Mchi couldn''t exin why looking at the strange blue skinned woman had reminded him of his cousin''s warning, but now that he was seeing her he couldn''t forget it.


    Apparently this was another of Thea''s mothers; Tatiana.


    A seven foot, blue skinned, golden eyed goddess of the ocean and chaos.


    She didn''t bear any malicious intent toward Mal, but for some reason his body would not allow him to stop being on edge as if an attack was imminent.


    "…You must''ve found Thea''s mother quite pretty."


    "H-Huh..?"


    Mal felt like he was jolted awake when he heard Celeste''s voicee from right beside him.


    It was embarrassing, but he had only now realized that they weren''t in the same location as before.


    Thea was leading Aisha, Aubrey, and himself and Celeste up a flight of stairs.


    He hadn''t even registered that they had left the presence of Thea''s mothers.


    ''Just how powerful is that woman..?''


    Tatiana was perhaps the only woman other than Nyx who left him stumped as to the depths of her power.


    It furthered his questions about Thea''s family background, and what exactly this father of hers was supposed to be like.


    Celeste noticed Mal''s disconnected behavior and her mood quickly soured.


    It reaffirmed every assumption she had about him and solidified her decision to not pursue romantic involvement with him.


    That little incident earlier was just a slip up.


    A very nice, erotic, intimate slip-up…


    ''Don''t be fooled, Ce-Ce! Who knows how many women he put those full.. warm lips on.''


    Celeste shook her head hard to prevent herself from letting her mind wander too far below belt.


    But still, she had to get onest dig in.


    "…Slut."


    "Eh??!"


    Mchi lost the chance to offer a rebuttal when Thea suddenly stopped in front of a door along the hallway.


    She checked her wristwatch for the time before cing her hand on the doorknob.


    "They should all be up by now. Be warned though… you might see some pretty strange stuff in here."


    Aisha raised a brow. "Why don''t you just knock on the-"


    "Big sister privileges, cutie. I get to barge in whenever I feel like it!"


    Before anyone could stop her, Thea threw open the door.


    Surprisingly, the sound of music spilled out instead of obscene noises.


    The visitors poked their heads inside curiously.


    They were looking at a very spacious and nicely decorated living room that was currently housing a small crowd.


    In addition to the three who actually lived here, Mal noticed a pair of twins, a young infant who looked to be around the same age as Cami, and another young woman with fiery orange-red hair.


    They along with Belloc were sitting around and cheering while Mnie and Stheno… sang a duet?


    Mnie: "The n was to drink until the pain over. But what''s worse, the pain or the hangover? Fresh air, rolling down the window, too many Urkel''s on your team that''s why your wins low!"


    Celeste''s jaw dropped.


    When it came time for Stheno''s part, the entire group shared her exact facial expression.


    "Can we get much higher?"


    "So highhh~" the crowd cheered.


    "Oh, oh, oh! Oh, oh, ohhh, oh!"


    Mchi never thought that he would hear such an angelic voicee out of a frighteningly stoic woman like Stheno, and yet here it was.


    ''This ce is crazy… I kinda like it.''


    "Hey guys! I broughtpany!" Thea said cheerfully.


    Mnie turned around and her cheerful face paled almost instantly.


    "M-Mom?!"


    Celeste showed her daughter a smile that was not a smile as she folded her arms across herrge chest.


    "And to think I was so worried about you when you left home so suddenly without so much as a goodbye, but it seems like that was all for nothing, wasn''t it?"


    Mnie gulped audibly as shbacks of being scolded as a child consumed her mind.


    "And what''s this I hear about you getting married?"


    Now, Belloc was the one who was going pale.


    -


    To have a more private conversation, Mnie asked to speak to her mother, and more surprisingly Mchi, in another location.


    She led the two of them to a beautiful garden located on the rooftop that was unlike any they had ever seen.


    There were no roses, chrysanthemums, or lilies, but there were flowers that possessed an organic glow.


    They even seemed to bear some semnce of sentience.


    As Mchi and Celeste walked past, the nts turned to face them as if they were curious about the new visitors that they didn''t recognize.


    Mnie led the two of them into a clearing behind a grove of trees.


    A nice pic table was there already waiting for them, and Celeste wasted no time diving into the heart of the issue.


    "Why did you leave home, youngdy? And what''s this I hear about you having been gone a whole month already??"


    "D-Diving right into the hard stuff, huh mom?" Mnie scratched her cheek in embarrassment.


    "I think we''re a little past easing in, sweetheart." Celeste rebuffed.


    ''Those are some really big doghouses…'' Mchi was still staring at the garden around him and trying to take in as many wondrous new sights as they could.


    "I just… kind of needed a change I guess. A big one." Mnie sighed. "I didn''t feel like I could fully turnover a new leaf there."


    For a while before she left, Mnie had been quite unhappy at the base.


    Though nothing had happened on the surface, she felt like everywhere she went people were walking on eggshells around her.


    She couldn''t pretend that she didn''t understand why.


    She was the amnesiac girl. The ex-girlfriend of his most beloved man in their smallmunity. And the daughter of the woman who everyone jokingly insisted would make a cute pairing with him.


    It got to a point where Mnie began to question why she was even there. Why she was even alive.


    She understood the dangerous metaphorical cliff that she was looking down.


    As she stood on the precipice of an irreversible decision, she met Belloc.


    He offered her a different path out of the darkness and a life where she could finally be happy.


    She did admit that the certain ''permanent'' aspects of the offer were rming, but after struggling for so long she was kind of tired of overthinking.


    "So I kind of just jumped right into everything without really thinking about it..!" Mnie scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "…Are you mad..?"


    "I-I…"


    Celeste didn''t know what to say.


    But Mchi did.


    "Mel, I''m d you''re happy now and everything, but I wish I would''ve known that you were having a hard time back at home."


    Mel smiled and leaned forward with her elbows on the table.


    "Oh yeah? And what would you have done exactly? Stopped courting my mom?"


    "I…"


    "T-There is nothing going on between us so you do not get to use that as an excuse!" Celeste interrupted.


    Oddly enough, Mnie seemed to find her im even more amusing.


    "Weren''t you the one who said ''you should fight harder for your rtionship because back in college I wouldn''t have let a boy like that leave my side''?"


    "You''re taking that out of context! Out of context I say!" Mal didn''t know it was possible for a woman''s face to get as red as Celeste''s, and yet here was the proof.


    "I also remember you talking about him a lot before I left home…"


    "I told you I couldn''t stand him! He''s manwhorish and cocky and-"


    "Still sitting right here…" Mal muttered.


    "I-I don''t care!"


    Mnieughed until her cheeks turned red.


    It was a free, lightheartedugh that made Mal realize just how happy she really was here. He hadn''t seen herugh like that at the base ever since she regained her memories.


    "I''m d you''re happy, Mel." He confessed.


    Mnie looked down in embarrassment as she realized that there was one thing she had yet to apologize for.


    "A-About that day where I…"


    "It''s already forgotten." Mal smiled.


    "I-It was very R.Kelly of me, and I just want you to know that I''m-"


    "Please, let it go." Mal tried not to snicker.


    "What?? What happened between the two of you?" Celeste looked around in confusion.


    ""Nothing.""


    "D-Don''t lie to me!!"


    Mal and Mnie fell into twin fits ofughter that made mature Celeste feel the tiniest bit left out.


    Mnie suddenly stood up and hugged both her mother and Mchi around their necks.


    Mchi returned it as if she were an old friend he had known for forever.


    Celeste hugged her more tightly as if she feared the loss of something precious.


    She wasn''t sure how to cope with everything that she was feeling.


    And when she wasn''t sure how to cope with her feelings, she had a small tendency tosh out…