A Successful Mama vs a Misunderstood Papa

Hana observed her own transparent body within the Soul Hall Domain. 

Pain.

It was so much pain.

She wasn't sure where the pain was, but her Soul Hall Domain was terribly destroyed at the fringes. Hana nearly lost her head when she saw the ant gnawing on the partially constructed illusory bridge.

She had just finished absorbing a large amount of soul energy after trashing her fifteenth Soul Slave, the Granite Earth Fiend Queen Mother. She had never felt so much rage, and it consumed her senses more than once lately.

She held out her trembling hands and turned it around a couple of times. She turned her back and looked at her overflowing hair. It was so voluminous and billowed like actual waves. It reminded her of the little lady with extremely long hair who was stuck on a tower. Thank goodness it didn't look like this outside.

Her whole being was shining intensely with light rainbow pastel-colored light. It was too bright until it felt overwhelming.

Something was very different. 

She felt bloated.

After finally receiving the weakened partial soul of the Granite Earth Fiend Queen Mother, she could feel something change, but couldn't really pinpoint it as anything tangible specifically. She instinctively felt that she could connect better to all of her pets within the Soul Hall Domain, almost effortlessly. 

Hana finally sang the modified version of Lightning Emperor's Divinity Soul chant under her breath for observation.

"!!!"

The energy wave she produced was double in intensity! During her many, many cycles, the Soul Hall Domain was rapidly restored while all the spiritual beasts linked to her enjoyed a significant increase in soul power directed at them.

One by one, the Soul Brethren sank into their personal cultivation session as they bathed in its splendor...

...

Kuro blinked his eyes a couple of times speechlessly after he felt the sudden surge of a soul energy wave from Mommy.

This...

Mommy's Soul Power broke through from Infant-stage to Adolescent-stage!

In only three-months!

...

Aira looked through the windowpane longingly. 

When she had time, or when her baby sister Aina was asleep, she would always sneak to the same window to observe the drab gray tar road outside, regardless of day or night, hoping upon hoping for dearest Papa to arrive. 

Mama said to trust Papa unconditionally in any situation, but it had been too long. It's getting so hard to endure. 

She secretly took out a 2R photo from her pocket and stared at Mama's stoic picture sadly. She actually took it without permission from their family's document folder. She had no choice since Papa won't let her own a tablet or smartphone although she argued that she only wanted to use it to see Mama once in a while, not play games or watch Utube. After trying her best to calm down, she kept back the picture carefully, as if it was the most precious item she owned.

Today was hotter than usual. It was just after lunch and a quick bath, but Aira had started sweating slightly. She worried more about little Aina since Aina would be really cranky when it turned hot and uncomfortable such as this. After six days, the lady who cared for them hadn't really raised her hands on them, but Aira could see from the lady's expression that she was reaching her limit with Aina's tantrums. Aira admitted that Aina had been a really difficult baby and wasn't cooperating at all; the total opposite of how she behaved when with Mama.

Aira quietly checked on her baby sister in a minimalist light brown cot at the edge of the room. After Aina's terrible tantrum on the very first day, the sisters had been isolated from other kids and placed in a separate small room. Because of Aina, Aira didn't get the chance to make a single friend and it gave her a bitter feeling. She tried hard not to blame Aina, but it wasn't so easy.

The oblivious little rascal was still sound asleep while hugging a pink unicorn plushie.

Aira sighed in relief. 

Suddenly, Aira heard the sounds of tires screeching over gravel, just outside and her eyes shone in anticipation! She quickly ran towards the window to see the familiar gray MPV. Jumping for joy as soundlessly as possible, Aira immediately started packing all of their belongings!

Aira tossed the toys, picture books, and stationary in and haphazardly washed her face and neck at the sink nearby. She brushed her hair as fast as she could and tied two low twin tails just below her ears. She made sure she lathered the scented hand lotion her mama gave her over her arms and neck to smell good.

It took a while for Papa to appear. Aira tapped her feet impatiently as she strained her ears to eavesdrop on the long talks outside.

She heard long incomprehensible talks and a little sniffling from Aunty Lisa, who was wiping non-existent crocodile tears from the corner of her eyes. Papa had a guilty look on as he rested his hand on the fake ladylike aunty's shoulder. Somehow, Papa's action made Aira very unhappy.

The door opened ajar, as Papa walked with large strides towards her. Still feeling dejected from witnessing Papa coaxing the lady, Aira's usual enthusiasm was cut short. She only snorted unhappily as she folded her arms and scrunched up her brow. 

Misreading the reason for her attitude, Papa wasn't affected. To her delight, Papa scooped her up and cradled her like a baby. She couldn't help but squeal happily while feeling somewhat guilty. She should've got a stronger resolve to show her stance, but she missed Papa too much to pull a long face after his effort to cheer her up. 

"So sorry for the delay, Ai. Miss me?"

Aira hugged her Papa tightly as her eyes misted. "Miss you like crazy. Ai thought Papa went missing too, just like Mama."

She whispered beside Papa's ear. "Ai saw you just now. Ai will tell on you to Mama if you do that again!"

Papa visibly turned pale.

...

"Ai, you're a good girl. You love Papa right? Right?"

Arash was driving while having a cold sweat after facing two major ordeals at the childcare center. He let his eldest sit beside him for once. Aina was sleeping peacefully with a full blast aircond directed at her face. Although dirt-cheap as compared to other MPVs in the market, the redeeming quality of Exora was that the aircond for backseats was really good. 

"Humph! What do you want, Papa?" Aira snorted as she resumed her previous stance; folding her arms and acting tough. Her gaze was sharp and filled with mistrust. 

He had to clear the first hurdle with this girl. 

This little Ai had always been pro-mama. If he didn't do anything about the misunderstanding, one day, when Hana returns, this girl will be the greatest reporter who will ruin the heartfelt moment. 

He had the suspicion that Hana will believe Ai more than him. 

Sensing how great Hana's soul power was last time, he was sure he would be steamrolled for good. If one compared Hana to an adult, Arash was akin to a newborn in terms of soul power. 

Arash had no way of sending over the soul particle energy to influence Lisa without proper direct contact. Lisa had been very agitated and couldn't calm down, hence the natural 'area-of-effect buff' wasn't working. Lisa was accusing him of child abandonment and emotional abuse and had been overly dramatic. 

She even said that their lovely little Aina had psychological problems and must be referred to a child psychiatrist for further investigation. 

What nonsense!

Arash's impression of the self-proclaimed professional childcare specialist degraded severely. He had to calm the erratic sister down because she had started to threaten him to report to the authorities since he was deemed unfit to care for the kids. This misunderstanding was so severe, he could lose the children if he let it be!

He must find a different daycare once all of this is over. This Lisa is trouble!

"Nothing. Papa just wanted to say thank you. You know, Papa heard from Aunty Lisa that you were so lovely and caring towards Aina." 

"Humph, if Ai didn't help Aina, the mean lady will soon beat Aina up, Papa. She was right, you know. Aina shouts and cries at every waking moment. She doesn't really eat unless Ai fed her. Ai was scared that the lady would really do something to Aina. She is evil inside! Ai can see it!"

"Are you sure it's that bad?" Err.. maybe he should re-evaluate Lisa's assessment? 

"It's horrible! Everyone hates Aina! Including that aunty! Ai can see it in her eyes very clearly! Really!" Aira soon got quite worked up as she raised her voice steadily.

"And you, Papa! How could you flirt with the evil lady just now?! Don't you say you love Mama?! Do you want that lady to replace Mama?! Ai doesn't want that! She's evil incarnate! You were the one who said we should be careful with her before!"

"Stop, stop! This is slander, girl! Where did you learn that word from? There's no such thing." Arash sweated with the five-year-old advanced vocabulary. 

Aira harumphed again. "I don't want to be Cinderella, Papa. Don't be that clueless papa who let his girl suffer until she need help from a stranger and married off to a random prince to save herself! Mama is still alive!"

Why was the conversation devolving into a fight? Was he so petty until he had to argue with a toddler? TT________TT

Arash sighed defeatedly.

"What can I do to stop you from reporting me to Mama? Can we make a deal?"

Aira's intelligent eyes lit up at the mention of a deal, just like when a certain aunty heard about a 50% discount in her favorite grocery store. They were so similar. Arash's chest felt tight from the similarities. Three months felt like years to him. 

"A holiday! A nice place where I could play at the playground for many many hours! You never brought us to playgrounds for a veryyyy long time!! Oh, and a rainbow ice cream! Fried chicken!" Aira started listing down the things that she wanted but couldn't. Her parents had always been strict when it came to their diet. To her dismay, she still ate like a baby! This time, she's planning to wring Papa dry. Humph!

"This is extortion... Pity your tired Papa for once. Look at this sad and tired face, won't you give Papa a discount?" Arash tried to negotiate.

"That face only worked on Mama, you know. Ai wants a vacation, playground, rainbow ice cream, & fried chicken. Not the air-fried one, the deep-fry one, but not spicy. Humph!" 

How is this girl so intelligent.. Arash felt like crying inside. If he complied and Hana got to know what he fed the kids, he will be dead. Arash was having a big dilemma at the moment. 

After struggling for a while, Arash took a deep breath and deflated, "Fine, you win, Aira Batrisya. You will get ice cream and fried chicken only once. For vacation, Papa already plans to bring you somewhere soon." 

Betrayal was way worse as compared to negligence in food choices.

...

mrs.mooncat's notes:

Name meaning (Arabic):

Aira - noble, respected

Batrisya - clever, resourceful

yeah, it's a good name XD 

In Malaysia, the majority of naming is based on Arabic rather than the Malay language. It is normal to have two-word name, or even three-word name (this still excludes the name of the father since we don't have family name, only an attachment with father's name) 

eg: Ai's full name is Aira Batrisya. Arash's full name is just Arash (did I give him a full name yet?)

So Ai's name will be Aira Batrisya binti Arash