Reincarnated in the Astral World
Chapter 25: Mommy is Mommy (1/2)

Arthur doesn't understand how he can have such a good scent, but only women can smell it.

But he tries not to think too much about it now because what he wants to know the most is why his mother suspected that he had memories of another life.

When he stops talking to Nyx and turns his attention back to Aria, he sees her looking at him with that thoughtful and charming expression.

"Mom?" He gets confused.

"Hmm..." Aria looks at him closely. "Sometimes you seem so disconnected from the world around you; is it because of your memories?"

"Damn!" Arthur understands that when he stops to talk to Nyx mentally in front of other people, he must really seem strange.

He wants to tell his mother about Nyx, but he first wants to finish clarifying things about his past life, or it may be too much for Aria to assimilate at the same time.

"What were you going to show me?" He ignores her question and asks his own.

Aria notices all of Arthur's actions and quickly comes to a conclusion. "Does he have more secrets?"

She kept her suspicions for years and waited until he was ready to tell his secret, so she doesn't mind waiting more for other secrets.

"Come with me," She speaks lovingly and leaves the room.

Arthur covers Eve's body with his blanket and lets the girl nap in his bed while he follows his mother.

She takes him to the small library in the house; a room with a few meters full of books stands around a study table.

Arthur spent a good part of his life in that library studying with Aria, so he can smell her wonderful perfume in the air even though the smell of dust and old books is also present.

On the other hand, she doesn't smell the books because Arthur's special scent is very intense, making her cheeks blush a little.

"What are we doing here?" He asks, curious.

"It's not here yet," She comments while touching a book on the shelf.

Arthur has already read that book, which is about plants from the continent of Eldoria, but when Aria touches it, her hands glow with her magic, and the entire shelf floats to the side.

"A secret passage in the library, of course." Arthur thinks out loud.

Aria smiles. "Sometimes the simplest is the best."

"I guess so," Arthur follows Aria through the secret passage that leads to a small spiral staircase.

After several seconds going down, Arthur is sure they are already below the house level.

"Where is this going to-" He gets curious, but then they finally arrive in a large luxurious hall.

The place seems to have a little more than a hundred square meters, and it's also very high; Arthur can see every part of it because everything is illuminated by magical flames.

There are dozens of stands with hundreds of books in total, in addition to every kind of magical tool he can imagine, most of them unknown to him, of course.

"This place is amazing!" He exclaims while looking at everything with curious eyes.

Aria just smiles lovingly. "Did you think I created magical items where? In that small library?"

"Now that I think about it, I guess it makes sense to have a super library lab under the house..." He comments.

"Your mommy is a great mage, after all." She brags with a proud smile.

"I know, right?" Arthur wants to explore the new library and read the books that Aria kept away from him.

But he can't stop thinking about what she wants to show him, and she seems to be focused on that, too, since she walks towards a shelf further back in the room.

Arthur follows Aria and sees her pick up a book that is bound by magical chains, making him even more curious.

She notices his look and giggles. "I just didn't want to lose it. There are many books down here, and I'm not really organized."

"Oh," Arthur looks closely as Aria takes that book out of its protective case, and he is shocked to see it.

On the cover of the book is an image of a girl with wings and horns similar to Nyx's, which also surprises her.

Arthur searched all of Aria's books for creatures like Nyx and never found anything, but now he understands that the good books were hidden all the time.

Aria doesn't fail to notice Arthur's surprise at seeing the book cover, which makes her very curious.

"Do you recognize her?" Aria points to the girl in the book.

Arthur holds the book in his hands and takes a good look at that image; the girl seems to be a little older than Nyx but shares all her special features.

"What is she?" Arthur asks.

"A Demon," Aria responds, again surprising Arthur.

In the world of Liam, there were legends about creatures like that, but they were just myths, as there was never any proof of anything magical in that world.

"So you're really a Demon," He speaks mentally to Nyx.

But she doesn't respond because she's very focused on observing the image of the Demon girl on the book cover.

Arthur notices some symbols on the cover of the book but he doesn't recognize them, so he asks his mother about it. "What language is this?"

"Demonysian," She responds. "It's the language of the Demons."

"Oh," Arthur becomes more and more curious about the Demons since Nyx may be one.

But he's also curious about his mother. "Do you know how to read Demonysian? And how did you get this book? Maybe you know some Demon?"

"Unfortunately, I've never seen such creatures," Aria responds. "I learned Demonysian from my Master, and it was also her who gave me this book,"

"She is a very mysterious being, to say the least, and she is also not at all affectionate, so I kept this book as a souvenir since I doubt I will see her again."

Arthur can't help but be curious about his mother's Master, too, but now he wants to know something else first.

"And what's the content of this book?" He asks while looking at the girl on the cover.

"It's a biography," Aria responds and points to the girl in the book. "I don't know how to pronounce her name well, but I think it would be something like Lilith in our language."

"Lilith???" Nyx exclaims in Arthur's mind upon hearing that name.

"Do you know her???" Arthur quickly asks.

"I think so," She responds in an uncertain tone.

"You think?" He gets more confused.

"I'm not sure..." Nyx speaks honestly. "I just felt that this name seems familiar to me, but I don't remember anything before us."

Arthur wonders if Nyx also had another life before reincarnating with him, but for some reason, she wouldn't have access to her memories.

But he doesn't have much time to think about that because he notices Aria gazing at him with her curious expression again.

"I was just wondering who this girl would be," He speaks honestly.

"Hmm..." Aria opens the book, but Arthur doesn't understand any word in it yet. "The person who sold this book to my Master didn't know how to read Demonysian and didn't even believe in the existence of such creatures..."

"But my Master assured me that they exist, even though she couldn't confirm the truth of this Lillith's story,"

Arthur listens attentively to every word of his mother, as does Nyx.

Then Aria continues. "I read this book several times when I was learning Demonysian with my Master,"

"It's really a fascinating read, the story of how a young demoness ascended to the throne of the Seventh Hell and became the greatest Demon Queen ever."

"Seventh Hell? Demon Queen?" Arthur replaces that story crazy.

"And how her story made you suspect about my... you know, my situation." He asks.

Aria quickly explains. "When I was looking for an explanation for your peculiar way, I ended up picking this book again to try to think like my Master; she is a very wise woman,"

"But guess my surprise when I reread the story of this demoness and noticed several similarities between the way she sees the world and yours."

"Really?" Arthur is surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Lillith also started to mature very quickly after the age of five," Aria explains. "But it took her several more years to understand that her dreams were actually memories of past lives."

"So there are others???" Arthur, for the first time, has such a thought. "She is like me..."

Aria can see that Arthur is very excited about Lilith, so she doesn't want to make him pessimistic but still has to give the bad news.

"This is just an old book, Arthur," She speaks in a sorry tone. "There's not much here about her past lives and people like you but rather the story of how she defeated several Infernal Lords and conquered her supreme throne,"

"But that story could have been thousands of years ago and probably in some very remote corner of this gigantic world."

Arthur understands what his mother means. "I shouldn't have hopes of meeting her... but if there was another person like me, maybe there are more out there."

"You may be right," Aria nods but then looks at him with eyes full of curiosity. "About Lilith... since she was a Demon, maybe you were..."

"Wait, do you think I was a Demon in my previous life?" Arthur asks.

"I don't know," Aria speaks quickly. "You don't tell me anything."

Arthur realizes that so far he hasn't answered his mother's questions and has just asked more questions to her.

"Sorry, mom," He smiles at her. "Finding out that there are others and... these Demons... all of this kind of opened my mind."

"It's alright, dear," She speaks lovingly. "Mommy is not angry but curious."

"Okay, I'll tell you everything I remember." Arthur doesn't waste time and starts talking about everything he remembers from his life as Liam, his death, and his reincarnation.

He doesn't start by saying how Liam was a super-assassin, killing all his way ahead, but rather how a young child lost his family and fell into a dark abyss from which he never returned.

Since Arthur has Aria's infinite love and a family he loves, he doesn't feel too bad when telling all the horrible things that Laim suffered; it's like a nightmare that can't hurt him anymore.

However, for Aria, hearing how her son suffered so much makes her heart hurt. She can imagine the despair, pain, and all the suffering that Arthur went through as Liam, and it's not hard to understand why he doesn't replace death unfamiliar now.

Even though Arthur can just tell those things as a story, Aria can see that pain and sadness still deep in his cold blue eyes.

So, while he is still telling his story, she suddenly moves forward and hugs him tightly.

"Mom???" Arthur is taken by surprise by Aria's hug.

"Mommy is here," She speaks in her loving tone while pressing their bodies against each other. "You don't need to carry these bad feelings alone anymore... you can share your pain with me."

Aria's words easily enter Arthur's heart, pushing away all the shadows and making him feel safe and loved.

"Mom..." Because Arthur enjoys his mother's love so much, he can't help but fear that something has changed after telling her Liam's story. "Do you really not care about my past life?"

"What would there be for me to worry about?" She asks. "You are not Liam; you may have his memories, but you are Arthur; you were born of me; you are made of my flesh and blood, my beautiful son, and I love you so much!"

Arthur realizes that his worries about his past life were stupid and nothing could change the fact that he is Aria's son and her love for him.

"What about you?" Aria asks. "Have you ever felt like you weren't my son because of those memories?"

"No way!" He quickly exclaims honestly. "I don't even really remember what Liam's mother was like because she was taken from him so early, but I don't feel like I'm him anymore... he may be a part of the shadows deep in my heart, but I'm Arthur, your son, and you, my beloved mother!"

Aria smiles lovingly as she hugs her son. "That's the only truth here, mommy is your only mommy."

He really appreciates her feelings and actions, but the fact that she is pressing her huge melons and her hot curvy body onto his leaves him in a complicated situation.

Arthur has never looked at his mother with any other eyes than those of a devoted son who loves and respects his mother. But since he is maturing quickly, his body can't avoid some feelings...

"Mom..." He really doesn't want to ruin that moment, but he needs to do something before something simply happens without his control.

"It's alright, my dear." Aria is so concerned about her son suffering with those horrible memories for several years.

She can only think of hugging him as strongly as possible and passing the love from her heart directly to his, even if it seems absurd.

Arthur really can feel the heat of his mother's body being pumped directly into his, making his whole body get warmer.

But that only makes his situation harder.

"Mom, please..." Arthur tries to ask her to walk away even though his whole body implores the opposite. "You are hugging too tightly..."

"Oh?" Aria gets concerned and starts to get back. "Am I hurting you, baby??"

But as soon as Arthur feels his mother's body moving away from him, he starts to miss that feeling so badly.

A war starts in his mind: reason against emotion, morals against desire, right against not-so-right?

A part of Arthur thinks that hugging his mother in that way and allowing his body to feel such things is wrong.

But he doesn't want to regret anything in this life since it's his second chance.

He can't end up like Liam, incapable of having anything he wanted,

He can't hesitate to take what he desires,

And be happy.

"Screw this!!!" Arthur exclaims in his mind and doesn't let Aria move back.

He hugs her tightly and enjoys all the feelings that come with it.

"Oh my~~!" Aria giggles and lets her son hug her to his heart's content.

She also enjoys it to the fullest, too, even though some natural reactions make her embarrassed.

"Mommy is here, just hold me like this…" She whispers in his ear.