Authors Note: A bit shorter than usual, since this is part two of the previous chapter, they should be one at first. Also note...this chapter isn´t meant to be funny, it never was.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Loki...can you explain...this?"
Riveria frowned lightly while she looked at the couch in the big living room of the Mansion, she stood behind the couch since the room was...crowded.
Between Loki and Lefiya sat a small boy of five years old, with very familiar white hair and red eyes. When the two had looked at Bell to check on him, they had found him like that. Bell had woken up and looked for his mother, he was about to cry because he couldn´t find her,
that was when Lefiya walked to him to calm him down. Now he wore...some of Finn´s clothes, there were a bit too big for him, but not much. Tione was so nice to give the clothes to them, it was good that she had a spare key for Finn´s room...those two didn´t moved in together so far.
"Mmmh..."
Bell was mostly fixated on Lefiya, she tried her best to appear as gentle as possible.
"I can´t explain it, when we went to check on him, he looked like that."
"People don´t suddenly turn into a child."
Lefiya smiled gente to Bell, carefully stroking his hair...she acted like a big sister, then she looked at Riveria.
"Bell told me something about testing a new potion at his home earlier this day, maybe a side effect."
"Have you ever heard about such a side effect?"
"It is magic that we are talking about here, lady Riveria."
"True."
Riveria´s eyes wandered to Loki again.
"You told Bell "that" today, right?"
"Yes, everything I know. When we got into their room, two memory stones were next to him. One of them was giving of humming of a female voice. The other had a record on it...from his mother."
Riveria´s expression darkened a bit.
"You used something so private? You had to touch it with his hand to make it work."
Loki sighed. "I feel really sorry about it, trust me. But I needed to know what the memory stones had in them, in case it was something cursed."
"Alright, I guess you had good intentions. But please, Loki...never tell anyone what you heard from these stones...I can only guess how much it has to mean to Bell...since it is from his mother."
"Lady Riveria?"
"Lefiya?"
"Do you think maybe...the effect triggered...due to Bell´s feelings? He said it was a rejuvination potion."
"Maybe...maybe...Alicia?"
"Yes, lady Riveria?"
"Could you please visit Bell´s home and ask them? But don´t tell them how he looks like, only those who made the potion."
"Alright."
Tiona crouched down in front of the couch and smiled bright.
"A tiny Argonaut...sooo cuuuuute! I wonder if Ais´ and his child will look like this!"
"Mmmh!"
Bell pressed himself more against Lefiya, closing his small arms around her waist. Loki noticed a "dangerous" spark in Lefiya´s eyes...she hoped that her adorable elf wouldn´t develop some...tendencies...
I can´t let Lefiya turn into a shota con!
"Don´t worry Bell, Tiona is really nice, you can trust her."
"Really?"
How he looked up to her was beyond adorable.
"Yes, trust your big sister."
"Okay..."
Tiona smiled again and raised a hand to Bell. "Nice to meet you, Bell. I´m Tiona."
"N-Nice to meet you."
"Haaah...you are so cute."
"Mmmmh..."
Bell seemed to feel a bit unwell with the attention of all those adults on him.
"A-And you are really pretty..."
"Oooh? Am I?"
Tiona´s eyes were sparkling.
"Hey, hey, what about me?"
Loki grinned and pointed at herself.
"You too."
"Haaaah...I want to devour him! He is so cute!"
"Mmmmh!"
Bell pressed himself against Lefiya again, to seek for protection.
"There, there."
She patted his head and smiled.
The situation seemed to be funny or relaxed, but it could mean an actual problem. Ais wouldn´t return before morning and they absolutely had to prevent her from seeing him.
"Riveria, why shouldn´t Ais see him like that?"
"Loki, Ais is his fiancee, they are going to marry soon. Meeting him like that wouldn´t give her something like an experience of knowing Bell since childhood. As Tiona said, it is possible when they have a child in the future, that in case it is a son, he will look very much like him.
Do you want Ais to get maternal feelings about her future husband?"
"Irgh...no way in Helheim..."
"See?"
"Where is Mama...*Hic* *Hic*.."
Bell started to sob again, he constantly had asked where his mother was. Loki had told Riveria all the informations she needed, they guessed after doing the math, that Bell had lost his mother when he was around this age.
Maybe hearing the voice of his mother for the first time, while looking at the picture and knowing it was his mother, triggered something within him together with the potion and it turned him back.
"It´s okay Bell...it´s okay..."
Lefiya tried to console him, but his sobbing got faster.
"Mama...*Hic*...Mama!"
No matter what Lefiya and Tiona tried, Bell started to cry, calling for his mother...this moment wasn´t funny at all.
"Bell, please cheer up, it will be okay!"
Lefiya didn´t knew what to say, she had small tears in her eyes herself, it hurt to see the child cry.
"Riveria..." Loki looked at her.
"Tiona, please move to the side."
"Okay."
Riveria moved around the couch for the first time and knelt down in front of Bell.
"Bell?"
"*Hic*"
He rubbed his eyes, then looked at her.
"Mama!"
No one was fast enough to stop him, he literally jumped at Riveria and put his arms around her neck.
"Mama! *Hic* Mama! Where were you! Mama! *Hic*"
Riveria as well as all of the others were shocked, but soon she put her hands around Bell and gently patted his back.
"It´s okay Bell...I´m here."
"Mama! Mama!"
He burried his face in her neck and cried. They heard all the emotions that broke out of him...up to his evening, Bell had no memories of his mother...and now it seemed like he mistook Riveria in his magical changed state for his mother. It was probably because she was always so motherly and would soon be his "Mother-in-Law", in a way.
The small boy was so happy to have his "mother" back, that he cried and cried.
"Grandfather said you were gone! *Hic* Waaaah!"
"I´m here Bell, I´m here!"
They saw that even Riveria sobbed a bit and had small tears in the edges of her eyes. Loki made gestures with her hands shooed everyone out of the room. This wasn´t something the others should see, for both, Bell´s and Riveria´s sake. Riveria wasn´t embarrassed or flustered...she couldn´t help but console a crying child. This young boy cried...longed for his mother...and if he mistook Riveria for her...she would be the last person to push him away. Riveria was sure that the magic effect of the potion wouldn´t last long...until then.
"*Hic*...*Hic*..."
Bell calmed down a bit when Riveria started to hum softly, it was a song that she had heard as a child from her mother, a song that she had hummed for Ais when she was sick.
"Bell, it´s okay...I´m here."
She had sat down on the couch and gently carressed his back to calm him down more.
"You won´t go away?"
"No, I will stay with you."
"Promise?"
"I promise...Bell."
"*Gurgl*"
"Bell?"
"Mmh..."
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes..."
"Shall we eat something together?"
"Yes!"
Bell´s happy face squeezed Riveria´s heart for a second...she could only guess how much Bell missed his mother.
Loki watched how Riveria carried Bell on her arm to the dining room of the Familia.
I´m counting on you, Riveria...man it really hurts my heart to see him like this...poor !
Both women probably felt it even more because it was so similar to Ais...Loki still didn´t regret to have shown Bell the picture and explain it to him...he deserved to know it. An hour later Alicia would return and report to Loki about the potion.
.
.
"Is it tasty, Bell?"
"It is good, Mama!"
Bell beamed all over his face while he looked at Riveria. The meal was done by her personally, Riveria was quite a good cook, a skill she said to be important. In secret she had trained a bit...just in case...well...that the Familia got...offsprings. On the plate in front of Bell was a small pile of rice with peas and corn in it, a small piece of minced meat with a brown sauce, finely cut vegetables...and as a dessert...Riveria had cut an apple into four pieces...each of them "bunny" shaped.
For a drink he got simple water and tea.
A balanced diet was important for a child...many people in the Familia would do everything to get a meal made by Riveria personally.
"Bell, you have something here, eat properly, okay?"
She gently wiped his mouth for him.
"I will!"
Riveria smiled gently and watched him eat...her own heart was in turmoil too. Did it felt like this to take care of a child? It wasn´t a bad feeling...and for Riveria it was okay to have maternal feelings about Bell...at least it wouldn´t be as strange as it would be for Ais.
Bell´s eyes were more fixated on her as on the food, while he looked really happy...Riveria noticed a pain and loneliness deep inside him, past the child self.
How much does he miss his parents...that he never got to know them for real... Ais at least knows her parents...and while Albert is dead...she still has a chance to rescue Aria...and...she has me...
She couldn´t deny it, Riveria was Ais´ foster mother and she did all those things for Ais that Aria couldn´t...Bell had no one. Bell of course had his Familia and friends, also the love of his life. But a mother...memories of his mother...that was something entirely else. From the informations they got, the potion should only last for this day.
If his heart longs for it...I will give Bell this one day with his mother. Ms. Meteria...I hope you can forgive me, I don´t intend to take your place...may he remember it as a nice day with his mother.
Riveria would tell no one what she did with Bell on this day, that was something for him alone. Loki had asked the other girls and women to spend the day outside of the womens part of the Mansion.
Yet...the day with Bell caused a sweet pain in Riveria´s heart...since she experienced too what she didn´t had. She smiled genuinely while she watched him enjoying his meal. It was easy to see that he enjoyed her presence more than the food.
"Did you had enough, Bell?"
"Yeees!" He grinned wide.
"Come, we will wash the plate and then play something, does that sound good?"
"Yeees!"
.
.
*Hic*...What is this pain in my heart? *Hic*...It hurts so much...Bell...
Riveria had played hide and seek with Bell for a while, now he sat on her lap and she read a picture book with him, a hero story she got from Tiona, about Argonaut. She didn´t showed the tears inside her to Bell...doing all this cut more deep than she thought it would.
"Wooooah! This Argonaut sounds so awesome! Like a true hero! Mama? Do you think I can be a hero too in the future?"
"I´m sure of it, Bell. I´m sure you will become a great hero."
"Really?!"
"Yes, really. And I´m sure you will save a Maiden in distress, just like Argonaut."
"Eheheheh!"
Riveria was paying close attention to what she was saying...there were some things that weren't right for her to say to him. Like calling him "My Bell" or "My little Bell" or "My Sweety", she just called him Bell...the other things weren´t right to say...since she wasn´t his mother even when he thought that.
For Riveria it would be cruel to Bell´s mother to do that...also it would hurt herself.
"Mama?"
"Yes, Bell?"
"Isn´t it time for a bath?"
Irgh...please forgive me, Ms. Meteria.
"You are right, shall we go? It is soon time for you to go to bed."
"Can I sleep with you, Mama?"
Hah...
"Of course you can."
While she walked with Bell into the direction of the big bath, Riveria asked for forgiveness again in her mind. She would never know that two souls in heaven drifted slowly around each other, thankful to her for giving their son a nice memory.
.
.
It is only okay because he is a child, he won´t remember it, I´m sure of that.
Riveria knelt naked behind Bell, who sat on a small chair in the bathroom while she washed his hair. At first she had covered herself with a towel, but Bell looked confused at her...he was only five years old and she his mother for the day...Bell wouldn´t look at her with the eyes of an adult.
"Are your eyes closed? Not that you get soap into them."
"Yes."
It was somewhat nice for her to do this...a new experience for her. After helping him to wash himself, Riveria sat down on the chair, Bell wanted to wash her hair too.
"Your hair is so pretty, Mama! So long!"
"Thank you, most women have long hair."
At first she thought she would die of embarrassement, but...that wasn´t the case...even when Bell suddenly snuggled against her from behind...he just longed for the skinship with his mother.
"Shall we go inside?"
"Yes!"
Bell ran towards the water.
"Bell, no running in the bath, no jumping into the water, wait for me before you get in."
"´Kaaay!"
Riveria folded her towel and slowly got into the bathing pool, sitting down at the edge. Bell climbed in too but had problems since he was so small.
"Mama, can I sit on your lap?"
Hrm...
"Of course."
Riveria´s eyes widened...Bell climbed onto her lap and sat down...when he leaned back...he used her breasts as a pillow. She froze for a moment...never had a man seen or touched her body before...but then again Bell was just a child at the moment.
The situation was not that easy for her.
"Mama?"
"Yes?!"
Riveria tried to calm herself down, her body tried to breath way faster than she should do, her heart raced.
.
.
"Mama..."
"Bell, are you tired?"
"Yes..."
"Shall we go to bed?"
"Just a little more..."
After the bath, Riveria had returned to her room with Bell, reading a bit more after brushing their teeth.
"Bell, you are tired, we should go to sleep."
"No!"
Suddenly he clutched his hands into her clohtes...he looked like he was afraid. Did his child self maybe knew that it had only this one day and didn´t wanted it to end?
"Bell, it is okay..."
Riveria gently hugged Bell and started to hum, calming him down and lulling him in. Soon he started to doze off and Riveria gently carried him to her bed, lying down next to him. She decided to not listen too much, Riveria gently took one of the memory stones and touched Bell´s hand with it. Soon her hum was replaced by the hum of his real mother. His hands clutched again into her nightgown and Bell sobbed.
"Mama...Mama...Mama!..."
She could just lie in the darkness and hold the crying child...her own tears followed soon, but she made no sound. Bell cried and cried, her nightgown got wet with tears and snot...Riveria didn´t cared. She didn´t cared when he burried his face into her bosom and put his small arms as much around her body as he could.
"Mama..*Sob*..don´t go away! *Hic* Mama!*Hic*"
Maybe to activate the stone was a mistake from Riveria...but she thought he should hear his real mothers voice...not hers.
His sleep was so deep, he didn´t woke up when Riveria carried Bell into his room. One hour before Ais returned to the Mansion, Bell turned back to his normal self...still sleeping until morning. Riveria only described with a few words to Ais what happened, not going into detail too much.
"Riveria...what can I do for Bell?"
"Be there for him, Ais. He misses his parents very much...you two have that in common...be there for him."
.
.
Bell would wake up in the morning, hugged by the sleeping Ais. He had no memories of what happened yesterday, but deep in his mind was a memory of spending one wonderful day with his mother, long, long in the past. The two memory stones would become part of his most important possessions. Sometimes he just listened to his mother´s humming for a while, but only when Ais wasn´t present, it would feel wrong since she couldn´t hear her mother. To know that Bell missed his parents so much, as well as for him knowing that Ais missed her parents...brought those two only closer together.
Ais would start to tell Bell more about her parents, and Bell what he knew about his. He renewed his oath to help Ais to free her mother.
.
.
.
And unseen by the others...Riveria cried for a long time in her room, pressing her face into her pillow, while she hugged it, sitting leaned against the backrest of her bed.
.
.
She cried for a long...long time.
.
.
.
.
Authors Note2: I wanted to write something emotional for Bell, I just couldn´t imagine he wouldn´t cry if he learned about his parents. What the events of this chapter did to Ais, Bell and Riveria will become important later again.
Also a bit of information about the story with Alfia. I changed something since I just couldn´t get the story together in the way I planned, I kept getting deadlocked with the story board, because it didn´t felt right and natural.
Beill will still have two lovers in this story, but not Lefiya anymore. She will get her part in the Harem story. Bell´s partners will be Haruhime...and the other one is a secret.
Edit: Before someone gets this wrong, Riveria doesn´t cries because she loves Bell like in Blood of Zeus. It is because spending time with "her child" hurt her since it isn´t real and because how much pain Bell felt.
No Harem in this story, purely 100,34% AisxBell.
Lefiya will still play a role in Alfia´s story but not as Bell´s lover.