away, still very flushed. "I don't care about your problems!"
Arthur really doesn't understand the girl. She was upset about coming out of his Nexus, and now she's upset about having to go back.
But she also has such a cute side.
He can't help but remember a word from Liam's memories that describes the mysterious girl perfectly. "She's a total Tsundere!"
Arthur tries to search in Liam's memories for how to deal with a girl like that, but poor Liam has no such experiences to share.
"Think, think, think!!" Arthur tries to put his mind to work as fast as possible. "I got it!"
He has an idea and quickly puts it into practice.
He looks directly into the beautiful girl's face. "If that's what you want, fine, I'll introduce you as my girlfriend to my mother."
"WHAT?!?!" She panics and blushes even more. "Your... your... your... girlf-"
The poor girl can't even speak without stammering, which makes her seem even cuter to Arthur.
He finds himself in an impossible dilemma, he really wants to look more at that girl and see all her cute reactions, but he's terrified that his mother will come and never see him with the same eyes again.
"Damn, what kind of nightmare is this?!?!" He freezes.
*Knock-knock* *Knock-knock*
The sounds of Aria knocking on the door awaken Arthur from his paralysis, increasing his panic.
"Arthur?? Son???" Aria's voice echoes inside the bathroom as she starts to open the door. "Coming in."
Arthur sees the doorknob turning and sighs. "It's over, I screwed everything up again..."
Aria's entrance cannot be stopped, and as soon as Arthur sees his mother's beautiful face, he tries to put on the most honest and innocent smile possible.
"Mom!?"
"Arthur??"
He is confused because he doesn't see any shock on his mother's face; there is just a little bit of confusion and concern.
"What happened?" Aria only sees Arthur in the bathtub with sweat running down his face, which is quite strange.
"Eh…" He looks around and doesn't see the girl anywhere. Even her wonderful perfume has disappeared as if she was never there.
"My Nexus!" He remembers and looks down; then, he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that the pink heart has returned to its usual place.
Arthur's reactions leave Aria very confused and curious. "I've never seen him so nervous... what could have made him like that?"
Aria understands better than anyone how Arthur is much more mature than he should be. He always acts in a calm and restrained way, so seeing him in that state is very strange.
"Son? Is everything okay?" Even knowing that something is wrong, Aria tries to act calmly to reassure him.
"YEP!" Arthur ends up exaggerating due to happiness and exclaims very loudly.
"I mean, everything is fine." He speaks again.
Aria's gaze seems like that of a hawk, she looks around the bathroom analyzing everything carefully.
Arthur becomes afraid again of her discovering about the girl and tries to think of something. Then he remembers that his mother heard the girl's voice.
He struggles to think of something quickly and has an idea. "You also heard voices?"
"Voices?" Aria asks in a curious tone.
Arthur tries to maintain the most honest expression he has, while feeling bad for lying to his mother.
"Yeah, I heard voices," He points to the bathroom window. "I think it was a couple passing by on the street; the girl seemed to be quite upset about something."
Aria can't deny that his story seems very real, after all, the only open window in the house now is the bathroom's, so the sound of the voices could have come in through there, and she heard it even being far away due to her sharp senses.
"Hmm…" Yet, Aria feels her maternal instincts telling her that something is wrong. "Why would my son lie to me?"
Arthur becomes very nervous, but now he can control his emotions and remains cool inside while smiling lovingly at his mother.
He doesn't like lying to her, but a small lie is a valid sacrifice in order to continue having his perfect life with his beloved family.
Aria can feel that something is wrong, but since Arthur seems fine, she doesn't have anything to worry about.
So she looks at the window with a thoughtful expression. "The girl did seem upset; I think I heard the word stupid more than once."
Arthur can sigh with relief again. "I guess so."
But then Aria gives him a stern look. "Some men only think about their selfish needs and don't treat their girlfriends well..."
"What???" Arthur can't help but think about the mysterious girl. He didn't do anything bad to her, but she still seemed furious with him.
Yet, Arthur totally trusts his mother, so if she is saying that it was his fault, it probably was. "Or that girl is just so mad..."
"Arthur," Aria speaks in a loving but also solemn tone. "Promise mommy one thing."
"Sure, mom." He responds quickly.
"Never be like those men who mistreat women," She asks. "When you have your girlfriend, treat her like a Queen, and she will always treat you like her King."
Those words are etched in Arthur's heart and mind. After losing his family, the thing he fears the most is disappointing his parents.
So he swears to his mother that he will treat women well even if they are crazy Tsunderes like the mysterious red-haired girl.
"Good boy," Aria lovingly smiles at him.
But then her gaze finds another thing out of the ordinary, and she can't help but comment. "Oh my~~ you're growing up so fast..."
Arthur understands why his mother is saying that and quickly covers his body with the bathtub foam. "Mom!?!"
Aria can't help but continue seeing him as her beloved baby and laughs even more lovingly. "What's the matter? Are you ashamed of mommy? After I washed your body thousands of times??"
Thanks to Liam's memories, Arthur is more grateful than anyone to have such a loving mother, but he can't help but feel extremely embarrassed by that situation.
Aria enjoys her son's reactions, but she doesn't want to torment him too much and leaves the bathroom.
But not before leaving some words behind. "It's okay if you take a little longer in the bath, I bet you have things to explore there..."
"..." Arthur has no response to that.
He feels very good joking and mocking his father, but Aria always manages to make him embarrassed. Well, that can't be avoided, that's a healthy relationship with such a loving mother.
