(Back to the present) Sylvia yawned again and fell back to sleep.

Luna patted her daughter on the head and chuckled: "Sleepyhead."

I got up from my comfortable bed and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast, which comprised of a simple stew and some biscuits on the side.

Luna smelled my creation and walked into the kitchen. (If you couldn't already tell, I was back in the castle at Helios. However, Fredrick was kind enough to give me a larger suite to accommodate my small family.)

"How much longer?" She asked wistfully as I stirred the contents of my cooking cauldron with a wooden spoon.

I chuckled as I threw some parsley into the mix, "Not much longer. You can wait, Ms. Goober."

When I was done stirring the stew, I turned my attention to making some biscuit dough. It was then that Luna kicked me in the shin while I was kneading the dough with my hands, so I accidentally threw it into the air in reaction. The dough stuck to the ceiling, then landed in my hair.

Luna slow-clapped me as I tried to get the dough out of my hair: "Look what you did," I began dryly, "You ruined perfectly good dough."

"That was your fault," She pointed out, a humorous light dancing in her glittering eyes.

"Crazy cat," I grumbled.

"What was that?" She prompted me in a sweet, alluring voice.

My face heated up a tad, "Oh, nothing."

I went back to working on the stew, only to feel something...soft press into my back.

I realized with a start that Luna had embraced me from behind. Sure, she had her nightgown on, but that was all she was wearing-nothing else.

"Even though I have clothing on," She purred, "I still have ways to make you sweat."

I felt my heart skip a few beats: "C-Could you please stop teasing me? I'm trying to make breakfast without losing my mind."

She giggled softly, "You're no fun."

She broke the embrace as our friends entered the room.

Analise seemed to be feeling less...I don't know: homicidal; insane; unstable. She seemed more alive and less mentally unstable. However, her sense of humor was still with her, and she chuckled when she saw the expression on my face.

"So my student has been practicing on you, eh?"

I gulped, "N-No..."

Dorrian laughed, "How do you still have your sanity, Helix? I would've expected you to lose your mind the instant the innocent kitten you thought you knew started to...experiment on you."

Luna kicked his shin, which caused him to hop on one foot while holding his now-bruised shin.

"Say that again," She told him, "I dare you."

"I'm sorry!" He replied.

I laughed and scratched Luna's ears: "Alright, alright. Calm down Luna."

"Damn you," She mumbled while purring deeply.

"Okaaay...what did I miss?" Nova asked as she entered my home with her gauss cannon on her back.

"Oh, nothing," Luna began easily, "I taught Dorrian to not call me kitten."

Nova laughed, "I can only guess what you did to him, Luna."

"I only kicked his shin," She replied, "I'll hit him where it really hurts if he keeps this up."

Ben entered the room and gave Dorrian the stink eye: "Wallace told me you're at it again: Stop calling my student Wally or so help me god I will shove an arrow up your ass!"

Dorrian gulped, hiding behind me: "Yes sir."

Everyone laughed.

Sylvia finally woke up. She shuffled out of my room and accepted a bowl of stew with a bright smile when I offered it to her. She then shuffled into the dining room and sat down at the table.

I smiled: I remembered the first day she met my father and Luna's parents about five days ago. She was shy at first, but she warmed up to them quickly.

After I finished eating and started to clean up the pot I used to make breakfast, I remembered that Virrius wanted to meet Sylvia today so he could gauge just how magically sensitive she was.

I then caught sight of Sylvia as she swatted at Pip, who was hovering around her.

"Hey, hey!" He snapped at her, "Cut it out, you punk!"

She laughed joyously, "Silly robot!"

"I'm not silly!" He retorted, "You're the silly one."

Stanford finally entered the room with Evelyn by his side.

He bowed his head in my direction. "Well, I know it's been about a week since Thaleous' stronghold fell, but I've been too preoccupied with my job of being commandant to congratulate you on your success. If it weren't for your brilliant-and partially crazy mind, this mission would've failed."

Everyone muttered in agreement.

"I knew I made a good choice in making you my second in command after the mission in Seris, but I'd rather have no one else to be my second in command after the victory you stole from Thaleous."

I wiped a tear from my eye. "Gee, thanks Stanford. That means a lot to me."

He nodded, "I knew your past was rough: trust me, I still remember dragging you to Helios to become a Templar while you tried to gnaw my wrist off, but you have made so much progress in these past few years. Hell, you're considered a hero in this country, and your team are now known as the ballsiest group of motherfuckers Alysia has to offer."

"But I don't have balls to offer..." Nova began sheepishly, "Well, I have a few grenades, but that's all."

"Not what I was meaning, Nova," Stanford replied with a pained grin plastered onto his face.

For the rest of breakfast, everyone hung out and cracked jokes. My mother actually came out of my necklace to say hello to everyone. Her black hair fell past her shoulders, and her blue eyes glimmered happily. She was dressed in a flowing white robe with wide sleeves.

She smiled warmly: "Hello, my son."

I was actually able to hug my mother. After so many years, I was able to hug her.

This proved to be too much for me.

"Well, it's nice to know you can do this," I mused after I had stopped bawling my eyes out and blew my nose with a kerchief.

"I'm sorry I couldn't physically manifest my form sooner. I've been slowly regaining my power ever since you purified my aura."

I hugged my mother again, "I'm just glad you have a physical form now. Dad will be overjoyed when he'll be able to see you physically, not only in his dreams."

She laughed softly, returning my embrace, "I hope your father doesn't have a heart attack when he sees me."

A nervous laugh escaped me, and I watched my mother as she greeted Sylvia.

"Hello, young Sylvia," She began in a warm tone. "My name's Jasmine."

Sylvia looked at me in surprise, "Um...why is Grandma Jasmine floating?"

"Oh, sorry," She apologized with a sheepish grin, "My presence in the physical realm was slipping a little bit. It isn't anything to be alarmed about: I just have to refresh my presence in this realm to ensure that I don't faze out."

Sylvia looked at her curiously, "Huh...usually, I'd be pretty alarmed if I started to faze out of existence, but I suppose that's just me."

My mother chuckled, then looked at me: "I'm so proud of you Helix."

I shrugged, feeling a blush light up my features as I caught sight of Luna nodding in agreement: "I really didn't do much..."

Everyone called bullshit on me simultaneously.

"Hel, you fought and killed a demonlord-A fucking demonlord: beings that are feared for their brutality, and you bit off one's head." Dorrian countered.

I cringed, "So you saw my handiwork?"

"Yeah," He replied, "It wasn't pretty. When we found what remained of Thaleous, he was missing his head and a hand," Dorrian continued, shivering slightly, "The area around Thaleous' corpse was drenched in blood, so we all thought you kicked the bucket."

Luna shivered, "Helix, you're forgetting the fact that you saved not one, but two realms when you killed Thaleous. You maybe even saved more people when you struck him down. You did much more than you realize."

I let that thought settle in my mind, and I nodded: "Hmm...When you put it that way, I see your point."

Luna rolled her eyes, "You doof."

Everyone laughed.

Pip was trying his damnedest to get away from Sylvia, who was jumping into the air in an attempt to catch the automaton. Hilariously enough, Sylvia was successful in catching Pip, and she snatched the automaton out of the air. My daughter purred contentedly while Pip struggled in vain against her grasp.

"Ack! Nova! Go on without me!" He shouted.

She rolled his eyes, "You're pathetic, Pip."

"Way to help out!" He snapped back.

"Anytime!" Nova chortled.