18 Snap 17: Reunion.

"What happened to your child and his father?"

"Huh? Of all the things to ask an all powerful God, that's it? Or are you just so curious?" Jupiter asked.

"There's something I need to confirm." I replied.

"...I met my husband a long while ago. He was a nice man. He was around 20 then. At some point we unofficially married. We had a young boy. We had a few more years together before the curse kicked in. I don't remember anything else."

"What was your husband's name?"

"Does it matter? Why would you want to know?"

"Please..." I said pleadingly.

"My memory of that time isn't great. But I'm sure his name should be...Howard."

That cinched it.

"That name, that's my father's name. My mother disappeared one day, the same day my house was reduced to rubble. The same day I got this scar on my back. Does that sound familiar?"

"Huh? No... that should be impossible, they're dead! I held them in my own arms. What are you doing... giving me this false hope... what would that acomplish?!" At this point, her eyes were tearing up. I pressed on.

"What about the name Vulcan? Chronos? Do those ring a bell?" I said, standing above her.

"How... HOW DO YOU KNOW THOSE NAMES?! THEY WERE FORGOTEN! NO ONE SHOULD KNOW THOSE NAMES!" Tears were rolling down now. I don't know what happened to her parents to make her like this, but, it wasn't a simple death.

"Who... are you..." She sobbed "To make me remember those things... Who sent you?! You're just some God's pawn sent to screw with me, aren't you?! Did someone know I was I trying to stop the Demons and sent you to mess with me?! My love is dead, my little boy is dead, my parents are dead. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

This hurt to listen to. I can't imagine how it feels to have lived it. The mere mention of her parents, her past, all of that pain.

"You're my Mom, and I'm your son." I hugged her.

Sobbing, Jupiter said, "Don't do it. Don't give me hope."

"Hope is the one thing we need right now. Let me show you." I took out my phone and opened up a picture of me and my Dad.

"He's still alive and kicking." I said.

She grabbed the phone, still refusing to have too much hope, but the picture is all it took.

"He's alive... my love..." She said, crying, but happy.

She looked to me. I smiled.

"I'm here, Mom."

She sobbed and hugged me.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for being such a lousy mother! I missed you two so much!"

"It's fine Mom, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

We hugged for a quiet minute. I always missed my Mom. Dad did get remarried and is happy, but, I never forgot that feeling. That feeling I had as a baby, being held by my Mom. Its funny how I'm the bigger one this time. Why did she get smaller after the curse?

"Ahem!" She said, trying to clear the air. "Let's get back to training. A happy reunion is no reason to slack off!"

"Yeah, yeah, shoulda known." I said.

At that moment, another spell popped into my head.

"Ooh hey I got something!"

"Another spell? Well, it's normal to get a bunch in a short time when you're starting out. What's this one?"

"If it's what I think it is, it should be amazing. No Incantation either."

"Well, let'er rip!" Mom said.

"Hrngg!"

I grunted as I charged up lightning. I made it spread around my entire body like armor. I kept increasing the output. 25% power increase. 60, 100%.

"Hragh!" I shouted.

The power up was completed. Lightning sparked around my entire body. My hair spiked up at the tips. My muscles seemed much stronger. I felt faster.

"Woah. What's it called?"

"If I were to give it a name... Lightning Clad."

"Nice!" Said Mom. Mom, that's a weird thing to get used to.

We hugged one last time. At that moment however.

The door opened. Ai, Venus and Mars got through, apparently done for the day.

"Hey, what up?" Said Mars. Spunky as usual despite being coated in sweat.

"Huh?" The three said in unison. Don't blame 'em. This is a bit of a weird situation. Meanwhile I was wondering what kind of training they were doing.